Salt bath?

[Cichlid.Keeper]

Hey guys I've had two gouramis for years now in my community tank and they were fine till I put them in a bigger tank recently. One picks one the other and the other has a bleeding lip, torn fins, and damaged scales. He's a very strong fish. I was just wondering how I can help it cure without taking him out of the tank. I heard of salt baths? Can someone explain what salt does or how to use it in an aquarium. Thanks in advance!!

 

[cnicole516]

From what I've heard, salt baths or dips strip the slime coat and kills/removes any possibly harmful bacteria on your fish. Not 100% on this. Epsom salt baths are great for constipation and bloating.

That being said, probably not ideal for a fish with open wounds. I would think it would cause additional stress to it and not aid in healing. However I have heard that melafix is like an ointment for fish, and may be helpful (though it's been doubted that melafix actually treats bacterial infections). So my advice would be to separate the fish if you haven't already and use melafix for a couple days, see how it's going, then decide whether to continue doing this.

Hope your fish gets better!

 

[Cichlid.Keeper]

When seperating how can I set up a hospital tank for it

 

[gilpi]

A hospital tank is nothing more than another tank to either isolate or medicate fish.
I would stay away from salt and try to fix the bullying issue.
Some people actually take out the bully and place him in a separate tank for a while then try to put it back in the community tank while the bullied fish has some time to heal and re-claim some territory, sometimes it works.
You might also have to make a decision what to do with one of the gouramis.
Setting up hospital tank or isolating one of them might be an idea but then you might find out they just cannot be in the same tank.

 

[Cichlid.Keeper]

A hospital tank is nothing more than another tank to either isolate or medicate fish.
I would stay away from salt and try to fix the bullying issue.
Some people actually take out the bully and place him in a separate tank for a while then try to put it back in the community tank while the bullied fish has some time to heal and re-claim some territory, sometimes it works.
You might also have to make a decision what to do with one of the gouramis.
Setting up hospital tank or isolating one of them might be an idea but then you might find out they just cannot be in the same tank.

Does a hospital tank need a filter

 

[cnicole516]

From what I've heard you can run a hospital tank using an extra filter you may have already on your main tank. If you don't have an extra one running, I would get one on there, let it run for at least a week I'd say, then transfer it to the hospital tank. In the meantime, I would look into getting a separator for the main tank while doing all this. Alternatively you could just get the separator and put melafix in the whole tank,,, not sure if people would agree on that though.

 

[Cichlid.Keeper]

From what I've heard you can run a hospital tank using an extra filter you may have already on your main tank. If you don't have an extra one running, I would get one on there, let it run for at least a week I'd say, then transfer it to the hospital tank. In the meantime, I would look into getting a separator for the main tank while doing all this. Alternatively you could just get the separator and put melafix in the whole tank,,, not sure if people would agree on that though.

I came home today to find the fish bleeding all over. I have no seperator nor do I have a hospital tank right now. What do I do?!

 

[cnicole995]

I came home today to find the fish bleeding all over. I have no seperator nor do I have a hospital tank right now. What do I do?!

I once actually used the lid of my tank (no lights or anything attached to it) and wedged it into the tank to keep some of my fish away from the aggressive one temporarily.

Maybe try to find a storage tub lid that will fit in there for the time being.

 

[Cichlid.Keeper]

I once actually used the lid of my tank (no lights or anything attached to it) and wedged it into the tank to keep some of my fish away from the aggressive one temporarily.



Maybe try to find a storage tub lid that will fit in there for the time being.

Actually used melafix and some stress coat right onto where he was resting. Checked back 4 hours later and is looking a lot better.

 

[cnicole516]

Glad to hear it!

 

[Cichlid.Keeper]

Glad to hear it!

I think I will still bring the aggressive one to my lfs