Not a true emergency, but please have a look

[Sweetpea]

I added 5 chromis to my tank on Saturday. All seemed to acclimate well and had a nice late night snack of cyclopeeze . They all seemed to be doing well Sunday, too. Late Sunday evening, I noticed a small brown spot on the "chin" of one chromis. Today the spot has grown slightly, but the fish still behaves, swims, and eats normally. Below is a photo... any thoughts?

[Sir Patrick]

Other chromis been beating that little guy up?

[Tom@HaslettMI]

too tough for me to tell from the picture but it kinda looks like a few missing scales. Are the other chromis picking on it? My understanding is the gang will pick on the weakest until there is only one left.

Patrick beat me to it...

[Sweetpea]

No, they all are doing fabulous! That's what's gotten me so confused! If I had to pick, I'd say he is tied with one other for the largest of the school, and they all seem to be getting along very well! If it weren't for that spot I'd never know a thing was wrong. Go figure! :P

[Tom@HaslettMI]

Do you think it's missing scales? If so, it may have gotten startled and scraped against a rock or coral. I'd just keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get a secondary infection or grow any larger.

Tom

[Sweetpea]

That's a good point! If he'd hurt himself the wound may get infected... I've never had to deal with an injury before, but aren't there reef-safe antibiotics I can dose?

[Tom@HaslettMI]

I'm not sure that I'd go that route, unless I saw something growing on the fish. I would, however, garlic soak their food (if you're not already). Just don't waste your money on the store bought stuff. Crush and soak a few cloves of organic garlic in RO water. Add a few drops of the garlicky water to frozen food, let soak/steep for 15 minutes and feed. If you tip the garlic bottle off each time it gets half-full you'll have years worth of wonderful, stinky water.

Tom

[Sweetpea]

Nice point... we Italians always have garlic handy, lol! :)

[Tom@HaslettMI]

Nice. It'll probably heal on it's own especially if it's eating and acting normal.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Tom

[Sweetpea]

Well, the spot has gotten a little bigger, just a tiny bit, and I cannot see any signs of infection. He still seems to be acting just fine... swims well, eats well, and comes to see me when I step up to the tank! :)