Long term care of injured fish - tips?

schatzi · 08/26/2016, 09:15 AM

My Red Velvet Fairy Wrasse has a dislocated jaw. It appeared he was eating fine in the DT, but a couple of weeks after the injury developed he stopped showing up for food. After a couple of days I fished him out of the tank and put him in QT. He looked almost dead, bulging eyes and no energy. Obviously he hadn't been eating enough and was slowly starving. I kept at it, offering shrimp and flakes and he recovered!! Took about a week and it was 3 or 4 days before I had any hope he would make it. Truly amazing, we had basically said our goodbyes. I would say he's at 90% of his former self, one eye is still slightly out of whack. So now it was obvious he could eat, he had the will to live, but can't eat fast enough in the DT to keep up. Thankfully my setup allows me to add tanks and thankfully I already had everything needed to get him his own space. He is now alone in a bare bottom 40 breeder and when I feed the feed cycle is set to an hour and 15 minutes to give him enough time. Over feeding him is fine, the system can handle it. With his tank I'm at 310 gallons with 11 fish total.

So that brings me to my question...is there anything else I can do to help him? I'm in this for the long haul without question.

Currently I'm feeding Brine shrimp, Spirulina shrimp and flakes, multiple times throughout the day. I don't see him eat much but when I check later the food is always gone or mostly gone, and he's still looking healthy, so he's eating.

Thanks for reading.

Fiver · 08/26/2016, 10:34 AM

No tips to add. Just wanted to say good job and good luck! I've had freshwater fish get eaten and spit out by a wavemaker and fully recover with time. One lost an eye. Another had a HUGE chunk of its side missing, and the flesh grew back.

C.Eymann · 08/26/2016, 10:52 AM

I would say keep doing what you are doing because it sounds like its working.

08/26/2016, 09:15 AM	#1
schatzi Professional amateur Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: JC, MO Posts: 513	Long term care of injured fish - tips? My Red Velvet Fairy Wrasse has a dislocated jaw. It appeared he was eating fine in the DT, but a couple of weeks after the injury developed he stopped showing up for food. After a couple of days I fished him out of the tank and put him in QT. He looked almost dead, bulging eyes and no energy. Obviously he hadn't been eating enough and was slowly starving. I kept at it, offering shrimp and flakes and he recovered!! Took about a week and it was 3 or 4 days before I had any hope he would make it. Truly amazing, we had basically said our goodbyes. I would say he's at 90% of his former self, one eye is still slightly out of whack. So now it was obvious he could eat, he had the will to live, but can't eat fast enough in the DT to keep up. Thankfully my setup allows me to add tanks and thankfully I already had everything needed to get him his own space. He is now alone in a bare bottom 40 breeder and when I feed the feed cycle is set to an hour and 15 minutes to give him enough time. Over feeding him is fine, the system can handle it. With his tank I'm at 310 gallons with 11 fish total. So that brings me to my question...is there anything else I can do to help him? I'm in this for the long haul without question. Currently I'm feeding Brine shrimp, Spirulina shrimp and flakes, multiple times throughout the day. I don't see him eat much but when I check later the food is always gone or mostly gone, and he's still looking healthy, so he's eating. Thanks for reading. __________________ 125g Mixed Reef, 46g predator tank, 25g fuge, 39g frag/fuge, 70g sump, 29g clown tank.

08/26/2016, 10:52 AM	#3
C.Eymann Cnidaria lover Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Winterpark FL Posts: 1,483	I would say keep doing what you are doing because it sounds like its working. __________________ "I glue animals to rocks" Current Tank Info: 80gal build in the works

08/26/2016, 10:34 AM	#2
Fiver Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2015 Posts: 365	No tips to add. Just wanted to say good job and good luck! I've had freshwater fish get eaten and spit out by a wavemaker and fully recover with time. One lost an eye. Another had a HUGE chunk of its side missing, and the flesh grew back.