My puffer got stabbed bad!

[museumguy]

So I am in charge of 4 fish tanks at my job. I am an entomologist (insects) by trade and so they figured they could stick me in charge of 4 salt water tanks too. Prior to 5 months ago I had zero experience with salt water fish, and they thrust these tanks on me, but I am learning fast and learning a lot. I have:

1200g reef tank
190g predator/fish only tank
125g clownfish/anemone mini reef tank
90g seahorse tank


So today I go out to feed the fish and see my big stars and stripes puffer fish is in a bad way. The puffer fish had gotten tangled up with a big black long spine sea urchin we had in the tank with him. I'm guessing someone hit the tank or something to spook him and he swam full speed into the urchin. He looked like a pin cushion, he had 6-7 black spines sticking out of him, one was sticking out of his eye... It was the tissue around the edge of the eye, not the lense.

Has anyone had experience with this? Any thoughts on what we should do?

We put him into an isolation tank and left the spines in, as per the suggestion of our LRS who we contract with. But they admitted they had never really seen this before, so I was wondering if you had any suggestions. The spines have broken off at the surface of the skin but you can still see half inch long splinters of spine embedded in him.

Any suggestions?? Help! hehe

Thanks so much!

 

[phaedraeos]

I'm not sure where you're located, but you might try calling a nearby aquarium and asking their vet for advice. I'm in Boston, and I know that the New England Aquarium has a full time vet staff.

 

[billsreef]

diadema spines are very brittle, any attempts at removal only create little pieces. I know when I get jabbed by them, I just knead the spot to break up the spine as best I can and just wait for them dissolve on their own. In a puffer, probably the best bet is keep it isolated and watch for infection. Any attempts at removal are likely to just make things worse.

 

[museumguy]

Thanks for your help guys, I'll keep you posted. The puffer looked ok today, hopefully he can beat this.