What is this hole in the side of my Mandarin Dragonette?

[corrado007]

I've got a Mandarin Dragonette in my 90gal mixed reef. It has been doing well eating and has not been acting irregularly. I just noticed a white hole in it's side just behind it's left fin. The hole is about the diameter of a juice box straw and is about 1+mm deep as far as I can tell. Is this some sort of bacterial body rot??? I couldn't find a similar picture in my brief search, I'm posting rather than searching so that I can more quickly identify and treat the problem. I've removed the fish and have it quarantined. Here are the best pics I could take:

Picture 1 of the hole

Picture 2 of the hole

I found medications that sounded like they may treat a similar symptom and they were called Pimafix and Melafix, but I really don't know. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Justin

[Dentoid]

Looks like some kind of traumatic injury. Possibly something fell on him or another fish, pistol shrimp attacked him. These kinds of injuries will heal on their own in a healthy specimen with a good diet and excellent water parameters. if you have a QT, you may want to consider an antibiotic to keep the wound from getting secondarily infected. Also Mandarins do not have scales, so treating them may be different than other types of fishes.

Take a look at this thread for some ideas on treating with an antibiotic.

Stocking the Marine Fish Medicine Cabinet

All the beat!

[Techno-Vicki]

I think Scott is right. I have had fish with various 'cuts, scratches, etc' not a hole, however. They always heal in just a few days. One of my wrasses had its jaw alsome bit off. It healed in less than a week.

[michael_cb_125]

Dont put any copper in your Qt. Alo it may be better to put him back in the display, as there will not be enough food in a QT for him. ~Michael

[corrado007]

Hmmm. Well, I suppose it could be an injury as Scott and Vicki suggested and not some sort of fungal or bacterial infection in which case Michael would be right about putting it back into the display so it has food. I don't have any pistol shrimp or other creatures that should pose a threat to this guy except maybe a scarlet hermit or two that could see him as injured in which case they may try to "clean up" as they're supposed to do. Perhaps I should put it in the refugium so it has pods to eat but has no potential predators (there may be 1 emerald crab in there somewhere). My only concern is that if it is an infection or disease of some sort then the other fish could potentially be in danger of contracting what ever it is.
Other thoughts or ideas?
Thanks for the help so far, lets see if anyone else will chime in.
Justin

[michael_cb_125]

To me it looks like something that will heal. As long as he is eating well, and is under no stress the little guy should be fine.

[corrado007]

I really hope it is something that will heal. I'm just concerned that if it was not an injury caused by another tankmate or fallen rock there would be some underlying cause that needs to be treated for the fish to recover. The injury seems to symmetrical to be a gash or wound in my opinion. It seems like some sort of "invisible thing" is eating away at him in an outward pattern or something. Oh well, I'll keep searching for marine fish diseases and see if I come up with something that matches. Some of the stuff I've come across is pretty gross!
Thanks again for all your input.