Powderblue tang that bumped it's head hard

Aquareeftanker · Dec 5, 2019

Hy there. I bought some few fish 4 weeks ago. I'm treating them with Seachem Cupramine as always in my hospital tank (Innovative marine 30L). One day when I went for a look in to the tank at night I spooked the Powder blue tang. He bumped really hard against the glass and was out... and with out I mean he didn't know how to swim straight again... The next morning he was back up again. Everything back to normal... I thought... The next day his mouth stayed open and he would not eat. Two days later he had a wound on his head and mount. And now it seems to heal a bit but he hasn't been eating for 4 days. What should I do to help him? He shows interest in the food and is alert when I'm feeding he knows i'm there and is careful. Any advice? I wil post a picture later today. Thanx in advance

Aquareeftanker · Dec 5, 2019

Here are some pictures of my powder blue in the hospital tank.

Terri Caton · Dec 5, 2019

Poor baby. I hope he recovers.

Here's a bump for you.

45ZoaGarden · Dec 5, 2019

That stuff happens in qt unfortunately. I
It should heal up within a couple of weeks

Aquareeftanker · Dec 5, 2019

45ZoaGarden said:
That stuff happens in qt unfortunately. I
It should heal up within a couple of weeks

Thanx for the comment. But what would cause that he is not eating?

Skynyrd Fish · Dec 5, 2019

Give him a few more days. He’s probably really sore. If he’s not eating in a week maybe move him to a new sterile qt no meds.

lpsouth1978 · Dec 5, 2019

Aquareeftanker said:
Thanx for the comment. But what would cause that he is not eating?

It is possible that he hit the glass hard enough to break something in his jaw and he can't eat as a result. More than likely though it is bruised and sore and so he is shying away from the food for now. Hopefully he will feel better in a few days and resume his eating. Unfortunately there is not much you can do other than watch him. Make sure he does not develop an infection and let time heal him.

Halal Hotdog · Dec 5, 2019

That stuff happens in any tank, not just QT. Do you have rock in your tank? Concern would be if he is developing a bacterial infection. If it does turn bacterial then you would want antibiotics on hand, it can spiral out of control pretty quickly. Powder blues are unfortunately a hard fish. There isn't a ton you can do right now besides watching him, offering food numerous times, and keeping the water quality up.

Aquareeftanker · Dec 5, 2019

Skynyrd Fish said:
Give him a few more days. He’s probably really sore. If he’s not eating in a week maybe move him to a new sterile qt no meds.

Thanx for the comment. Ok, He is in QT for 4 weeks so will be out of it in 2 weeks. I run carbon now to get the Copper out of the QT tank.

Aquareeftanker · Dec 5, 2019

Halal Hotdog said:
That stuff happens in any tank, not just QT. Do you have rock in your tank? Concern would be if he is developing a bacterial infection. If it does turn bacterial then you would want antibiotics on hand, it can spiral out of control pretty quickly. Powder blues are unfortunately a hard fish. There isn't a ton you can do right now besides watching him, offering food numerous times, and keeping the water quality up.

Ok thans for the advice. Would you have any recommendation on meds? Maybe some one who is available in the EU? Thanx

45ZoaGarden · Dec 5, 2019

Skynyrd Fish said:
Give him a few more days. He’s probably really sore. If he’s not eating in a week maybe move him to a new sterile qt no meds.

Yup. The fish is probably stressed out. If it wasn’t eating before then incident it probably has parasites. But I’m going with it’s stressed out. Give it a couple of days

Aquareeftanker · Dec 5, 2019

Aquareeftanker said:
Ok thans for the advice. Would you have any recommendation on meds? Maybe some one who is available in the EU? Thanx

And there are no rocks only some PVC pipes. And one Maxspect bio block.

Aquareeftanker · Dec 5, 2019

45ZoaGarden said:
Yup. The fish is probably stressed out. If it wasn’t eating before then incident it probably has parasites. But I’m going with it’s stressed out. Give it a couple of days

The fish has been a great eater before. One of the first and best eaters in the QT tank. Would lights out help? Or should I keep them on?

Aquareeftanker · Dec 5, 2019

lpsouth1978 said:
It is possible that he hit the glass hard enough to break something in his jaw and he can't eat as a result. More than likely though it is bruised and sore and so he is shying away from the food for now. Hopefully he will feel better in a few days and resume his eating. Unfortunately there is not much you can do other than watch him. Make sure he does not develop an infection and let time heal him.

Thanx for the comment. How can I prevent a infection? I do a 60% water change each week. Would that be enough? I also have a Seachem Ammonia reader hanging in the QT tank.

45ZoaGarden · Dec 5, 2019

Lol your norm

Aquareeftanker said:
The fish has been a great eater before. One of the first and best eaters in the QT tank. Would lights out help? Or should I keep them on?

al schedule will be fine. Changing things up will only stress the fish out more. Just like if we’re in the hospital sick and the nurses keep moving you to different rooms and start turning the lights on and off. It’s best to keep everything the same and give the fish time to heal. It’s probably not a parasite.

45ZoaGarden · Dec 5, 2019

As for bacterial infection, just keep the water clean. That’s just about everything you can do. Do you have a uv sterilizer?

Aquareeftanker · Dec 5, 2019

45ZoaGarden said:
As for bacterial infection, just keep the water clean. That’s just about everything you can do. Do you have a uv sterilizer?

OK, No I'm kind of against a UV. Read a lot of things CON but a few things PRO. Don't know what to do with it... But that is a other question on a other post maybe

45ZoaGarden · Dec 5, 2019

Cons? There are no cons of running a I’ve sterilizer! Uv sterilizers simply neutralize harmful bacteria which keeps them from being able to reproduce. Them not being able to reproduce causes them to die off. There’s nothing wrong with cleaner water. And no, they don’t harm your pod population. I’ve been running an 11w on my 45 gallon for almost a year and still have my tank covered with pods and a fat diamond goby. The uv on that qt tank will help your fish a lot. Just like people, fish develop infections from bacteria getting in an open wound. Right now you have nothing in the tank to get rid of bacteria. With a uv your fish will have a lower chance of getting an infection. Saying you’re against a uv sterilizer is like saying you’re against cleaning alcohol doctors use to clean their equipment.

Aquareeftanker said:
OK, No I'm kind of against a UV. Read a lot of things CON but a few things PRO. Don't know what to do with it... But that is a other question on a other post maybe

Aquareeftanker · Dec 5, 2019

45ZoaGarden said:
Cons? There are no cons of running a I’ve sterilizer! Uv sterilizers simply neutralize harmful bacteria which keeps them from being able to reproduce. Them not being able to reproduce causes them to die off. There’s nothing wrong with cleaner water. And no, they don’t harm your pod population. I’ve been running an 11w on my 45 gallon for almost a year and still have my tank covered with pods and a fat diamond goby. The uv on that qt tank will help your fish a lot. Just like people, fish develop infections from bacteria getting in an open wound. Right now you have nothing in the tank to get rid of bacteria. With a uv your fish will have a lower chance of getting an infection. Saying you’re against a uv sterilizer is like saying you’re against cleaning alcohol doctors use to clean their equipment.

OK, thanx. You made a great point!