Melafix mayhem

[alexwatson]

Update: Thanks for the help but my fish now has cotton wool fungus on its side to add to the other symptoms of raised scales, gulping air, bleeding in rear portion. Dropping previous normal now clear. I'm despairing! Should I add anti fungus to the other treatments? Other fish are fine - but I have no spare tank - I was advised not to use an isolation tank as it would have to be new conditions

Help!!


Hi! Can anyone help?!

I'm a beginner fish keeper. I have one fish with dropsy (sluggish, not eating, scales raised and evidence of some bleeding - though this may be due due fish attack). I've added No 9 interpet and Melafix and isolated the fish with a net within the tank.

Do you really need to add the Melafix for 7 days? I put mine in and the resulting foam looked better than what I have on my bath!

Should I add aqualibrium salt too?

Also, I have been advised to kill the effected fish. There seems to be some conflicting views. Is this necessary, and what is the best way to do it if I have to?

I thought I'd start out with something simple and tough, so I have a 30l Bio Orb tank with 2 Leopard danios, 4 Zebra danios and 6 Blue spot danios (2 have been eaten!). Nitrite tested - fine. Stress coat and Stress zyme part of the filtration system maintenance. 10% weekly water change, filter changed one month ago (probably the stress cause of the dropsy)

Many thanks

Alex (Ms)

 

[Feline]

Welcome to the board Alex!

I had an experience of a fish with suspected dropsy b4. Try seperating it by placing it in another tank if possible (to stop the disease spreading to tankmates). Adding aquarium salt to the tank is a good idea as well!

Melafix is basically for a general cure from what I remembered. But I don't think it'll treat for any internal diseases.

The No.9 interpet is an anti internal bacteria treatment. Having dropsy can be by bacteria or by parasites. Try treating the fish with this following the instructions on the bottle first. If it doesn't work out, try getting Octozin from Waterlife.

From wot u said, it's not likely that ur fish is in an early stage of dropsy, so treatment must b quick.

Oh by the way, what's the poop look like? It's another clue to what happen to ur fish.

30L is too small for the fishies u have I'm afriad. May b you may want to return some back. This may b the reason of the stress...

Edit: Here's the link to Waterlife: Waterlife
Click on "Retail outlets" to find out the nearest store where their products r available. Good luck!!

 

[juliethegr8t]

Feline is right, you have too many fish in your tank, especially if your tank is cycling. Are you aware of what cycling is? If not, you may have some unsafe water parameters. You said your nitrite levels were fine, but what about ammonia and nitrates? With so many fish in a small area, ammonia levels can rise pretty quick - so I'd check that asap and maybe do a water change, since dropsy can sometimes be due to bad water conditions, and helped somewhat if they are improved (though this may not be your case - I'm not tryin to accuse). I also agree with feline that you should seperate the sick fish if necessary, add some salt, and make sure it has dropsy before adding any medications. Is the fish bloated? That's another major sign of this disease. I don't suggest killing the fish unless it seems in considerable distress and you don't have any hope for him. However, I've seen some miraculous discoveries (thought not from dropsy as it is rarely cureable), so ya never know. Good luck!

 

[Alien Anna]

Hi,
first things first: what do you know about cycling a tank? If you are new to fish-keeping please follow the link in my sig and read up about "Avoiding New Tank Syndrome".

As you have several affected fish I'm not certain moving affected individuals into another un-cycled tank is going to help. I'm suspecting that you've either had an ammonia or nitrite spike in the tank. Unfortunately, some medications can affect the beneficial bacteria in your tank, which could potentially make things worse rather than better. However, Melafix is a good general tonic so that won't do any harm.

I suggest you do a 20% water change immediately and continue to do a 10-15% change daily. Cut feeding down to a minium (once every 2nd day). If you want to continue the Interpet Internal Bacteria treatment do a daily water change but add the amount of medication for the amount of water you change, rather than following the instructions on the bottle not to do a water change for a week.

Dropsy can be bacterial, in which case there isn't a lot you can do to safe the fish, but it can be chemical, as a result of toxins in the tank.

 

[Kissifish]

Although, Melafix is a wonderful product, it is only a disinfectant. Liken it to clean a cut on one of your kids with betadine or peroxide. It's good for external things like scrapes, nipped fins, etc. It won't have any effect on external fungus or parasites.

Like the above posts say, do a water change and it won't hurt to add 1TBS. salt per 5 gallons of water to your tank (as long as your don't have any catfish).