goby has hole on body & I'm getting very worried

[nickyblase]

Please help - My yellow watchman started out with a white spot on his side, didn't look like ich, and he was eating, so I just kept an eye on him. I thought he might have been stung by my torch coral.

A couple weeks go by with no change, and then all of a sudden it turns into a hole on his body, with reddish things visible - I called my LFS who I really trust, and she thought that it could either be a parasite that was in the hole, or perhaps his intestines. She recommended that I do a dip with paraguard to see if it would help. I did this, and he didn't show any signs of stress, so I hoped it was a good sign.

Then I look at him today, and the red things are no longer visible, and the hole is smaller, but the bottom of his belly is now concave (see photo).

What should I do?? Is he dying? I am afraid to pull him out again and cause undue stress, especially since I just pulled him out of the tank 2 days ago. He's in a reef tank, so I am somewhat limited in what I can administer.

If the answer is to leave him in the main tank & keep an eye on him, what signs should I look for?

PLEASE HELP!! Photos below. The first one shows the red things, and the second picture shows the hole today. Sorry for the photo quality. Haven't mastered that yet.

 

[Ba19Ma88]

Can you set up a small hospital tank? If you can I would do that (try and get the parameters the same as your main tank) and just keep an eye on him and if possible either dip his food in selcon or garlic.

Other than that I would try to keep an eye on him hope for the best. I am by far an expert and can only suggest what I would do. I am sure you will get many better answers from much more knowledgeable reefers than me.

I wish you luck.
Bruce

 

[nickyblase]

Thanks. I have been soaking the food in garlic and fish vitamins, but can't tell if it's helping. He didn't eat yesterday, but he doesn't always jump right up at every feeding anyway.

 

[nickyblase]

bump - please.... has this ever happened to anyone? Any ideas?

 

[~Flighty~]

This could be a shot in the dark, but I had a fish that I think was atacked by a gorilla crab and it ended up with a hole in it. Any chance of a hitchhiker like that?

 

[nickyblase]

Haven't seen any hitchhikers, but it's not out of the question. I have a feeling it's internal parasites, but am not sure. At this point, the hole is almost closed, still has some white around it (flesh). The belly underneath where the hole was though is receding even more, hard to explain - looks like he's wearing a girdle almost. His color is still nice and bright though, which I'm hoping is a good sign. I picked up some of that medicated food yesterday. Pepso or pepto something? Can't remember the name, but it's reef/invert safe, and is for internal parasites. Hopefully the other pigs in my tank will let some actually fall to the bottom so the goby can get some.

Will keep you posted.

 

[NateHanson]

That belly-tightening is typical for a fish that isn't eating enough. How long have you had this fish? Have you tried a variety of food preparations? Do you see him eat regularly?

I think it's great that he's healing from his hole, and it would be a shame to lose him to starvation at this point. Try to make sure you're feeding foods he likes, and be positive that plenty of it is getting to him without the other fish harrassing him.

If the other fish are a problem, it may be necessary to remove him to a separate tank so he can get something to eat for a while.

Nate

 

[nickyblase]

I've had him for 4 months, and he was always looking great. I feed the tank flake, pellets, and frozen mysis (along with zoo & phyto plankton for the corals). He mostly ate the pellets. I picked up some of the pepso food and was doing some of that too. Turns out he still wouldn't eat, and I lost him yesterday. I had to really control myself when I saw that. I LOVED that damn fish. I was so sure that since his color was still bright and his hole was closing up that he was on the mend. Not sure why he wouldn't eat. The other fish were leaving him alone, and there was plenty of opportunity for him to get the food that was floating right past him.

I think for now I will just leave the tank as-is with the lonely chromis and sixline and wait a little while before I put another fish in. At least all the inverts, corals, and the above fish look like they're thriving.