Frayed fins: is melafix a good treatment?

[sophie68]

Hi all,
I have an 80 gallon with 9 discus in it. 4 of them are about 3 and a half inch, the others are around 3 inch, except for one which is stunted (but very beautiful). I recently noticed that about 4 of them had somewhat frayed fins, they are not really torn or anything like that, but they don't look perfect like they used to. My water params are: 0 nitrites/10 nitrates/0 ammonia/ph 7/KH 40/GH 75. I have some swahala driftwood as well as 5 sterbai cories and 1 GN . I do 50% WC everyother day.
Is melafix a good idea?

Thanks so much!!!:)

[brewmaster15]

Hi Sophie,

I'm not much a fan of melafix...some use it and swear by it for minor things like this..

I'd be concerned on what the base cause is for what you are seeing though.... can you post some pics?

thanks,
al

[sophie68]

Hi Al,

I have taken pictures which are way too big so I have to resize them first. Here's one which is the right size but won't be very helpful as you cannot see the fins!!! :mad: I found it really hard to capture that on my digital camera. I also have a discus with gills which are red at the base. It has been like that forever and I took a pic, I am going to resize them and hopefully it will be of some use. You all seem to be using very good cameras!!!;)
Thanks!

[brewmaster15]

You can email me the hi res images at brewmaster15@netscape.com and I'll try and resize/post them for you.:)

-al

[AmberC]

Al is right that you want to find out the base cause but I use melafix on frayed fins all the time with good results. I am one of those "swear by it" people Al mentioned lol.

I believe it does help repair fins and it does help with popeye (as long as they have good clean water!!!!!) but not for much else!

[pcsb23]

Sophie, I agree with Al re the melafix. If you feel you need an antiseptic in the tank then acriflavine still takes some beating imo. Normally good clean water will fix frayed fins, but a pic may be useful :D Is there anything else going on, you metioned the redness near the gills, any of the fish off their food? how do their eyes look?

[geekgeek]

I used it melafix along with pimafix with good results for fin rot, badly damaged fins and it worked out well for me.

Just follow the direction. I get the pond version (more concentrated) since I have a 80G+ tank. Cheaper too.

Just treat it 7 more days after the fin heals just to make sure.


Hi all,
I have an 80 gallon with 9 discus in it. 4 of them are about 3 and a half inch, the others are around 3 inch, except for one which is stunted (but very beautiful). I recently noticed that about 4 of them had somewhat frayed fins, they are not really torn or anything like that, but they don't look perfect like they used to. My water params are: 0 nitrites/10 nitrates/0 ammonia/ph 7/KH 40/GH 75. I have some swahala driftwood as well as 5 sterbai cories and 1 GN . I do 50% WC everyother day.
Is melafix a good idea?

Thanks so much!!!:)

[sophie68]

Hi guys,

Thanks for your replies. They are all eating very well, and their eyes look fine. I have also noticed that the fins' appearance change sometimes pretty quickly from one day to the next. I have rather high phosphate and nitrate levels in my water, I am not sure how this is affecting my fish. It's also obvious that I bought very average fish to say the least as I had NO clue what I was doing!!! I had read about 5 (big) books but I got very average fish indeed. Only now do I know that.... I am going to try a new product called phosphate control by Blue Life, has anyone heard about it? It's supposed to be good. I am a bit concerned about the quality of my water since I recently had to quarantine a very sick fish, which is not improving at all. I am wondering if my water is pristine enough for these guys....:o

[Graham]

Phosphate is great algae and plant food but doesn't have much affect on fish...and would not be causing split fins.

Your NO3 levsl at 10ppm would not be giving the fish split fins...it takes very high levels,,,80ppm and above for extended periods to really depress immune systems.......

Who's the bully in the tank

G