Zoster Butterfly with injury

[mander]

I just noticed my Zoster Butterfly has a small thin slice on his side. I am pretty sure it wasn't there yesterday. It's a healthy, happy fish, eats well, gets along with all tank mates, so I wonder if it was nestled into a rock and hurt itself, perhaps?

Is there anything I can do or is it doomed to die? I do not have a QT and don't think I could catch him anyway.

 

[SDguy]

Keep water quality great, and it should be no problem. They are hardy fish.

 

[mander]

I sure hope so, I love that fish!

 

[mander]

:/ Well what was a small cut now looks like a big clump of internal bleeding (or something). I'll be surprised if he's still alive in the morning. Boohoo!

 

[hogfanreefer]

How long have you had him? I've had two pairs of Pyramid Butterflies arrive with similar lesions and all died within 48 hours.

 

[Dmorty217]

Did he make it thru the night?

 

[mander]

Yup, he's still here with us, and it seems like his side is less splotchy than yesterday. Who knows though. I've had him for several weeks and he was in great shape until this slice showed up yesterday.

 

[mander]

I'm happy to report this fish is totally fine. His side has healed up nicely and the splotchy bleeding near it has cleared. I'm honestly completely shocked at how well he recovered!

Now, in the meantime, my clowns disappeared and I can see one hiding in a cave. I wonder what happened to spook the clowns (if they are both alive, anyway) and cause the cut in the zoster. They happened around the same time. Everyone in the tank is peaceful, though I have a very active, but not aggressive, bristletooth tang. I wonder if he zipped around too much and spooked them.

 

[Reef Bass]

Good news that the fish survived.

Any tangs in the tank? Occasionally they get upset, whip out their blades and get busy with them.

 

[mander]

Two tangs, the bristletooth I mentioned above and a juvenille convict. Never seen either get aggressive at all but that bristletooth/kole tang gets excitable when he thinks I'm going to feed them and zooms around super fast.

 

[Betta132]

Spines + zoom = trouble.
I had a rhino blenny impale himself on a waspfish's 1/2" spines because the blenny freaked and the wasp huddled down and flared.