I hope it isn't ich...

SirRoadwolf · Aug 18, 2018

I noticed this on my Royal Gramma yesterday. It wasn't there the previous day. To me, it looks like a bite, or a rock scrape. The fish seems to still be healthy, and swimming around normally. It is likely too big and too quickly appearing to be ich, right?

The fish has been in the aquarium for 7 weeks now. But it recently discovered some holes in some of the live rock, which is seems to enjoy exploring.

HotRocks · Aug 18, 2018

No it doesn't look like ich.

It does however look like an injury or scrape which could lead to a bacterial infection.

Give the fish a 90 min bath in acriflavine, which is an antiseptic. Keep an eye on it. If it begins to look worse you may need to move the fish to QT and treat with antibiotics.

4FordFamily · Aug 18, 2018

HotRocks said:
No it doesn't look like ich.

It does however look like an injury or scrape which could lead to a bacterial infection.

Give the fish a 90 min bath in acriflavine, which is an antiseptic. Keep an eye on it. If it begins to look worse you may need to move the fish to QT and treat with antibiotics.

Agree. That has a very high likelihood of becoming infected. I would recommend sourcing kanaplex, metroplex, and furan 2.

Big G · Aug 18, 2018

+1 on all the above advice. Rock solid. Another option is NFG nitrofuracine green powder. Lots of shippers, wholesalers, LFS, use it for shipping injuries. Works pretty good.

SirRoadwolf · Aug 18, 2018

I stopped by my LFS on the way home from work today... The owner of my LFS is a great guy who has been in the hobby for most of his life. He has also followed the setup of my tank, and knows what creatures I have in there as they all came from his store. He suggested that it could of been my tiger pistol shrimp which may have snapped at the Royal Gramma for invading his burrow. (The Tiger Pistol Shrimp, and Goby pair I bought from him were both fully grown and bonded adults, where as the rest of the stuff in the aquarium is younger).

The suggestion from him was, in most cases it will heal without intervention, and as long as the fish is swimming well and eating normally, there is likely no cause for concern. Tho, I do believe that, if I had the above suggestions in stock, I probably should of tried to treat him when I first noticed this wound. At this point it is already healing, so if it did get infected... the damage is done.

Got home, and the Royal Gramma was doing well. The wound had healed and only small white scaring was still visible, the coloration returned to most of it. Sorry that the photos aren't as good, my DLRS batteries were dead, so.. cell phone suffices.