fire fish has hole in gut....

tgp4274 · Nov 17, 2015

ok so any thoughts would be great!!!!
I had two fire fish n I came home from work to find one on the sand with what looks like a hole in's underbelly.....
other fish are:
7" naso
5" sailfin
5" convict
3" tomni
now one fire fish
1 blue damsel
5" scissor tail
1 pj cardnal
dragon goby
scooter blennie
2 clowns
4" copperband
coral beauty
everythings been good for about 6 months with no additions... trying to fig out who picked on him..... :/
am going to start feeding alittle more as the tangs are getting big.....

tankstudy · Nov 17, 2015

Your firefish may have just died and your tank creatures maybe scavenging him.

tgp4274 · Nov 17, 2015

he was still alive when I got home. laying in the sand breathing..

looks like a bite outta him.....

TheWhiteFord · Nov 17, 2015

Was the hole deep and round or shallow and crater shaped?

tgp4274 · Nov 17, 2015

deep n round.
was on the underside of the fish. like between the two bottom fins

TheWhiteFord · Nov 17, 2015

Almost sounds like a parasite, which may have been dormant beforehand

tgp4274 · Nov 17, 2015

never showed any signs.... everybody happy as far as can tell....

TheWhiteFord · Nov 17, 2015

Well then it could have been the opposite a worm could have started to eat the fish while it was still alive

TheWhiteFord · Nov 17, 2015

While it was laying on the sand

eatbreakfast · Nov 18, 2015

If the fins aren't torn it is not aggression. But if he was ill, and laying on the sand before the gut issue, a tankmate may have treated it as if it was dead and eaten it's stomach.