hi guys,

i just bought an aurora goby and a yellow watchman who are both in QT at the moment. Both are eating and doing well, but I noticed that the watchman has some moderate/severe tattering of the dorsal fin, which i assumed was probably slightly normal since he was in a community tank. Now, i have started him on melafix at 7.5mls (15gal qt tank) daily for 7 days. Should this help the problem and how long should it be before the fin starts to heal.

I wanted to use triple sulfa instead but ive had better luck in the past with melafix, plus i didnt have a whole lot.


-Adam

Tattered fins is a sign of the hardship he came from.... handling, poor tank mates, lots of travel from his door to yours, stress, poor water quality, no all-ya-can-eat buffet in awhile.

I wouldn't treat at all. Certainly not with an antibiotics, but I also don't care too much for products such as melafix. Feed him good, make his environement as stress free as possible and keep the water quality up and it will heal on it's own.

oh good, melafix smells like a dead skunk's arse anyways. Good to hear.

Agreed.... tattered fins (as long as it is not an environmental indicator) should heal themselves. My yellow watchman had dorsal fin issues too...and the new growth came back BEAUTIFUL.. even more colorful than before.

If it is a result of water quality (did I see an ammonia post from you?) then you will have to correct the situation first.

Otherwise, feed away and add no meds...maybe just add some additional fats or lipids to the foods. Use selcon or some other product for this. These kinds of additional nutrients aid in the generation or regeneration of fins, etc. Much like they aid us in development and maintenance of hair, fingernails, dermal layers etc.

Dave