Loaches Online Forum

In my previous post I have been seeking advice on how to treat a red lesion on my dojo loach.

Some people say to use caution with melafix (this is the first day I have added melafix) - would salt be better?

I have read that salt can also irritate the scaleless skin of loaches.

Does anybody have any advice on what would be a preffered or alternative treatment?

Someone else suggested no medication - just more frequent H2O changes. However, I am also speculating that his lesion is from a nick - it possibly could be something more serious but I just don't know.

I've never kept Dojos, so I don't know how they would react to MelaFix. I'm pretty sure someone here has used MelaFix on Dojos, and I don't recall that anything bad happened. When you added it to their tank water did you notice any change in bahavior? If not, it's probably fine.

It's also a good idea whenever you have a fish with a minor injury to do more frequent water changes. The cleaner you can keep the water the less likely it is the wound will become infected.

After adding the melafix, nobody seems to be having an adverse reactions - but it says to repeat the treatment for 7 days and this is only day 1.

Not sure if this was a bad idea but I decided not to transfer my loach to the hospital tank because he seems to get stressed out easily so I didn't want to aggravate him more.

After I read that this melafix was safe for most fish I felt like it would be ok to add it to the entire tank - now I'm not so sure after what people are saying so wonder if I should do a water change and stop the treatment, or try salt instead or just move him to the other tank I am setting up.

I have a 2 tiger plecos, 3 upside down cats, 2 pearl gouramis, 4 ottos and a number of tetras and rasboras in the tank so I would feel really stupid if they succumb to this treatment.

I just want to do the right thing!

I think your fish will be fine with MelaFix. If anyone was going to show an adverse reaction I think you would have seen it by now. Just keep an eye on things and if anyone looks to be in distress just do a water change. I'm pretty confident you won't have a problem.

When working on the loach book, I spoke extensively with the folks in the lab at Aquarium Pharmaceuticals (they make MelaFix). During our discussions they revealed that MelaFix breaks down in aquarium water within 18-24 hours. Hence the daily dosing. By the time you are due to re-dose the tank, the previous dose has lost its potency. One thing you may notice is that MelaFix can cause the water to foam a bit. It's nothing dangerous and easily taken care of with a partial water change.

Ok - thanks - that makes me feel better. I wasn't sure if the melafix would get more concentrated over the 7 days or not so that makes me feel better. If it just a bacterial ulcer then hopefully the treatment will help close the wound so that it will heal. Unless it is something else - we will find out I guess. Even though this loach has been one of the craziest additions to my tank I have developed quite a fondness for him!

If you smell the water before you add the next treatment you'll notice that the odor has diminished markedly. It will strengthen a bit by the 7th day, but generally decreases rapidly on its own.

I've used melafix in a tank with dojos to treat another fish before and it seemed to tolerate it just fine. I hope yours makes it, and I'll second the water change increase. If you change a bit of water before you add each dose it can only help.