Argh! I cant believe this

[Wolf]

I was vacuuming out some water out of my breeding tank where they have about 300 wigglers now and my male got very aggresive and hit my vacuum tube hard 3 times and tore a 1/2 inch hole in his head. It pealed the skin away from his head and I can see white flesh underneath. Someone tell me what to do. Should I add salt to the tank and will it hurt the wigglers? I dont want it to get infected. This guy is VERY protective. I cant believe this just happend WTH. :-[

Keep up with your normal maintenance and see if it heals on its own. If it becomes a problem you can move him and treat accordingly.

Mike

[Wolf]

Mike thanks for the expert advice. Do you have any suggestions to keep this from happening again? I was thinking about adding a sponge filter around the tube so it's a little softer when he attacks it next time. I hope it heals over. It's right between his eyes and a big flap of skin has been torn off.

[BlueTurquoise]

:-\ sounds bad. Sorry to hear about it. If he's strong and healthy he should be fine. My discus has cut himself up pretty badly in the past but it heals qiuickly so long as you keep up the routine of clean water.

Chong

[Ralph]

If possible, can you leave the vacuum in the tank, in a corner or on the bottom? He will be less likely to attack it if it is in the tank all the time. An alternative would be to float it in the tank for a half hour before cleaning. My fish used to freak when I used an orange scrub pad on the sides of the tank. Now I just throw it in the tank for 15 minutes before cleaning and they don't even pay attention. It may help.

[jeep]

I've used Melifix with great success on injuries where fungus has set in and it has worked for me. It's more of a mild anticeptic and check out what effect it may have on the fry before using it though.