hurt fish

Question
I have a jackdempsey the size of my hand and a suckerfish about 7 to 8 inches long. The suckerfish finned the jackdempsey in the head and above the eye. It has holes and white stuff is coming out and the eyes are swollen very bad. Will the ick medicine help him to heal? Also there is fuzzies on him and the tank. What should i do? It would be a blessing if you could help.


                            Thank You
                               Mot

Answer
Hi Mot,
 You need to separate those fish to give the Jack Dempsey a chance to heal.  The more important question is why did the plecostomus do this in the first place?  Have you been putting in food for the plecostomus?  All too often people just feed the other fish and assume that the plecostomus will eat the left overs.  It wont'.  You need to put in food specifically for the plecostomus. Sinking algae wafers are great for this.   If you don't the plecostomus will attempt to graze on the side of any fish it can. This can easily kill the other fish.

-- Ron C.
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
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