Please help my fish!!

Question

Sapphire   QUESTION: Well my fish is a crossbreed between a manganese and a Texas cichlid. The incident happened about 18 hours ago. I have about a 40 gallon freshwater tank, with a filter and a heater (set to about 78 degrees), but was ordering a bigger tank for him. The levels of the tank when I tested them were 7.4 (basic). Yesterday when i got home I went up to greet him like I always do, he's always very affectionate. My fish hit the top of the tank with a lot of force and was momentarily stunned, it kind of looked like he stopped breathing so i thought he had hit his head, he has a few shallow lacerations on his side and by his tail, and a small puncture wound by his gill that i found when i looked him over. He's laying on his side, I'm not sure if he has a problem with his swim bladder, internal injury, or a broken spine. He's still breathing and he can use his front fins to swim, but it doesn't look like he can move his tail very well. Sapphire moved it about 3 times a few hours after he was hurt, but hasn't moved it much since then. He was swimming around for a bit using his front fins a few hours after, but was still swimming horizontal mostly. After he swims around he lies back down on the gravel. Also, he's been pooping a lot since he was injured. Is there any kind of medicine that can help with his pain or replace his slime coat fast (I had to touch him cause he was going belly up and wasn't breathing really). My fish shys away from my hand when i try to feed him. I think he might be strong enough to recover, but he'll starve to death if he doesn't eat. Is there a method I can use to feed him? My family thought that an eye dropper might work. I put a towel down on the gravel for his comfort though. Will my fish live? If there is anything I can do for him please tell me, I really love my fish!!!


ANSWER: Hi Dave,
 Give him time.  He can actually go a couple of weeks without eating and trying to force feed him will only make things much worse.  Do not put medicine in the water, that will make it worse.  Make sure that you have lots of air in the water to make it easier for him to breathe and hopefully he will recover.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com  
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Opps I guess I kind of did the wrong thing then. Oh yeah I forgot to say that my fish was about a foot long. Well I called Aquatropics (a fish store) They said that the best thing would be to give him Pimafix (for internal injuries) or Melafix (for external injuries). Um.. I put Pimafix in because I thought he might have internal injuries. And well he ate some soft krill pelts from my hand yesterday, should I continue feeding him or would that only stress him out more? If it's ok to feed him should I set him upright or let him lay on his side, because he sometimes spits out the food after a bit. Also, should I stop putting the medication in the water then or is Pimafix ok to use for now? I think I'll go get some of those air tablets at the pet store because the medication said it might make it harder for him to breath... Oh my mom wanted me to ask if he can feel any pain or if he's suffering? I'm pretty sure that he can, but she just wanted to know.
Thank you for all your help Ron! And sorry that I needed to ask a follow-up question..

Answer
Hi Dave,
  As far as I know, neither of those medicines is going to do anything good for that fish.
Personally, I would not feed him unless he really wants to eat.  I would not put oxygen tablets
in the water.  You should already have an airstone bubbling away (any proper fish tank should
have an airstone).   

  Yes, absolutely he can feel pain.  Fish feel pain exactly the same way you do. Is he suffering? Well, probably he is not feeling perfectly happy but give him time to recover.

-- Ron C.
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>