Midas Blenny injured by emerald crab

[BigJohnny]

Wow, my 4" perfectly healthy midas blenny must have poked his head out of his hole at the wrong time or attacked the emerald crab for being too close, and now has a wound on its head. It's white partially torn flesh (looks more scraped then torn, nothing missing) with bruising around it. What are the chances of it getting infected? My qt tank has 2 other fish in it right now undergoing treatment and we're supposed to get 6" of snow tonight so I can't go get another tank for at least 36-48 hours. I have ruby reef rally as well as kanaplex, metroplex, and furan-2. Thoughts on an action plan? This is one of my favorite fish. Sorry for the crappy pics, the color is way off. Fish appears to be acting normal besides stress coloration.

Is it possible aiptasia could do this? Also a possibility but it sure looks like a pinch and I've been trying to catch a rogue emerald (eats acros polyps and flesh) for a while now so wouldn't surprise me. Could it be anything else? Appeared within the last 5 hours.

Thanks!

 

[justinm]

Ruby reef rally contains acriflavine which is an antiseptic. You could give him a bath and place him back in the tank and watch for an infection. If it’s just a minor scrape, I wouldn’t worry too much though.

 

[BigJohnny]

Ruby reef rally contains acriflavine which is an antiseptic. You could give him a bath and place him back in the tank and watch for an infection. If it’s just a minor scrape, I wouldn’t worry too much though.

Catching him would also be a challenge......I'm not sure how minor it is but I'm really more worried about the bruising around it. Hopefully nothing internal there. What are typical symptoms of infected wound? Redness, swelling?

 

[BigJohnny]

Also is it possible that it's not a scrape at all but a bacterial infection?

@Humblefish

I know the pics suck but could a large spot like that appear from a bacterial infection in less than 6 hrs?

 

[justinm]

Is the bruising like a black and blue color or red? Once there is a wound, bacteria can start taking over and effecting the fish pretty quick.

 

[4FordFamily]

Yes, if it worsens at all tomorrow I’d recommend removal and treating with an acriflavin bath as mentioned followed by kanaplex, metroplex, and furan 2 in a hospital tank.

If it’s progressing that quickly, it could be gram negative and that’s definitely bad news and will require immediate action

 

[melypr1985]

Yes, if it worsens at all tomorrow I’d recommend removal and treating with an acriflavin bath as mentioned followed by kanaplex, metroplex, and furan 2 in a hospital tank.

If it’s progressing that quickly, it could be gram negative and that’s definitely bad news and will require immediate action

couldn't have said it better +1

 

[BigJohnny]

Is the bruising like a black and blue color or red? Once there is a wound, bacteria can start taking over and effecting the fish pretty quick.

It's like blackish purple I think. I was more wondering if it was possible there was no wound at all and it was just a bacterial infection

 

[Sorcha2]

For a tempory quarantine for him you can use one of your food grade water change buckets with an air stone. Just remember to toss in some decor so he feels safe and put something over the top so he can't jump out.

 

[BigJohnny]

Yes, if it worsens at all tomorrow I’d recommend removal and treating with an acriflavin bath as mentioned followed by kanaplex, metroplex, and furan 2 in a hospital tank.

If it’s progressing that quickly, it could be gram negative and that’s definitely bad news and will require immediate action

Unfortunately I won't have a free hospital tank until I can go buy one in 36-48 hrs and I'm not sure I can catch the fish. Any in tank reef safe treatments I can do? Kanaplex/metroplex/focus in food? Can furan 2 be bound to food?

 

[BigJohnny]

For a tempory quarantine for him you can use one of your food grade water change buckets with an air stone. Just remember to toss in some decor so he feels safe and put something over the top so he can't jump out.

What about ammonia, think I'd be okay for 48 hrs? Does prime interfere/cause any problems with those antibiotics?

 

[melypr1985]

Any in tank reef safe treatments I can do? Kanaplex/metroplex/focus in food? Can furan 2 be bound to food?

