# Lower jaw wound



## marmot (Oct 26, 2007)

First off, I don't think this injury even warranted a post here, but better safe than sorry, for sure. My caribe, Hans, has a wound on the front of his lower jaw, and it appears he must have hit it on some driftwood in the tank, as there are no other fish that could have nipped him that are housed with him.

Is this serious at all? I have been adding salt to the water in an effort to remedy the situation, but just when it seems to be getting better he will hit it on the glass (he does this constantly), and it seems the road to recovery just keeps getting prolonged. Is there any medicine I can add to the water that will speed up the healing process?

Thanks and best,
Dustin


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## odyssey (May 30, 2006)

that is a chimple. they are kind of like a calous you get on your hand. salt will be just fine to prevent infection and speed up healing. but tbh, it will take a while anyway. just let it sort itself out. btw really nice fish, not much fat on the dorsum atall


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## marmot (Oct 26, 2007)

odyssey said:


> that is a chimple. they are kind of like a calous you get on your hand. salt will be just fine to prevent infection and speed up healing. but tbh, it will take a while anyway. just let it sort itself out. btw really nice fish, not much fat on the dorsum atall


Thank you Odyssey. It's appreciated. I have raised this fish from 1" or so; local store thought it was a common red belly. Not that common red bellies are inferior in any way, but I just like the temperament of the caribe species. He's basically intolerable of any other fish in his tank, the only thing that lives with him are a cherry barb and three red-eye tetras.

I wasn't aware that a non-fatty dorsum was a good thing. Cool. Thanks! He's just a c-hair shy of 8 inches. Here are more pics of Hans:


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## scotty (Oct 3, 2007)

how big is that tank?


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## marmot (Oct 26, 2007)

scotty said:


> how big is that tank?


The tank itself is 55 gallons. Unfortunately, he has to stay in there for another few days because the 125 is still cycling.


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## odyssey (May 30, 2006)

well, the dorsum is a fat reserve, it is common for them to have it in captivity (more than their counterparts in the wild) it could do with a bit more up there. but it looks very well proportioned. reminds me of a member on here (mr hannibal) cariba.


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## rotarypower (Dec 2, 2007)

2 of my RB's have that chimple, 1 worse than the other. I have been using PIMAFIX for the past 3 days, and I am already seeing a difference. The sores have gone down some. The recommended dosage is 7 days.


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## StryfeMP (Apr 26, 2007)

imho, it's always better to try and cure things the natural way rather than taking the chemical/medicine route right away.


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## rotarypower (Dec 2, 2007)

One of them has had it for about 5 or 6 months. I have used salt and a few other things, nothing worked. He spread it to two others. One cleared up on his own, the other started to get worse, so I went to go look for some help. According to the bottle, PIMAFIX is an ALL NATURAL tree extract.


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