[Fish_Dude]

Last night, I removed my 6" 2 year old T. Intermedius because he was showing very agressive behavior. This is not uncommon for thes guy, but not typical of the species. Since other fish were being damaged, I removed the agressor.

I placed him in a 38 gallon overnight with a trio of 3" red empress and a 3" lwanda peacock.
This morning, he was in TERRIBLE shape. At first, I thought he was beat up, but now I realized that he probably chased someing in a cave and the rock fell on him. You can see some damage to his side, he looks rough, in color.. and is having trouble keeping himself upright.

He's a BIG fish, and the rock wasn't really any bigger than the fish, but that's not the point.

He's presently upside down in a tank by himself. He was such a strong fish last night, showing great colors and very active.. that I find it very unlikely this is due to disease.. as I said, it was probably a rock.

So, is it possible that he'll recover? He really is a VERY nice fish...

Here is a photo of this guy showing his colors.. which he was doing last night at 10pm.

You do NOT want to see him tonight. It's very very sad.
Losing a fish like this guy is hard.

 

[Robin]

He is truly a beautiful fish.

Unfortunately all you can do is pretty much what you're doing. Keep him quiet, isolated and in perfect water conditions. You could add Epsom Salt at the rate of 1 tablespoon per five gallons. This will work as a mild pain killer. Dissolve the salt first and add it gradually over several hours time. Make sure there's something in the tank with him like a fake plant or rock, (that won't fall over!) so he won't feel too exposed.
Melafix may also be helpful to speed healing.

Really sorry to hear he's not doing well and it doesn't sound good but I can tell you that I've read of many instances here in this folder with fish in equally bad shape and they went on to make a full recovery, so hang in there .

Robin