Topic: Ok 1 week later, patience is thin, and....

[Adam]

Yeah might be the net.... Nets are cheap I would go get a new one just to rule that out.  Just toss the old one, its not worth the risk if you ask me.  If there was soap residue on the net it could explain the massive skin irritation/diseases that resulted.  It might be helpful to add some of the water conditioners that help slime coat protection... Something like Stress-coat, or Nov-Aqua, that sort of thing.

Is there anyway to get us a pic of the fish in question with a fairly clear representation of the disease affecting it?  I know alot of us have jumped on the fungus band wagon but I am concerned that the melafix hasnt taken care of it.  Its a little traumatic to the fish but I am at the point of maybe suggesting a salt water bath...  which would be 1/2 cup of kosher salt dissolved in 1 gallon of water, for 2-5 mins or until the fish begins to show visible signs of stress.  This can be quite effective but is very easy to screw up as a beginner to the technique.

[Eric22]

You just never can get a good fish can you lol J/K well good luck

[JC]

LOL Ok ok Once again I apologize and I'll just take the foot out of my mouth then before I dig myself a deeper hole No matter what I say it always seems to come out all wrong     Well I sure hope your problem resolves  because I'm starting to think someone is slipping your fish shots of whiskey when you're not looking just to see you trying to figure it out    Of course I'm kidding.. but still, nearly everythign else has been eliminated  :-[ 

       Anyhow.. cheers

[Demseyfan]

The picture idea is a good one.  I also would have thought the melafix would have solved a fungus problem.  The net may very well be the problem here as we know soap is bad for fish (don't tell anyone but i accidentally killed all of my fish by using a sponge that had soap in it from the package).  Soap does tend to burn the gills though and if the concentration is high enough you should notice the fish gasping.  Smaller concentrations will weaken the immune system and stress the fish and in your case the move already stressed them so that could explain things.  If you are no longer medicating throw some carbon in the filters to make sure to get rid of any residue that might still be aggravating the fish and wait.  Hope this turns out well.

[phish_luver]

Hey guys...

Adam~ I have taken over a hundred pics trying to get one that will show the spots he, and the other has now (not bad but I can see them) and none of them have came close to be visiable. My DH even video taped, dubbed and cropped, but even in those pics, you couldnt tell....  We could try again tonight and see what we can get, and maybe we find something to show yall...
Now you mentioned a salt bath, it sounds painful for some reason LOL Im not gonna do it until I see that nature isnt taken its course, but if I did have to, how would the process go? Take him out and put him in a container with the mixture? ANywho, not an option, just a curious question...

JC~ I literally LMAO at the whiskey comment... No need to take the foot out, I have been known to say everything wrong too, Im just glad you arent so pi$$ed your not responding LOL 

Dems~ Thanks for the carbon idea... And your secret is safe with me, cause SHHHH I did that with my very first tank of gold fish LMAO   

I will keep yall posted on their progress, tonight is water change night, YES I SPEND MY FRIDAY NIGHTS maintaining my fish tankS lol 

Thanks yall!!
Ange

[phish_luver]

Ok yall...
I just spent a few minutes looking them over, they have gotten a little more social with me, thank god, and I have noticed some fin splittage... Both sal's are infected, the one thats had it the longest, seems to have more fin splittage, but the places look a little better, still there though... The other Sal looks like the other did last week, BUT there are a few spots on the body...

So far the jewel looks to be without the spots, so I hope thats a good sign...

What would YOU do. Would you go back to salt and mela fiz treatments again, or would you treat it as fin rot? And if you would treat for fin rot, what would you use? I have the temp up, but havent done salt and melafix in about 4 or 5 days, I cant remember LOL Im doing routine maintenace tonight, but I would really like to help these guys... I know I know, leave it alone, but tell me what the experts would do...
Leave it or help it?
Ange

[Demseyfan]

I would still go with maintaining the tank normally for now but make sure to add salt for the water you replace tonight.  Especially if they are becoming more social.  As long as they are not in distress or things aren't worsening i'd keep things status quo.  Let the carbon do it's thing and stress levels lower and hopefully the problem solves itself.  Remember to feed sparingly during this time, less than you would normally feed in terms of quantity.  I would also follow Adams advice and add extra slime coat stuff like stress coat when you add the new water tonight.  Thats about it.

[Sixpack]

Demseyfan has a good suggestion there.  Just for peice of mind, running carbon in your filters for a period of time might be a good idea.  Let em go a bit on thier own and see if thier ammune system can take care of things.  If ya find the need to medicate the fin rot, I would start with another round of Melafix. If this does not seem to help, Marycn is effective for most cases of fin and tail rot as well.

[Adam]

Since its progressing through all your fish I would definately step up the strength of your medications.  I dont know exactly what is available in your area, but they will almost all list the symptoms that they treat on the package.  Get a good broad spectrum anti-biotic or anti-fungal medication and start using that.  Even even a formalin treatment might be what you need.

Also it may not be a bad time to go with a salt water or Formalin dip for your fish.  They can be very effective at killing off surface problems like your experiencing.  The dip might not be comfortable for the fish, but then people go through Chemotherapy all the time, and from what I understand that is even less then comfortable... but sometimes its what needs to be done.  At this point its probably what I would be trying since other less stressful treatments have been completely unhelpful so far.  If you wait until the fish is on deaths door to try the SW dip, your just going to kill it with the added stress.  The SW dip has to be a last resort that you pull out of the bag while the fish is still relatively healthy so that it can handle the stress of the dip.

[JC]

I totally agree there. Since there is some obvious damage appearing on the fins now, I would start an antibiotic treatment ASAP. Normally I'd use a hospital tank since it makes it much cheaper to treat that way but with the aggressive streak that I am reading these fish seem to have, and how hard it seems to be to catch them, I'd consider treating the whole tank with either Maracyn or maracynII (excelent broad spectrum antibiotic IMO), while continuing wiht the melafix.

the only thing is that those antibiotics will cause a cloudiness of the water and you'll notice a thicker deposit on the glass, but that can be easily scraped off when the treatment is done and carbon for 2 to 3 days will clear up the water.

BTW those medicines are not supposed to disturb the biological filter so you shouldnt' have to worry about that and If I remember correctly it calls for a 20% water change before treatment, and another one 4 days down the road, though the instructions are pretty straight forward. Be warned though, your tank WILL look like crap while you're treating (resist the urge-resist the urge lol )  
Good Luck

[phish_luver]

Ok yall I have 2 to leave it alone, 2 to medicate, 1 resist the urge LOL 

Im going to WalMart, and to dinner, I will contemplate what to do, and with the pet store all in that same area, I will decide what to do.. I have to go anyways to get the new gerbils a plastic play ball, so I will be back later...
Thanks yall, I have a HUGE decision to make...
Ange