Outdoor Pond Goldfish Injury

Question
Just discovered one of my large goldfish on its side, but alive.... on close inspection looks like it has a scrape or even a chunk out of its side...not large....but....

I have pond netting, because a heron has tried to eat the fish. I can't see that there's any way it could have poked this one, but maybe that's a possibility.

How do I treat the fish? Anything I can do for it? Help ASAP!

Answer
Hi Sandi,
  It all depends on how deep the chunk is and whether any vital organs were hit.  In general, it is up to the fish to recover.  All that you can do is to control secondary infections by fungus.  There are various anti-fungal medications out there that you can get at most fish stores.  I would try one of those, but you will need to put the fish in a "hospital tank" to do that, otherwise you will need tons of medicine to treat a whole pond.

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