Reddit mentions of API MELAFIX Freshwater Fish Bacterial Infection Remedy 8-Ounce Bottle

> even putting him in the toilet while they cleaned his bowl)

are you kidding me... ugh people.

I'm really going back and forth on if it's an ulcer (I know stuff I'm just not very good at diagnosing online sometimes). Malafix and pimafix should work. If he's not distraught, you can wait for the shipping if your local fish stores are selling them for a ton (mine was charging $30 for a 4oz of malafix...) or just don't have them. Biggest thing is make sure the label says it can treat ulcers.

I would actually establish his 5-gallon tank with a fishless cycle, and set him up a small temporary "hospital tank" to treat the fin rot in the meantime.

I always prefer to move my fish to a small, bare tank for medication that doesn't have an established filter, because medication can crash your cycle. So for his permanent home, I would start on a fishless cycle by setting everything up with the gravel, filter, etc and add some ammonia like this to get the fishless cycle going. You can follow the directions on the bottle and use your water test kit to test for ammonia in the water to determine when the cycle has established, and ammonia levels are safe again.

While the tank is cycling, set up a medicated hospital tank (in fact you can do this now before you set up his man tank so that you can start treating his fin rot before it gets too severe.) Set up a small bare tank with a heater set to about 80 degrees fahrenheit/about 26 celcius. Add a little freshwater aquarium salt, and dose an antibacterial medication like Melafix for the fin rot.

Hospital tanks shouldn't have carbon filters, since carbon will just remove medications. You simply need to do daily water changes with clean, treated water (I recommend Seachem Prime for dechlorination and removing heavy metals. Even better if the water is also carbon filtered.) Remember when you change water you have to add medication and salt back in. You can add a small sponge filter to a hospital tank if you want just to keep water flowing and to filter out debris, I use this little filter for my hospital tank.

Lastly, but still very important: When you move him, you'll have to acclimate him slowly. Bag him up in a Ziplock bag with the water from his vase. Float the bag in the hospital tank (preferable already at 80 degrees) so that he can slowly acclimate to the temperature, and add a little bit of the hospital tank water to his bag every 5 to 10 minutes. I would take about 30 minutes to let him acclimate before releasing him in the tank. Acclimation is important because temperature and parameter change can cause shock.

What a tough little guy. I'm impressed he's been able to pull through in these terrible conditions. That water must be absolutely toxic. Best of luck to you in helping him pull through!

I just posted this in another thread, but I've had good results with Melafix rather than salt or other chemicals; whenever I've used it, within 12 hours I start seeing fins grow back.

It does sound like you're already seeing some regrowth -- the ends turning clear bit. The clear stuff is new fin, so that's what you want!

I am aware it wouldn't treat the worms, that treatment you would have to continue. And tea tree is great, that's essentially what API Melafix is. The only reason I said to stop using it if you started the paraguard is you don't want to overload with medications, and I've found that sometimes you need something with a little more punch for certain infections. I own and have used both tea tree and Paraguard and have found Paraguard tends to be a better general cure, especially if you aren't sure what you're treating. You could also consider the use of aquarium salt if you wanted to try a more natural route.

With all that said, doing large daily water changes would be your best bet right now. High nitrites are an indicator that your tank isn't properly cycled, which is most likely the root cause of the illness/deaths in your tank. A properly cycled tank should show 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrite, and a nitrate value below 20ppm. Without proper water quality, no amount of medication is going to help, unfortunately. I would do at least 30-50% water changes and you should see improvement. Good luck!

We always used Melafix for such things. A great product.

I have a sponge over my HOB intake and use Melafix to treat tears.