can I treat an injured fish?

[schatzi]

I've got a chromis that has a visible gash on it's side and has been hovering in the corner for about a day. I do have a qt setup right now that I could move it to, wondering if there is any type of treatment I could use to help it heal.

Would moving it to qt help even if there are no treatments? I also realize that chromis tend to pick each other to death so maybe this was inevitable.

Any suggestions?

[cloak]

Chromis are readily available and cheap, I would just keep feeding it a varied diet and hope it pulls through. Like you said, it may have just been inevitable.

[thegrun]

I would place it in a hospital tank and treat it for bacterial infection even though there are not signs yet of infection.

[schatzi]

I moved it to the qt at lunch, any preference on medication or just whatever I can find? It has an injury on each side, one looks kinda bloody, the other not so bad.

[Allmost]

can you diagnose the disease ?

if not, why medicate it ? we are not doctors or vets.

try to post some pics, so others can see if its a disease, if it will spread, or if its just a cut from the rock work or something.

if just a cut, you need to keep system ultra clean ... a cut can get the fish a very bad bacteria infection.

[thegrun]

Normally I would not treat a fish without a reason to do so, but with a cut there is a good chance of bacterial infection and so I would stand by my recommendation of treating.

[MARINECRITTERS]

Do not treat the fish if it is not sick, it will just add unwanted stress, which could actually make it sick.

Keep it in the quarantine, feed it well with garlic soaked food and wait for it to heal.
BTW a picture could help with a bacterial or fungal diagnosis, such as fin rot.

[schatzi]

I can try to get a pic but it's mostly hugging the rocks. I'm almost 100% that it's an injury and not a disease. Looks just like a cut would, the skin is split. The other side looks the same but it has some red in it. Both injuries are on the body of the fish, not the fins. But if that just described some disease I"m unfamiliar with then let me know. Another factor, it's the only fish with anything going on but I'll be on alert in case any of the others start showing something similar.

[cloak]

If these are indeed battle wounds and not a disease, what are you going to do with the fish if it does pull through? It might just get it's but kicked all over again if you put it back in the DT. For a $2 damsel, I would have just chalked it up as an unfortunate loss and moved on. Reef tank life can be cruel sometimes. Good luck though.