Silver Dollar heater issue - skin burned

Hi, here is the situation which I need an advise for. I have 3 silver dollars in a new aquarium and one of them was hiding by the heater all night. Next morning I noticed that part of his body was white. After looking carefully I think what happened is he was touching the heater for a long time and glued to it or something. he was missing part of his skin, which I found later on the gravel. It's been 2 days, I try not to disturb him too much. He is seems to swim normally when nobody around but I think he's really stressed. Now the part with missing skin turned red and I'm worrying if there might be some infection and what should I do with him. Please help since he is about a year old and I don't want to lose him.

 

Can you get any or all of these: Fish Protector, Vita-Chem, Garlic Boost? I'd add those daily to the tank to help healing and hopefully prevent infection from setting in.

Do you have a picture you could post?

 

Where can I get them in denver area since you are also here? I will try to get the pic but don't want to put extra stress on him.

 

I've not found them all locally. I order them online from thatfishplace .. you might try The Fish Den. I'm not sure of their number, but they're on 44th, right by 44th and Sheridan.

 

For the pic, try having the lights in the tank on, the rest of the room lights off, and take it without a flash. This might not work, but it might, and if it does, you won't have to stress the fish.

 

here is what I was able to get... he don't want to show that side and he's fast... I can upload a bigger size if needed. Thanks

p.s. ordered all those meds at that web site...

 

Oh my... That does look really bad. However, he's swimming, so that's a good sign. Sometimes injuries look worse than they are.

I would watch him for any signs of being picked on. Many fish will try to drive sick/injured fish away (probably because blood carries really well in water, and no school wants to attract predators).

However, if he's not being picked on, and if he's eating, he's got a chance. I would try target-feeding him. Give the others something, then use a tweezers or forceps to put a piece of veggie (parboiled zucchinI for example) right in front of him. I suggest fresh veggies because excellent nutrition is going to be one of his best friends over the next couple of weeks.
Make sure the water quality remains pristine, to the point of doing 10% water changes every day (doing a lot of smaller changes will help avoid disturbing the poor guy).

 

OUCH!!!! That's got to hurt!
You have 2 options for your silver dollar. Only you can decide which is best.
1, Euthanasia
2, Try and treat the fish.

If you are going to treat this fish, you must first understand that secondary infection to a wound like this will be the biggest issue, so I give you the following advice.
This fish will need to be treated in a hospital tank as it will be a risk to the other fish should the bacteria / infection take hold.. IE Diseases are confined to the hospital tank.
The temp in the hospital tank will need to be at the lowest temp that is in the fishes temp range. The reason for the low temp is that bacteria multiply quicker at higher temps, so lower temp slow bacterial growth.
You will need to run a UV Sterilizer ( 9 watt will do for a hospital tank ), the UV will kill bacteria that is in the water.. IE Sterilize the water the fish is in.
Get the meds/treatment,
Best of luck, and I hope all goes well for you and your fish!

 

Right now there is only 3 dollars and 2 small plecos in that tank. So I'm not worrying about picking. but I will try and get him to a quarantine tank and see what I can do with those meds and other advise. Thanks

 

Wow.. I didn't realize it was that bad. I would call around and find this:

asap. I think with a fish his size and that type of wound, this could really help him out while those other things are shipping to you. I think I saw it at The Fish Den, but I'm not 100% sure.

 

You may want to get a heater guard for the heater so this does not happen again.
We use them for our seahorses as they just want to hitch on anything and everything.

 

after adding garlic boost and fish protector seems like he is becoming active again. he and another one swimming around and eating. his wound looks much better but there is some kind of white spot. I'm including picture. also third one now got some kind of black spot on the body right after head and hiding almost all the time. Any recomendation on medecine? I also planning to add vita-chem to help with regeneration.

 

I'd keep up with what you've been doing. I'm not sure what that white spot is now, but it maybe the deepest area of the wound. I'd watch it for any changes.

 

:console: Poor baby......I have had rainbows get wounds similar, and was told melafix will help....None of the fish ever have healed up before bacteria/fungal infection set in. As stated REALLY pristine water conditions and the other recommendations MIGHT help.....

 

HI pashka17
I've heard the black spot is a sign of being ready to breed. It should be on both sides of your silver dollar.
It looks like your doing a good job getting your other one better , keep it up.

 

After seeing this, I might invest in a heater guard. It's quite strange - You'd think the fish would realise it's being hurt and move off the heater... :S

Best of luck with your fish - hope he's better soon.

 

Yes, I would think that they smart enough... but now I placed it that way that nobody can touch it... Looks like they are healing now but for some reason nitrite level spiked. So now i'm fighting that.

 

Are you using Prime for your tap water conditioner? If not, I'd switch to that. It helps with water chemistry problems to protect the fish some. Combined with the water changes, that spike shouldn't have any negative effects on your silver dollar.

 

Actually I don't use any water conditioner since I have whole house filter system. It removes all the chlorine and metals and provides soft water with ph about 7.4-7.6. So in last 4-5 years I never had a problem with any of the ammonia nitrites or nitrates. I'm thinking may be they were not eating much for few days and the food was the factor in this case. I will try to vacuum the gravel and do 10-20% water change. will see...

 

So the nitrite spike is gone now?

 

Glad to hear he's healing.

Keep us posted.

 

yes, nitrite spike is almost gone.
Current readings:
nitrite - 0.25
PH - 6.8-7
Nitrate - 10
Ammonia - 0

the black spots disappeared and they are swimming and eating like healthy fish. So, I think if I do 10-20% water change and test again in a couple days. After that I can put carbon part of the filter back.

Do you think he will grow the skin back or it will be a scar like this?

 

I'd probably do 25% on the water every couple days until the nitrites test reads 0 when done right before a scheduled water change.

I'm not sure if he'll completely heal back to look the same, but I think he will. It will just take time for that much regeneration. I'd add vita-chem and fish protector daily to speed that up as much as possible.