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Yesterday, during a water change, i sucked up one of the platy fry! I used a silicon tube to suck out the water, when i caught a fry in it. I immediately took it out, and its fins and everything was okay, except that some of the cadual penucle was messed up, and several scales are missing! It hid in a corner breathing heavily and slowly. I thought it was going to die! I immediately added stress-coat for it to refix itself. Today, he is swimming now, and seeming to make a recovery! Although he is swimming away from the group, and eating after everyone else! Does anybody have any suggestions on what to do? Should i worry now that he is recovering? Is this damage permanent? None of the fins were damaged, fortunately.

I know this isnt the right place, but speaking of fin damage, my betta has a huge rip in its cadual fin, ending only 1cm away from the cadual penducle! The added stress-coat, will it help? Does anybody know what caused it? It isnt finrot, not frayed or bitten. I think it got ripped on something! Same thing happened to my paradise fish, but it is fully recovered now.

Now should i start using Melafix? Or should i keep using Stress Coat? Stress coat fixes fins, but Melafix is for open wounds.......What shall i do?

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Probably the best thing you can do is to isolate the betta, keep adding stress coat and keep your water clean.
I would say that the betta will probably heal over time, but you can help by doing the above.

Good luck

dont worry about it just keep an eye on him if it looks bad then post but he should be fine

33 gallon 7 neon tetras-5 platys-3 bleeding heart tetras-2 corys-1 rainbow shark-2 L83 gibby plecos

I would use Melafix.
Actually, I wouldnt even recommend using Stress Coat at all, period.
Stress coat contains aloe vera, and it becomes like a glue that can actually cause difficulties to fish with breathing. It doesnt "fix fins" at all.
Melafix is for any wounds or injuries, not relegated only to open wounds. It also works for some minor bacterial infections and may prevent growth of bacteria.
It would be by med of choice for both of the situations listed below.

For the fishes fins, Do you have any plastic plants?
I found they always tore my fishes fins, espescially bettas and guppies.




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I agree with Sneaky on her product reccomendation. I have used Melafix with good results in the past. I never had bettas but platys are pretty tough little fish. He should be fine but obviously keep him under observation. He may have been eating after all the others before the incident. My platy fry tend to hang back and eat the leftovers from the big platys until they are a little bigger than an eraser head. I hope they get better soon! Good luck!

"Talk is cheap. Action can be almost as affordable"

THank you sooooo much! You dont know how worried i was! I will stop using stress coat. I thought it fixes it!(I wasted 1/2 of the darned bottle!)

The betta is doin better, and the fry is A-OK. He is now actively swimming and frolicking. I added ghost shrimp and they are playing with them now........

Can you guys reccomend a water conditioner? I need a new one that works fast and effectively.

SVS-I dont have any plastics in the 10, but i do have some rocks and sticks in there. Do you think this did it?

On a scale of 1-10, how quickly do you think they will recover? 1 being slow, 10 being fast.

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I've sucked up lots of things accidentally while water changing. Fry, cories, tetras, shrimp, a dojo loach... I don't remember ever losing anything from it. Occasionally a ripped fin but some melafix or half dose of pimafix and after a little time they are fine. Careful using them around snails or shrimp though. Both work as a sedative on inverts and can actually slow them down to the point of death. Either add 1 full dose of melafix and wait a few days to add more or add a half dose a couple days in a row. With pimafix use half of that so no more than half the recommended dose at a time.

I love prime water conditioner. Everything seems so much healthier than when I was using cheaper things like aquasafe or stress coat. All those additives in stress coat really don't seem necessary and possibly even harmful. It's about the last thing I'll use now. Prime is more concentrated so you use far less of it. That helps make up for the extra cost. I use probably twice what is recommended and only buy a couple bottles a year.

Woah! Thanks sham! I am not a good shopper as you can tell......

Anyway, I like the prime conditioners, my dad uses them. Also, arent they made in america? Thats a big + for me! I like stuff made in america, helps our economy.

I have ghost shrimp as cleaners, and do you think they will die? I want to add melafix, but i care for my shrimp too! I want to use maybe 1/2, or less? Will that have any negative effect?

BTW, what is the difference between mela and pima fixes? They sound so different!

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Shrimp should be fine with melafix, Ive had no adverse reactions with mine.
It is quite possible that the sticks have torn the bettas fins.
Melafix is tea tree oil, its a good antibacterial and speeds in healing wounds.
Pimafix is rosacea bud oil, and it is a good antifungal with minor antibacterial and wound healing properties.
Both work as antiseptics to cleanse wounds.

They are designed to be used together, so say your fish torn his fin open, had a ragged wound and then got fungus on top of it, treatment would be best if you used both Melafix and Pimafix.
With only an open wound and no fungus, theres no need for Pimafix - however, a dose may help prevent fungus.
Ive found these products work great, and I love em cuz they are all natural.


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Aww Man! I truly dislike stuff that works together! Makes you buy both/all of them. If i buy melafix, this is better, right? The pimafix seems to have more properties, so is this any better? If i truly HAVE to use them together, then i will buy them, no doubt!

Anyway, i found out what was causing it. The rock that i have is a lava rock, and it is very jagged. I only noticed it today in a corner. I took it out and put it in the filter waterfall to help in bio-filtration. The betta is healing quite remarkably. I didnt add anything, and there is no real danger of fungus or infection, because the fins arent exposed anymore. Theyre now like 2 fins. But i will still try to convince my mom to buy melafix for me, as i am saving up for a camera.

The fry looks like it never got hurt, and it seems to be the dominant one now......Fish are always entertaining!

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I hope everything turns out okay!!

Yup. I'm that crazy Twilight/animal/music girl

Update: I bought melafix like a couple of days ago, and have been adding it ever since. How long should i dose, and when should i do a water change, and how much?

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I have to restock as I used all mine up so I don't have the directions in front of me. Just dose according to the directions on the bottle. I hope all goes well.

"Talk is cheap. Action can be almost as affordable"