melafix, pimafix and stress coat - are they worth getting???

[Bubble_B0y]

do they actually work ??

should I buy any of them??

i've lost a few cories (mysteriously) when introducing them to the tank - do u think stress coat may have prevented that ?

 

[Hrafnkel]

Probably not, that seems to be when most people lose cories for unexplained reasons.

 

[rubysoho]

from what I've gathered, all these products that "increase slime coat" do this by using an irratant that forces the fish to overproduce slime coating and this actually causes more stress in the end. But I don't remember where I read this so take it with a grain of salt.

 

[Guest]

i don't like the "Strees coat" but your water conditioner usually has the slime in it. Also, the melafix and primafix are awesome products, i use the melafix sometimes when adding new fish just to prevent disease, it is a mild antiseptic that helps prevent disease. Its like tea tree oil or something simple like that, just a natural herb thing but it works wonders.

 

[Bubble_B0y]

so you recommend that I get melafix & pimafix
and forget about stress coat

??

 

[rich311k]

Yes. Dont worry about the slime coat additives or aloe or whatever it is. Your fish have enough all by themselves. If they get irritated they grow more all on there own. In a well maintained tank this will never happen, so don't worry about it.

 

[Zagz]

Pimafix is also good for sensitive fish like clown loaches and works for ADF's as well.

 

[severum mama]

Melafix and Pimafix are great for healing torn fins or wounds, and Pimafix supposedly treats fungus as well. IME these products really work and they are not harsh at all like a lot of fish meds. I don't use meds when adding new fish though. I have never used Stress Coat but have heard others say that it's not that great.

 

[luvmygt]

i used the melafix once when i had a community tank and a new fish introduced disease.. worked wonders. unfortunately i have never heard of this for torn fins. i currently have a cichlid tank and i noticed one of my juveniles has torn tail fins ill have to give this a try. as far as stress coat i have used this as well and i agree with the others i don't see any differences whe i do use it or when i don't use it...save your money

 

[luvmygt]

i used the melafix once when i had a community tank and a new fish introduced disease.. worked wonders. unfortunately i have never heard of this for torn fins. i currently have a cichlid tank and i noticed one of my juveniles has torn tail fins ill have to give this a try. as far as stress coat i have used this as well and i agree with the others i don't see any differences whe i do use it or when i don't use it...save your money

 

[coolchinchilla]

Just because melafix is "natural" doesn't mean that it isn't "medicinal." It's not like we're just giving the fish a little extra vitamin C. The antibacterial properties of melafix treats injuries or ailments in fish. That qualifies it as medicinal.

Prescription medications are useful because they target very specific problems such as specific antibiotics treat a particular infection. Unfortunately in fish-dom we usually have no clue what is wrong nor can we take our fish to a vet to diagnose it. So broadbased products like melafix can be very helpful.

Stress coat does neutralize chlorine and chloramines but it adds some "soothing" agents along with it. As far as products like stress coat and stress zyme, I think they are more for the fish keeper than being that helpful for the fish. That said, I do feel like I'm being a good care-taker when I put in some stress coat every now and then. I like to think that they like it.


Coolchinchilla

 

[gheitman]

I highly recommend Melafix for repair of torn fins. It worked wonders when I used it for that purpose. I also have Pimafix although I haven't had a chance to use it. I have used Stress Coat in the past without any apparent problems but switched over to StressGuard from Seachem. Here is a link to Seachem's web site with more info.

http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/StressGuard.html

I am a big fan of Seachem's products, especially those for planted tanks.

 

[QTOFFER]

I've never used Stresscoat myself, so I really can't offer an opinion about it.

I have used MelaFix and PimaFix. They are both great products for treating minor scrapes, bumps, and cuts. I like to think of them as the aquarist's equivalent of Neosporin. They are also good preventative medicines - if you are netting fish and transferring them to another tank, a dose of Melafix/PimaFix will help prevent those inevitable scrapes from becoming infected. They are certainly products that I would keep in my fish medicine chest.

Trouble is, the manufacturer and alot of aquarists sometimes overhype the product's capabilities. Just as you wouldn't waste time applying Neosporin to a third degree burn, you shouldn't bother using MelaFix/PimaFix for columnaris or advanced finrot. In those cases, go with bigger ammunition like Fungus Clear or Maracyn.

 

[malkore]

stress coat: nope, don't waste your money
melafix and premafix: good meds to have on hand, but still don't need to be used when introducing new fish.

I would say you got sick cory's or the acclimation was poor and stressed them to the point of death. That or they got harrassed by the existing fish, but that should only happen if you had farily aggressive bottom swimmers.

 

[Bubble_B0y]

are there any fish sensitive to melafix or pimafix ???

i heard bettas were ?
is this true

also, what about scaleless fish??

 

[megladonsharky]

I have used melafix and pimafix to save my bettas ..DONT use salt with cories . I have heard some have trouble so I use the exact dosage nothing more... stresscoat is fine but there are better things out there.. I use something by SERA that has b vitamins

 

[poppab02]

I've used stresscoat and never gotten any benefit out of it.

Melafix is awesome for repairing torn fins--which is very common in the cichlid world. Most cichlid keepers I know swear by it.

Never really had an ocassion to use pimafix, I hear that bettas are sensitive to melafix and thus you must use pimafix when treating them but I've never had an occassion to test this theory.

All I use in my tanks these days are chlor out when I add water, melafix for torn fins and fungus, and salt to treat ick. That's worked well so far with me.

 

[severum mama]

I have never had a fish with fungus before, but one of my new large angels recently developed a fungus on his mouth. I bought Pimafix for him because it specifically claims to treat fungus infections. Treatment started yesterday and I will be interested to see how well the Pimafix takes care of the problem.

 

[Bubble_B0y]

I have never had a fish with fungus before, but one of my new large angels recently developed a fungus on his mouth. I bought Pimafix for him because it specifically claims to treat fungus infections. Treatment started yesterday and I will be interested to see how well the Pimafix takes care of the problem.

keep us updated - i will love to know the results

 

[malkore]

No to the stress coat.

Melafix and premafix can be handy to have on hand for treating minor problems, like fin damage.