Yes, you can bind any of those into food using Focus. It's slower that way which means it's not always fast enough to make a difference, but if it's the only method then it's better than nothing. I would do either kanaplex or furan2. 10 days straight

 

[BigJohnny]

Yes, you can bind any of those into food using Focus. It's slower that way which means it's not always fast enough to make a difference, but if it's the only method then it's better than nothing. I would do either kanaplex or furan2. 10 days straight

Ok, hopefully not necessary but if it is and I can't catch the fish that's good to know.

So I should only do kanaplex or furan2 if binding to food but in a hospital tank I would do both + metro? Just curious why I wouldn't do all 3?

Also, what effects will this have on my other fish + peppermint shrimp?

Thanks!

 

[melypr1985]

Ok, hopefully not necessary but if it is and I can't catch the fish that's good to know.

So I should only do kanaplex or furan2 if binding to food but in a hospital tank I would do both + metro? Just curious why I wouldn't do all 3?

Also, what effects will this have on my other fish + peppermint shrimp?

Thanks!

In my experience feeding all three meds in food can be a bit tricky. It tastes weird and it often not eaten by the fish for long which doesn't help the problem.

The Focus should bind the food and medication to prevent it from leaching into the tank. It may be a good idea to run carbon to protect any corals/inverts.... just in case.

It shouldn't hurt the other fish, however it's best to limit exposure to medication that are not needed. So if you can, feed normal food to the other fish and while they are distracted, feed the blenny.

 

[Sorcha2]

You ought to be fine for ammonia in a 5g bucket or larger. If your worried test it every so often and if you run into problems just do a water change in the bucket. The big thing is just make sure anything you put into there is fish safe and free of detritus. Oh and make sure you put an airstone becuase that helps with ammonia and healing.

 

[BigJohnny]

So I don't have a spare air pump and we got 8" of snow and counting, won't be able to get anything for another 36-48 hrs and my qt tank possibly has ich so that's not an option. The spot is much less severe, slightly wider, and not necessarily a bad wound. That along with the addition of a new patch spot on its body(again milder than the original) leads me to believe this is a bacterial infection and not just a wound. The fish has also had some transparentish spots (not circles but marks in general) on its dorsal fin since i got it. I thought they were blemishes or wounds but i noticed today that my helfrichi (came from the same source and were qtd together) has one or two very small ones on its tail fin now. These fish have been in the tank for close to 4 months. I think this may be a slower moving (gram negative) bacterial infection that has flared up on the midas due to the attack and is just starting to show on the helfrichi for one reason or another.

I think I should start feeding antibiotics just in case, but am unsure which is the best option. I'm leading towards kanaplex because it seems more suited to dosing in food with focus. My concern is that I cannot prevent my two blue star leopard wrasse from consuming the antibiotics as well, and they have no symptoms. Thoughts?

I could not get better pics unfortunately.

Thanks

 

[BigJohnny]

Also do I only add the antibiotics once a day for ten days or every meal (3x) a day for 10 days.

 

[BigJohnny]

Best updated shot of the face I can get. Note that the discoloration is only behind the eye and the white on the front/top of the face is just my crappy phone mixed with lighting mixed with the blennys stressed coloration which it always displays when im very close to the tank. It looks normal everywhere else if I step back or sneak up on the tank.

Only other thing I can think of is that the clear fin spots are unrelated since it looks very different and have been there forever without changing (but still something contagious to the helfrichi since that's new) and then these new white marks are because the fish keeps getting stung by aiptasia. I have a fair amount by its hole. I have intentionally left some turf algae around the hole to prevent the aiptasia from growing there until my cbb and filefish finish qt though, so they are not right on the hole.

 

[BigJohnny]

Ok, borrowed the wife's iPhone and daylights are on, got some great pics. The whitespot on the head looks way more extreme in the photos as the light is really reflecting off of it. Its not pure white but more bleached looking. The first photo is the best representation of the tone of the large white spot. It also clearly shows the new white spot behind the side fin. The next few photos show the clear spots that have always been there and the last shows everything in one go.

 

[BigJohnny]

Hm, the large white spot is improving significantly already, without treatment......