Please HELP how to use Melafix???

[Aniistarr]

I have a swordtail male and his fin are rot and he lost part of his sword, i think it was because of my 3 bloodfin tetra and i bought Melafix now the thing is that i already put him alone on a very small tank and i dont know how much of Melafix should i put? maybe 1 or 2 drops? because the instructions says: "1 teaspoon per 10 gallons".

I have attach a picture of the tank how much drop should i put? Please help!!!

 

[ArtesiaWells]

I have a swordtail male and his fin are rot and he lost part of his sword, i think it was because of my 3 bloodfin tetra and i bought Melafix now the thing is that i already put him alone on a very small tank and i dont know how much of Melafix should i put? maybe 1 or 2 drops? because the instructions says: "1 teaspoon per 10 gallons".

I have attach a picture of the tank how much drop should i put? Please help!!!

Hi Aniistarr,

What part of NY are you in?

As for the Melafix, I have been using this stuff in my 60 gallon goldfish tank to treat open wounds and sores two of my goldies have exhibited since being attacked by a new Red Cap Oranda I introduced to the tank -- since then, I have separated the attacking fish into a 10 gallon starter tank before he could kill the other two (he was on his way) but the Melafix didn't really seem to be doing anything to help the wounds. Now, there is a white formation on the sore of one of them that seems to be leading to a bacterial infection; I have since, on the advice of someone here, stopped the Melafix in the tank and instead have been doing water changes to hopefully aid in repairing the infected areas on these fish...I am probably going to have to go back to using some kind of liquid medication though because one of them is getting worse. For the dosing of the Melafix, we just used six drops of the stuff because we have a 60 gallon -- how big is the quarrantine "tank" you put your swordtail in?

 

[Aniistarr]

Hello ArtesiaWells,

Thanks for the reply, i was thinking to put 2 drops since my fish tank i believe it to be one quarter gallon, is not even 1 Gallon yet as you can see in the attachment, is the smallest tank you can get in a pet store, i used to put my 3 bloodfin tetra there, but already upgrade to a 2.5 gallon with filter and everything so i am using the small tank for the swordtail

And i am from Brooklyn

 

[Alyxx]

The root of the problem is the tank. It is way to small for any fish. Swordtails and tetras, like all fish, really need a heated, filtered, cycled tank with sufficient water volume. The 2.5 gallon is still too small for any of these fish. To heal fin rot, the fish needs clean water more than anything. For such a small volume I would change the water at least twice a day until you can get him in a proper tank. For a swordtail, you should have at least a ten gallon tank with a heater and a filter.

 

[ArtesiaWells]

Hello ArtesiaWells,

Thanks for the reply, i was thinking to put 2 drops since my fish tank i believe it to be one quarter gallon, is not even 1 Gallon yet as you can see in the attachment, is the smallest tank you can get in a pet store, i used to put my 3 bloodfin tetra there, but already upgrade to a 2.5 gallon with filter and everything so i am using the small tank for the swordtail

And i am from Brooklyn

Ahhhh...Brooklyn in da house!

I am originally from Long Island; my dad had a furniture store chain throughout Brooklyn, with the main ones being in Flatbush and Canarsie. I still have relatives there...

Two drops of the Melafix should be fine for that size holding "tank" -- do you have any aeration or filtration on that thing?

And you are more than welcome for the response...

 

[Aniistarr]

Ahhhh...Brooklyn in da house!

I am originally from Long Island; my dad had a furniture store chain throughout Brooklyn, with the main ones being in Flatbush and Canarsie. I still have relatives there...

Two drops of the Melafix should be fine for that size holding "tank" -- do you have any aeration or filtration on that thing?

And you are more than welcome for the response...

Oh nice, i live in by bensonhurst

unfortunately i don't have any aeration or filtration, i know is small i am thinking to keep him there for a week since the instruction on the Melafix says "Dose daily for seven days, then make a 25% water change, so i will be doing that and i will see how it goes before putting him back with the other fishes

 

[Alyxx]

Oh nice, i live in by bensonhurst

unfortunately i don't have any aeration or filtration, i know is small i am thinking to keep him there for a week since the instruction on the Melafix says "Dose daily for seven days, then make a 25% water change, so i will be doing that and i will see how it goes before putting him back with the other fishes

Keep doing water changes and just redose the melafix. Clean water is key to healing fin rot, and in such a small container toxins will build up very quickly. Clean water alone will do just about as much for fin rot as the melafix would, anyway.

