Injury or Something Internal?

spsick · Apr 27, 2023

Lost this poor guy tonight after 6+ years. Male of a mated spawning pair.

He went from ok to bad in less than a day. Had stomach distended and was laying on sand and was gone in a few hours.

Last fish was added around 5 months ago, a tiny purple tang that gets along fairly well with everyone and I’ve seen no bullying. I’m home with my son most days so get ALOT of time observing the tank from the couch etc. Added some trochus snails from Saltwater Aquarium as they advertise as coming from a fallow system a few weeks ago so perhaps something came in with them?

vetteguy53081 · Apr 27, 2023

spsick said:
Lost this poor guy tonight after 6+ years. Male of a mated spawning pair.

He went from ok to bad in less than a day. Had stomach distended and was laying on sand and was gone in a few hours.

Last fish was added around 5 months ago, a tiny purple tang that gets along fairly well with everyone and I’ve seen no bullying. I’m home with my son most days so get ALOT of time observing the tank from the couch etc. Added some trochus snails from Saltwater Aquarium as they advertise as coming from a fallow system a few weeks ago so perhaps something came in with them?

My goodness. This is not the work of clean up crew but rather appears to be rotted flesh (bacterial) in which there is signs about of similar shaped infection which is internal.

@Jay Hemdal

fishguy242 · Apr 27, 2023

#fishmedic

Jay Hemdal · Apr 28, 2023

I agree, the smooth rounded margin of the wound indicates a bacterial infection, not an injury. Possibly, the fish developed enteritis (noted by the swelling) and then, the bacteria grew until it broke through the skin. Because the bacteria that can do this sort of thing are found in every aquarium (Aeromonas, Pseudomonas, etc.) this is likely to be a "one off" case and won't be contagious to the other fish.

Jay