Emergency fish story

[cracklingice]

I still can't believe this. I'm sure you won't either without these. Pics.

http://cracklingice.is-a-geek.org/swap/stupidfish/mini-100_3152.JPG (http://cracklingice.is-a-geek.org/swap/stupidfish/100_3152.JPG)
http://cracklingice.is-a-geek.org/swap/stupidfish/mini-100_3153.JPG (http://cracklingice.is-a-geek.org/swap/stupidfish/100_3153.JPG)
http://cracklingice.is-a-geek.org/swap/stupidfish/mini-100_3155.JPG (http://cracklingice.is-a-geek.org/swap/stupidfish/100_3155.JPG)
http://cracklingice.is-a-geek.org/swap/stupidfish/mini-100_3156.JPG (http://cracklingice.is-a-geek.org/swap/stupidfish/100_3156.JPG) http://cracklingice.is-a-geek.org/swap/stupidfish/mini-100_3157.JPG (http://cracklingice.is-a-geek.org/swap/stupidfish/100_3157.JPG)

I've checked the fish and the only problems I have seen is that the fish is stressed. I have put in some stress coat to hopefully get it's natural coating back quicker and all healed with less stress.

[cracklingice]

Now I'm noticing some little red marks on the fish's underbelly. Suggestions on what I should use to ensure no infections?

[crazyfishlady]

I like stress coat by seachem, but its kind of impossible to find in stores in my area. You might want to check around for it though. If your LFS has it, its the best.
You might also want to take out the offending tank ornament. :) Or at least stand it upright & push the hole down into the gravel.

[cracklingice]

lol, the snail's already out. I put in a little green castle thing for it to hide in if the cichlid gets out of order. I also lowered the gap under the bridge so the cichlid can't fit.

[Glaive]

I had two tiger botia's that got lodged in a drilled out lava rock by the time I figured out where they were I had to cut my lava rock into three pieces and they were passed on. I was tipped off by a slight rise in ammonia. I'm glad to see you had happier results than I.

[cracklingice]

Something just told me to go check on them. I had just done a water change and cleaning and the Venustus always goes dominant. I wasn't expecting this one though.

[cracklingice]

The fin damage is appearant now. I got Melafix. Any suggestions on it's use?

[Glaive]

As the bottle says.

[cracklingice]

Already started treatment, just wondered if there were any words of advice. The side just says treat 5ml a day for a week, 25% water change, then repeat if needed. I took the carbon out too. Now the snails can leave the tubes and the Venustus might eat them now. I guess I'll find out if they've been getting through the substrate the whole time and have just been getting eaten.

[crazyfishlady]

When I use Melafix I don't like to go a week without changing my water, so I so a water change every day or every other day. add Melafix for the water I changed plus dose the tank for the day. That way I am still getting the cumulative effect of the 7 days of Melafix w/o having to go that long w/o a water change. I just did this for a Juvie T. Passionis that came in the mail. When it arrived it was nearly dead. The next day its pectoral fins were half gone & its tail completely gone & the tail stump was covered with fungus. Now its almost completely healed (about 10 days). The pectorals are fine & the tail has no more fungus & is growing back.

[cracklingice]

My fish has no fungal bloom yet. Just some damaged fins. I'm using the melafix in hopes it doesn't become infected and hopefully heals a bit quicker.

[abenez]

Same folks who amke melafix also make Pimafix - this may help... read about it.

Pimafix informatio - follow the link (http://www.aquariumpharm.com/pimafix.html)


:ok:

[cracklingice]

I don't like to medicate my fish at all. I've had nothing but bad experiences with medicating fish. I saw the Pimafix right next to the Melafix, but went with Melafix and remembering Pimafix for whenever I thought I might need it.

[crazyfishlady]

Many people don't like medicating their fish because of the possible crash of the biological filter & because using the medication too often could develop resistant strains in your tank/fish.
You asked for advise on using Melafix, so that's what we've been responding with (in my case with an anecdote), but if you prefer not to use it you could try just doing daily water changes & maybe some aquarium salt. If the damage is just tears & not fungus or redness, simply doing frequent water changes for a while & maybe some stress coat should be sufficient. That is what I would do unless the fishs' condition started to deteriorate. HTH & Good luck.

[cracklingice]

When I wrote that, I was out of town at a meet for the del Sol owners club I'm in. When I got home last night, I checked on the fish and it's fins are healing quite nicely. I've administered a second and most likely last dose of the medicine just to make sure that the fish doesn't catch anything with it's low ability to fight off illness. I think this will be my first good experience with medication and probably would have saved my tetras, but I wouldn't be here now.

[crazyfishlady]

Glad to hear things are on the mend! :)