Melafix Question?

[Ginger726]

Is Melafix ok to use on synodontis catfish and a weather loach?

I have an angelfish that is starting to look fuzzy. I think she has a skin infection. What should I treat her with?

I should probably move her to her own tank and treat her seperately, right?

 

[Cian McLiam]

As far as I know, they only things which have a reaction to melafix is corals, so I think your safe. Can you describe the fuzz a bit more?

Ken

 

[Ginger726]

This morning their is a spot on her tail. It doesn't look cottony. Her body, when you look at her from her tail, is all fuzzy. I guess like velvet. I noticed it first on her head their is a ring not a perfect one, but a white ring. Like when your skin on your fingers peel or something. It isn't in tufts or it doesn't stand off her body much. Only abut a millimeter I guess.

I think I am going to siphon ten gallons off my 75 gallon and set up a bare bottom ten gallon tank for her. I just need to treat her quick before it gets her. I lost her mate about 3 months ago. I didn't see anything wrong with him. Maybe he had the same thing and I didn't notice it quick enough. Don't know. What to treat her with is my real Question?

 

[smb]

Is it a grey film? It doesn't sound like fungus if there's not tufts. It could possibly be an external parasite if it's a film. Withought knowing more that's about all I can offer at the moment.

 

[AquaNut]

It's sooo hard to know by another person's description. One person's fuzzy is another person's cloudy is another person's flaky. I don't think it's fungus. My two best guesses would be some sort of parasite or else you're watching her shed her slime coat. I would quarantine her and treat her with melafix AND metronidazole, which is a good anti-parasitic for angelfish and other SA cichlids. You can add a bit of aquarium salt to the water, too. It will help her breathing. Keep her nice and warm ... about 82 degrees, and do daily small water changes, topping up the meds and salt when you add new water. Also, make sure the water is well oxygenated as the heat and meds will reduce its oygen carrying capacity. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[Ginger726]

Hey Aquanut, it sounds like you know your stuff.

Is it normal for angels to shed their slime coat? She is in fact. That is probably half of what I am looking at. I looked at her today, and she doesn't seem to feel any worse. The ring on her head is gone of coarse if it is slime it could've fallen off. (Her skin) I mean where her fin meets her body still seems red. Her tail seems slightly red too. Not real inflamed but it seems a little off compared to my other angels. She may have a parasite I guess. She didn't want flake food yesterday but she ate some mosquito larvae today. I will treat her with Melafix, I will have to buy the other you suggested. I have binox I put in her water it is from Jungle. It is a broad spectrum conditioner for skin irritations. It doesn't say it will kill parasites. I guess Melafix is the same thing. I will do as you suggested and keep you guys posted. Thank you for your help.

 

[AquaNut]

Hi Ginger,

You're more than welcome for the advice; I hope it works. It's 'normal' for any fish to shed its slime coat, but it's not a good thing. They usually shed their slime coat if they've been really stressed in some way - they're being bullied by a tankmate, they're ill or infested with a parasite, a rapid temperature fluctuation or change in water quality, or sometimes being netted or transferred is enough to do it, too. The Melafix and salt will both be helpful with that. Redness near the base of the fins can be from several things, including fin rot and types of fungus. I'd stick with the original plan unless other symptoms develop or she worsens.

 

[Ginger726]

Stress. . . That could have done it. I added two bala sharks and 5 rosy barbs to the tank. That is a lot of active company than what she was used to. That could've stressed her out. The base of her fins and tail aren't red anymore and most of the slime is gone. She still has a strip about mid back that is pretty ugly. She still isn't eating flake food. I have been catching mosquito larvae when available.

 

[AquaNut]

Yeah, the new tankmates may have stressed your girl; angels can be pretty temperamental and sulky if you make unwanted changes to their environments. Is it possible that any of the new fish were harassing her? I'm a wee bit concerned about the strip you describe as pretty ugly. Do you mean it looks like she's still shedding slime there? She should be long done that by now. The thing is that if she shed her slime coat and was possibly also infested with some sort of parasite, it would not be at all unusual for her to have contracted a secondary bacterial or fungal infection that may well turn out to be more damaging that the intitial problem. I'm guessing a picture is out of the question, so if you could try to describe the ugly patch a little bit, we might be able to determine if further treatments are required. Good work with the mosquito larvae; frozen bloodworms are usually accepted also, and if you know anybody with some newborn guppy fry, I'm sure they'd be accepted as well. Keep us posted!