Help me fix my Goby!

[nautical_nathaniel]

Hey everyone!

A while back I noticed a white spot on the side of my yellow watchman goby. At first I thought it was probably just a spot where he rubbed up against the rockwork in his relentless search for food, but the other day I finally got to see his whole body again and I noticed that the spot had grown to a hole in his side. As far as I can tell, the hole doesn't inhibit any of the goby's movements and definitely not his appetite. It does get a little red if he has been moving around a lot or fighting with my fiji blue devil damselfish.

Does anyone know what kind of ailment this is and what I can do to treat it? My cleaner shrimp does like to clean it every now and then; is that bad for the goby or is the shrimp helping with the healing process?

 

[J Rog]

Ouch! Maybe a bacterial infection?

 

[nawilson89]

Would a quick freshwater dip help the situation?

 

[c_healy]

Nope it would only stress him out most likely. I would start enriching his foods with selcon and antibacterial meds.

 

[NanaReefer]

Oh wow that's painful looking. Anyway to qt him. Where your better able to treat with meds?

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

I don't have a means to QT him. I was hoping someone could recommend some meds I could find at my LFS for an affordable price.

 

[NanaReefer]

Is this a reef tank? He needs an antibiotic, most of which are not reef safe.
You don't need an aquarium for QT. A 3-5g Rubbermaid would work. Something for him to hide in and a small box filter.
Hopefully whatever he has isn't contagious.