 

[Aniistarr]

The root of the problem is the tank. It is way to small for any fish. Swordtails and tetras, like all fish, really need a heated, filtered, cycled tank with sufficient water volume. The 2.5 gallon is still too small for any of these fish. To heal fin rot, the fish needs clean water more than anything. For such a small volume I would change the water at least twice a day until you can get him in a proper tank. For a swordtail, you should have at least a ten gallon tank with a heater and a filter.

i don't think i need a heater since the water is pretty warm i live on the second floor the highest floor of the house and i have my fish tank on the living room so is at room temperature right now is about 79 degrees, but i know i need to upgrade my fish tank if i want to have so many fish in there. So far my 3 Bloodfin tetra have been doing fine i have them for over a year and same for Swordtail is just recently this happen for the first time, as for the panda cory for some reason i can't keep them alive they died after a couple of months. I do have filter for my 2.5 gallon fish tank is just this one that i am using a very small fish tank with nothing (no filter) and it happened to be the only one i have handy and use it to treat the sick fish i do change the water thought

On my 2.5 Gallon with filter i do change the water every 2 weeks, like 40% to 60% water change and i check the PH and Nitrate and of seems to be good

 

[Aniistarr]

Keep doing water changes and just redose the melafix. Clean water is key to healing fin rot, and in such a small container toxins will build up very quickly. Clean water alone will do just about as much for fin rot as the melafix would, anyway.

Yea, i am reading is very important to keep the water clean as for this small tank i guess i will be changing the water every other day or every 4 days...

 

[Alyxx]

i don't think i need a heater since the water is pretty warm i live on the second floor the highest floor of the house and i have my fish tank on the living room so is at room temperature right now is about 79 degrees, but i know i need to upgrade my fish tank if i want to have so many fish in there. So far my 3 Bloodfin tetra have been doing fine i have them for over a year and same for Swordtail is just recently this happen for the first time, as for the panda cory for some reason i can't keep them alive they died after a couple of months. I do have filter for my 2.5 gallon fish tank is just this one that i am using a very small fish tank with nothing (no filter) and it happened to be the only one i have handy and use it to treat the sick fish i do change the water thought

On my 2.5 Gallon with filter i do change the water every 2 weeks, like 40% to 60% water change and i check the PH and Nitrate and of seems to be good

I would do a 50% or more change per week. Small tanks get waste built up pretty fast. I do 50% weekly changes on all my tanks, though, except my betta tank which is a little smaller than yours, I change all the water in there a few times a week. Keep an eye on the nitrate and change water accordingly. You want it under 20, and a 50% change will reduce the nitrate level by half, and so on. With such a small water volume, large changes are easier, so I almost always change almost all of the water in small tanks each week because it is simple to do.
If your room temperature is stable, you should be able to do without a heater for a while, but it would still be a good idea to pick up a small heater just to keep the temperature from fluctuating too much. Also, Cories should not be kept in such a small tank, they do best with a small school and really need a 20 gallon tank or larger. As long as you are vigilant about the water changes, the small tank should be ok for treating the swordtail. Keep an eye on the ammonia levels in there, though, and change the water at least once a day. Melafix will do no good in water filled with the same toxins that lead to fin rot and worse. Remember, ammonia is toxic even at low levels and it will kill your fish if it is allowed to accumulate. There is no filter and nothing for beneficial bacteria to grow on, so ammonia will not be converted into nitrite and nitrate!

 

[Aniistarr]

I would do a 50% or more change per week. Small tanks get waste built up pretty fast. I do 50% weekly changes on all my tanks, though, except my betta tank which is a little smaller than yours, I change all the water in there a few times a week. Keep an eye on the nitrate and change water accordingly. You want it under 20, and a 50% change will reduce the nitrate level by half, and so on. With such a small water volume, large changes are easier, so I almost always change almost all of the water in small tanks each week because it is simple to do.
If your room temperature is stable, you should be able to do without a heater for a while, but it would still be a good idea to pick up a small heater just to keep the temperature from fluctuating too much. Also, Cories should not be kept in such a small tank, they do best with a small school and really need a 20 gallon tank or larger. As long as you are vigilant about the water changes, the small tank should be ok for treating the swordtail. Keep an eye on the ammonia levels in there, though, and change the water at least once a day. Melafix will do no good in water filled with the same toxins that lead to fin rot and worse. Remember, ammonia is toxic even at low levels and it will kill your fish if it is allowed to accumulate. There is no filter and nothing for beneficial bacteria to grow on, so ammonia will not be converted into nitrite and nitrate!

thanks for all the info, i will keep an eye on them and make sure the water is clean, you are right i guess i will do about 10% change everyday for the swordtail fish tank.

 

[absolutangel04]

Was the swordtail originally from the 2.5g tank too?

