open wound???

[Lunchbox209]

i just noticed right now that one of my gold barbs has a lot of red on its side it almost looks like a wound what can i do or use to help my little friend all my water parameters are in check so any help would really be appreciated

[BBradbury]

Hello Lunch...

If your fish has been injured, a teaspoon of standard aquarium salt per five gallons of water change water will help heal the wound.

Aquarium salt helps maintain a fish's "slime coat" a protective covering that keeps out disease causing bacteria. This small amount of aquarium salt added to your water change water allows oxygen to move through the fish's gills more easily. Without it your fish will survive. With it, I believe my fish are much healthier.

As always, this is just one old "water keeper's" opinion.

B

[Lunchbox209]

Thank you for the advice I have another question should I quarantine him or dose my whole tank its a 29 stocked with gold barbs and tiger barbs and a dojo loach

[BBradbury]

Good morning Lunch...

No need to move the injured fish to another tank. The teaspoon of aquarium salt is very small and will benefit all your fish.

I use aquarium salt from a company called API "Aquarium Pharmaceuticals". You can get it pretty cheaply at most of the main line pet stores. It's packaged in a blue, yellow and red carton.

I've dosed a teaspoon of this salt in every five gallons of my water change water for several years and have never had a disease in any of my tanks.

Please keep me posted if you like.

B

[Lunchbox209]

i am familiar with the api salt i actually do have some and i did dose the tank last night night the wound still looks the same but im guessing its going to take a while i did notice though some white stuff on the wound this morning i know its not ich its does not look like it would a dosing of melafix be OK or should i just stick with the salt and should i raise the temp or keep it the same i have it at 78?

[BBradbury]

Hello again Lunch...

You don't need to do anything other than give the salt time to work. No need to raise the temp in the tank, you're not treating a disease. All you need to do is add the teaspoon of salt to every five gallons of your water change water and follow your normal water change schedule.

The water changes are the most important thing you can do for your fish and plants. I have large, planted tanks and change out 50 percent of the water every two to three weeks. This way you maintain a healthy tank for both fish and plants.

If your fish has been injured in some way, keeping a clean tank will prevent any bacteria from infecting your fish.

I'm not familiar with Melafix. I've never put any chemicals in my tanks. I believe the salt will be sufficient.

B

[Lunchbox209]

Ok will do thank you very much 

[Aces11]

I use salt in my tank and got fungus on my platys' tails one time. Melafix worked really well if you want to give it a try. The bottle says it's all natural.

[BBradbury]

Hello Aces...

That's interesting. I thought fungi were plants that fed on decaying plant and animal material. If you follow a sound tank maintenance schedule that includes large and frequent water changes, I don't see how a fungus would be able to survive in a tank and infect something like a healthy fish.

How did the fungus thing happen? Just curious. Never heard of nor experienced anything like that before.

B

[Aces11]

Well they showed up as little white spots. They weren't sticking up like a bump or anything- it was completely flat. Eventually it became a small hole it their tails and the holes just kept getting bigger. I do 25% pwc every other week and I've been on that routine for quite some time.