Female Mandarin isn't looking so good. Paling fast

[Rugops]

Symptoms:
- Heavy breathing that she rocks herself back and forth
- Tail is turning white and moving to the body
- Not been eating despite live food given

Things to note:
- Company who I got them from told me that the tail wasn't as bad (she gotten into a squabble with a spotted dragonette) but it is worse than what they showed me.
- You can see the spines that made her tail poking out.

Housing:
- In the sump with a male who just hides but is curious about the food I put in and has not bothered her.

Parameters

 

[Rick's Reviews]

Better pictures would be required, possible dieseses.. fin rot.

 

[Rugops]

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Whoa - sorry, that's really severe damage. Looks like a secondary bacterial infection from a major injury. To be honest, once it involves the bones (like it seems to be here) there isn't anything that can really be done for it. An antibiotic treatment with a broad spectrum, gram negative drug could stop the infection, but with exposed bone, it is just going to get reinfected I'm afraid. Not to sound gross, but think of a human with an injury that exposes the leg bone - without surgery, it just isn't going to heal - same thing here. The white thing in the middle is the fish's spine I think.

Jay

 

[Rugops]

The fish has passed.