 

[Alyxx]

I would just change all the water daily. Scoop him into a cup, dump all the water out, treat it, and put him back in. Remember that in an uncycled tank, you are dealing with ammonia, which is toxic in concentrations as low as 0.25, and an injured/sick fish may be susceptible to damage at even lower concentrations.With such a small volume, it won't take long for ammonia to build to dangerous levels. Do you have an ammonia test kit? If so, test for ammonia daily and change all the water if you see more than a 0.10 level.

 

[Aniistarr]

Was the swordtail originally from the 2.5g tank too?

Yes, together with 3 Bloodfin Tetra and one female swordtail.

Last night i saw one of the tetra bite him and he lost part of the sword and this morning i saw how bad the fins were so i separate him. I have them both together for more than a year and it is the first time happening i don't know why though

1 bloodfin Tetra looks bigger than the other 2 bloodfin and the color is very bright so i am guessing that one is very mean!

 

[Aniistarr]

I would just change all the water daily. Scoop him into a cup, dump all the water out, treat it, and put him back in. Remember that in an uncycled tank, you are dealing with ammonia, which is toxic in concentrations as low as 0.25, and an injured/sick fish may be susceptible to damage at even lower concentrations.With such a small volume, it won't take long for ammonia to build to dangerous levels. Do you have an ammonia test kit? If so, test for ammonia daily and change all the water if you see more than a 0.10 level.

i only have PH and Nitrate test kit, i don't have the ammonia one, i guess i will have to get that one first thing in the morning.

 

[Alyxx]

Good plan! You may just want to get the whole master test kit if you can afford it. Not only will you get the ammonia and nitrite kits that you don't have yet, you will have backups for when the kits you have run out. It's usually only about $30, you spend about that much buying just two or three of the tests individually. Some places don't have the ammonia kit individually for some reason, too.

 

[Aniistarr]

Good plan! You may just want to get the whole master test kit if you can afford it. Not only will you get the ammonia and nitrite kits that you don't have yet, you will have backups for when the kits you have run out. It's usually only about $30, you spend about that much buying just two or three of the tests individually. Some places don't have the ammonia kit individually for some reason, too.

Haha you know what, i just found out i do HAVE the Ammonia test kit i don't know why for some reason i kept thinking it was Nitrate and i just tested and based on the yellow color that i got it seems to be between 0 to 0.25 so is good!

 

[Alyxx]

Haha, wasn't that lucky? You should get at least a nitrate kit for the other tank, though. And just to be safe, keep changing that water! I actually had an idea for you just now. If you have a bucket of some sort that has never had chemicals or soap in it, or maybe an empty milk jug that has been rinsed out really well, fill it up and treat the water with conditioner, and just scoop out a cupful of water every now and then from the holding tank and refill it from the jug, a few times a day. Then do a larger water change every day or so or if the ammonia has gone over 0.25. Might make it a little easier. Also, if you use prime as your water conditioner it neutralizes ammonia for 48 hours, so that would keep the water safer between changes. Not to mention it is a great water conditioner, it's super concentrated so you don't have to use much each time you change the water, and a bottle will last you forever with such small tanks. You only need 2 drops per gallon of water.

 

[Aniistarr]

Haha, wasn't that lucky? You should get at least a nitrate kit for the other tank, though. And just to be safe, keep changing that water! I actually had an idea for you just now. If you have a bucket of some sort that has never had chemicals or soap in it, or maybe an empty milk jug that has been rinsed out really well, fill it up and treat the water with conditioner, and just scoop out a cupful of water every now and then from the holding tank and refill it from the jug, a few times a day. Then do a larger water change every day or so or if the ammonia has gone over 0.25. Might make it a little easier. Also, if you use prime as your water conditioner it neutralizes ammonia for 48 hours, so that would keep the water safer between changes. Not to mention it is a great water conditioner, it's super concentrated so you don't have to use much each time you change the water, and a bottle will last you forever with such small tanks. You only need 2 drops per gallon of water.

I just checked for the ammonia in my little tank and is now 0.50 so i guess i have to do 20% water change now, i have two empty spring bottle water that i fill it with tap water and leave it aside for a day so it will clear out the chlorine, besides i do carry the powder water conditioner i always put a little bit of that every time i change the water, and thanks for the idea i will keep that in mind

 

[Alyxx]

I just checked for the ammonia in my little tank and is now 0.50 so i guess i have to do 20% water change now, i have two empty spring bottle water that i fill it with tap water and leave it aside for a day so it will clear out the chlorine, besides i do carry the powder water conditioner i always put a little bit of that every time i change the water, and thanks for the idea i will keep that in mind

Do more than 20 if the level is that high. A 50% change will only bring it down to 0.25 which is still more than you really want to have for any fish, let alone a recovering fish.