Please Help - My Fish's Dorsal Got Shredded

[nmprisons]

During the night, something (I assume the larger leaf fish) appears to have bitten and removed the flesh off of my smaller leaf fish's dorsal fin ... the fin rays are still there and complete, but the flesh on the dorsal has been stripped off.

I believe it was an attack and not an illness because the fish's breathing is normal and the rest of his body looks fine. Also, he ate aggressively yesterday.

I don't have a separate tank to remove him to, is there anything else that I can do?

Thanks,
Adam

 

[nmprisons]

crap ... and now my hermits are going after the wound

 

[nmprisons]

oops, it was his caudal fin, not dorsal ... sorry

 

[caynus]

Remove him if possible without stressing him too much.

If you think you cant move him without stressing him too much, leave him in the tank and keep an eye on him. I've had numerous fishes with badly chewed dorsal, caudal and ventral fins, and if they appear to be swimming fine and feeding normally then I leave them be and just keep an eye on them. The best thing you can do is just leave them be. The wound will heal remarkably quick if left alone, and his fin will grow back aswell.

Possibly think about moving the hermit crabs out of the tank as opposed to the fish, just for the time being.

 

[caynus]

Sorry, i misread the first part of your post. Dont worry about trying to remove him, even if you had a tank i wouldn't recommend it. If he is feeding fine, and behaving/swimming normally he should be ok. Just keep an eye out for him getting bullied, and for those pesky hermits too.