Filefish had tail eaten off after getting head-spike stuck.

[An_Enemy]

I have a matted filefish that's kept in the sump (has become his home to aggression with other fish).

Today I found him lodged at the bottom of the tank due to the spikes on its horn. They were lodged into some filter foam that I use to buffer the protein skimmer.
There was a pencil sea urchin above him and his tail had been completely eaten off, down to the bone. There's nothing else in with him.

It took some effort to free him, he must have struggled and lodged his horn pretty deep onto the foam. After getting it unstuck, he swam back to his usual hiding spot.
I'm not sure how long he was there, but he was fine yesterday and he's quite fat/well fed.

I've heard of fish surviving after losing their tails, but is there anything that I can do to prevent it from becoming infected?
Has anyone had anything similar happen before? What did you do?

I can't get any photos of him now, but I've attached an image of a filefish that shows how much of his tail was eaten off.

 

[davidcalgary29]

A methylene blue dip might help as a preventitive; @Jay Hemdal may have advice about specific meds.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

The key is if the bones of the hypural plate are exposed or not. If they are, it is pretty difficult to stop an infection - similar to a wound exposing bone on any animal.
To try and prevent an infection, you would need to move it to a treatment tank and dose it with a broad spectrum gram negative antibiotic like Neoplex.
One good thing is that filefish really just use their caudal fin for steering, not so much for propulsion.
Jay

 

[An_Enemy]

The key is if the bones of the hypural plate are exposed or not. If they are, it is pretty difficult to stop an infection - similar to a wound exposing bone on any animal.
To try and prevent an infection, you would need to move it to a treatment tank and dose it with a broad spectrum gram negative antibiotic like Neoplex.
One good thing is that filefish really just use their caudal fin for steering, not so much for propulsion.
Jay

Thanks for the advice, Jay!
I don't have a separate tank available, it is ok to moving him into anther container temporarily when dosing?

Also I have a large isolation box, would it be a good idea to move him in there to make sure he's the walls he touches are clean, or would the stress of being in there have a negative impact on him?

 

[Tired]

I'm pretty sure you have to keep a fish in the antibiotics, period, you don't just dip it for a bit.

Got a 5-gallon bucket, a heater, a gentle filter or airstone, and some way to cover the bucket so the fish can't jump out? Then you have a tank.

 

[An_Enemy]

I'm pretty sure you have to keep a fish in the antibiotics, period, you don't just dip it for a bit.

Got a 5-gallon bucket, a heater, a gentle filter or airstone, and some way to cover the bucket so the fish can't jump out? Then you have a tank.

Wouldn't a set up like that build up ammonia to dangerous level pretty fast?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks for the advice, Jay!

I don't have a separate tank available, it is ok to moving him into anther container temporarily when dosing?

Also I have a large isolation box, would it be a good idea to move him in there to make sure he's the walls he touches are clean, or would the stress of being in there have a negative impact on him?

An isolation box would be a good idea. Antibiotics need to be dosed for 5 to 7 days, so a temporary dosing container won’t work.
Jay

 

[An_Enemy]

Update.

Here's how he looks this morning. It doesn't look that bad from this side, but the wound is diagonal.
I've bought a new tank but it's not arriving until monday. I'm going out to buy some antibiotics today and I'll set up a 5 gallon bucket as a temporary tank until it arrives.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

You'll have a lot of difficulty managing the ammonia level in the bucket - you need to keep it below 0.25 ppm most of the time and below 0.50 at all times. Without a biofilter, you'll need to rely on huge water changes, that can be up to 100% per day. Be sure to have a heater and good aeration as well.

Try to feed the fish in the isolation box. If it is still eating, you might consider just holding it there unless you see signs of secondary infection on the wound, then go and treat it.

Jay

 

[AydenLincoln]

I can’t believe he’s still alive! Best wishes for the little guy.

 

[An_Enemy]

You'll have a lot of difficulty managing the ammonia level in the bucket - you need to keep it below 0.25 ppm most of the time and below 0.50 at all times. Without a biofilter, you'll need to rely on huge water changes, that can be up to 100% per day. Be sure to have a heater and good aeration as well.

Try to feed the fish in the isolation box. If it is still eating, you might consider just holding it there unless you see signs of secondary infection on the wound, then go and treat it.

Jay

He's gotten a lot worse in just a day, he's lost some of his other fins since yesterday and he seems a lot weaker. Is this caused by a bacterial infection? It takes him a lot of effort to swim upright.

He's in a bucket setup with antibiotics at the moment, but most if the time he's laying at the bottom.
Is there anymore more that I can do to increase his chances?

 

[Tired]

Fins rotting away sounds like a bacterial infection. It may be time to consider euthanizing him, between the infection and the obvious weakness. That's not a state that fish tend to recover from- it may be time to break out the clove oil.

If you continue trying to keep him alive, give him something to hide under. A reduction in stress can only help.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

He's gotten a lot worse in just a day, he's lost some of his other fins since yesterday and he seems a lot weaker. Is this caused by a bacterial infection? It takes him a lot of effort to swim upright.

He's in a bucket setup with antibiotics at the moment, but most if the time he's laying at the bottom.
Is there anymore more that I can do to increase his chances?

If it is losing fins while it is in isolation, that means the bacteria itself is eating away at the fins (as opposed to continued bites from other fish, or damage from the filter, etc.)

That looks pretty bad overall, I agree that euthanasia may be the best option at this point, sorry.

Jay