Fish first aid

[NonSequitur]

After I fed the fish yesterday evening I noticed my engineer goby acting strangely.. looking closer I noticed a wound on his side. As I was setting up my QT I noticed the eel dart out and grab at him. He got free, but is looking a little rough at the moment.

I put him in the QT with sand and a couple of rocks to hide in, but was wondering what else I can do to give him the best chance at recovery. He ate a little last night (mysis with garlic), but has been pretty lethargic and isn't digging at all. Would adding antibiotics or any dye based medicines to the water help? (I have sulfa, tetracycline, erythromycin (sp?), methylene blue, and malachite green on hand).

[JamesL]

Hmmm.. not sure on the med's, but sounds like you are doing everything else right. The less stress he has, the faster he should recover. And good job giving him hiding places and sand in the QT. That should make him more comfortable.

[+cyrus]

Thats sucks, any sandbed dwellers or shrimps are no good for eels unless you want them to be lunch. If you go on liveaquaria there is a compatibility chart that will help you avoid troubles like these in the future.

[+KeeperOfTheZoo]

I can't believe he bit him! Do you think he did the initial injury or just took a bite after something else hurt the goby and he smelled an injured animal?

I know eels are predators by nature, but that guys always been so mellow. Was he hungry? Feeding frenzy attack?

Hope your goby recovers. My rule with antibiotics is to only use when absolutely needed. Remember they'll kill all bacteria including those that are beneficial and necessary for life. That's hard on an already stressed creature. That said eels are known for having bacteria ladden mouths and infection is a real problem for people after an eel bite. Why don't you email the folks over at wet web media and see if they have any suggestions for treating fish after an eel bite.

[NonSequitur]

It's very likely that he that something else injured him originally, the goby spends most of his time in his burrow, so I rarely see more than just the first inch of him, so I don't really know how old the injury was.. between rocks and anemones and powerheads and the pistol shrimp the tank is not a safe place. I had actually fed the eel the day before (he ate 4 shrimp) and offered him food last night before the incident, he didn't come out, so I figured he wasn't hungry. I always feed him first, and have never seen him show more than a passing interest in the chromis when he's hungry, so he probably sensed a weak, injured animal and instinct kicked in.

I went home at lunch and so far the little guy's still hanging in there.. not digging yet, but alive and hiding in the rocks, so that's a good sign. I'm going to hold off on the meds for now, as long as he's eating I'll just leave him alone to heal.

[+KeeperOfTheZoo]

I'm glad the goby is hanging in there. Seems like if he's made it this far he'll probably be ok with time to recoup. Eating is always a good sign.

Since the eel was full I can't imagine he'd go after the goby under normal circumstances. When I had him he never showed much interest in any of the fish, even when he was hungry. It always seemed like he was following the fish to food vs. seeing the fish as food.

Gosh, 4 shrimp for dinner. I'm surprised the eel wasn't too stuffed to move. I'm so glad he went to you Jeremy, talk about a spoiled fish.

[NonSequitur]

talk about a spoiled fish.

Oh yeah.. he eats very well.. just finished the last of his calamaris rings on Monday, so he's eating shrimp until my next trip to the grocery store (probably this weekend). It's funny, the guy at the seafood counter thought I was joking when I mentioned needing "eel chow", so I had to bring in a picture. Now whenever I go in there he points out what's freshest. The cloudiness in his eye has totally cleared up too, and he seems to have grown a bit. Definitely a fascinating animal.

[NonSequitur]

Well, not only did he eat tonight, but when I got home I noticed that one of the rocks was nicely undermined in true engineer goby fashion. I think the little guy is going to be alright.

[+KeeperOfTheZoo]

LOL! I bought him a single baby octopus at central market one time and had to explain that it was for an eel.

I'm so glad his eye cleared up. Both were really cloudy when I got him. The one had cleared and the other improved before I gave him to you. I think I told you, but the lady I got him from had only ever fed him live FW feeder fish. Yuck. He really is a neat animal, but I sure don't miss his aquascaping the tank to make tunnels.

I'm so glad the goby is doing well. I wonder what got him the first time?

[Timfish]

. . . as long as he's eating I'll just leave him alone to heal. . .

If a fish is eating I usually figure it's not in to bad of shape. Like the above posts I hate adding antibiotics because of what they do to the ecosystem and would only do it in a quarintine tank like you have set up.