Stars & Stripes Puffer - Bit in Face

fugetaboutit05

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Looking for anyone who may have experience or knowledge of a situation i have.

Aquarium Specs :

380 DT ( 8' X 30" X 30")
Built in overflow (x2)
Ice cap 48xl sump w/ fuge

Inhabitants :
Several Tangs
Fire clowns(bonded pair)
Nems x2
Several other semi aggressive tank mates.

It is a semi aggressive to aggressive display.

The inhabitants that this post is actually referring to are :

1x Stars & Stripes Puffer (approx 4")
1x Snowflake Eel (approx 12" long & 1" diameter)
1x coral banded shark (approx 14" long /2.5" wide at head)
1x Tesselata Leopard Moray ( approx 18"long & 3 - 3.5" diameter )

Situation :

Feeding time as normal, i have a VERY specific way of feeding the tank due to the inhabitants.

Long story short, puffer went after a large piece meant for the L. Moray. Got in the way and got tagged HARD by the Eel. His face got shredded. No damage to eyes, but all around the mouth and sides(up to/before the lateral fins) is tore up. He is bleeding slightly from around the mouth area but majority is surface wound. The mouth area is what really concerns me. He's pretty banged up.

Had anyone ever had a situation similar to or dealt with a similar situation? Its a crap situation and its the first time this has happened.

I understand each one of my predators and their Aggression, and I've had them for a while. I've watched them closely as they acclimated, I've studied their behavior during feeding and at different points in the day and night. As with all wildlife there is always room for error and surprise. Like i said in the beginning, i have a very specific process to feeding this tank that i follow each time. The puffer just surprised me and made a very poor decision today.

If anyone has a thought or expertise in moving forward im open to suggestions and constructive criticism.

And if there is anyone who has dealt with pufferfish injury before and keeping their stress level down during the process, that too would be much appreciated.
 

R0L0

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I would take him out of the tank and put in a separate tank if you can and give it time to heal. If you leave him in there while injured the other fish might take advantage of that
 

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