Need help healing a bite wound

[Queen_of_Red_Lions]

I have a paradise gourami who has been thriving for at least a month and is very friendly. A while ago he got a little chunk bitten out of his side right before his tail fin starts, but never seemed to care, and does not seem so now. However, I noticed today that it looks like someone else has picked on it, and I can see a little white thing in there that I am hoping isn't bone. It has never looked infected and doesn't now, but it does look irritated. Does anyone know if there is anything I can put in the water to help it heal? It does not look like it has healed at all since he got it, which was at least a month ago.

 

[J@ke]

Does it look like this:

http://www.watergarden.com/store/product/firshtreatment/AnchorWorm.jpg

If so your fish may have an anchore worm. The easiest way of getting rid of it, that I know of (Chime in if any else knows of something better), is to take the fish out of your tank and use tweezers to remove the parasite.

 

[Queen_of_Red_Lions]

It doesn't, thankfully. It is really small, and he isn't very big himself. I took a decent photo of it that I'll attach on here. It seems like it is starting to affect him because it probably hurts to swim. I'm worried. I love this fish.

 

[jo3olous]

your tank is badly stocked, overstocked and a shubunkin does not belong with tropical fish. tropicals + goldfish = HUGE NO NO. Open a thread and you will learn everything wrong with your tank, plus what you can do to fix it so that your fish live longer than... a few months

 

[Queen_of_Red_Lions]

Yeah, thanks for answering my question. Now can anyone actually help me instead of just being belligerent?

 

[jo3olous]

Yeah, thanks for answering my question. Now can anyone actually help me instead of just being belligerent?

it's not belligerent its fact; your fish cannot sustain healthy lives in your current stocking situation, and the problems you are experiencing with fish will almost always boil down to your irresponsibility as a fish keeper. Remove all the wrongs with your current fish setup, and it will be easier to see why you are having your fish bite problem.

You post on this thread for advice and suggestions, you get it. belligerent, lol. you can keep being belligerent by being irresponsible with your fish.*thumbsdow

 

[jo3olous]

You should definitely consider your stock, make sure your tank is properly cycled, and keep up with constant water changes. You reached your tank stocking limits at the 2 opaline gouramis. Everything else is just massive overkill. Not to mention the shubunkin is coldwater and is a large bioload. your fish are going to be overstressed from the overcrowding, and will probably get ammonia poisoning relatively soon.

opaline: 6'' x2
your other gouramis: 3-4''
your pleco: 18''
shubunkin: 9-16'' **COLDWATER FISH**

 

[emmanuelchavez]

Do you have a quarantine tank you can move him to so he can heal without any of the other fish to bother him and further pick at his wound?

I think MelaFix is what's used to prevent infections and help with the healing of wounds.

 

[Joeyb1731]

Melafix is what I was given, I never had a bite but I bought it just to put in for secondary infections after ich. I think it works good for bites, and they guy at the LFS said they use it on all their tanks and that you really dont need to take the carbon out of your filter, it also is cheap, and smells really good.

However if your tank is overstocked and or stocked with the wrong fish then you should probably look into that before treating a bite wound, because you may be delaying the inevitable