rhouston

I have a zebra danio with a pretty nasty looking broken fin. I posted in the zebra danio forum to get some advice on what if anything I could do. I got a reply back that Stress Coat would help the healing process along, so I did a little research and then went out and bought some. I've also got the injured fish isolated in one of those floating breeding tanks.

Anyhow, the instructions on the Stress Coat just say "Use X amount for Y amount of water." What it doesn't say is if this is a one-time treatment, and what kind of schedule you should be administering it on. Keep in mind I'm not using it for the detoxing of ammonia or anything, just to help the slime coat and healing. I've given the tank one dose and if I see some healing on this fin I'll probably just stop there. But when would it be safe to dose it again? What's the minimum time between doses that's safe?

agabr123

i'd say dose every time you do a water change for as long as you continue to see any kind of problems with your danio

ray_sj

I emailed API asking them this exact question recently.

Their recommendation was to use StressCoat once per week to help heal fins. They also suggested using Melafix.

Personally, I use the StressCoat / Melafix / Vita-Chem combo other members have suggested in this forum. Works well for me.

Dozey

I would agree with the other suggestions. Fins take time to heal, it’s not an overnight thing. Add Stress Coat during water changes and Melafix (if you choose). The fins will heal with time.

Although I personally wouldn’t keep your fish in a breeding box too long as the confined space will cause additional stress and possible other problems.

CWO4GUNNER

I use the minimum amounts for water changes to treat chlorine but with the small amount of fin damage I see, Im going to start dosing for fin damage every water change.

cg49me

I had a danio with a half-nipped tail fin when I first got him. It's been about seven weeks now, and the coloration hasn't spread to it yet, but the fin has grown back. I didn't do anything special for him - kept him in the community tank with everyone else. Added Stress Coat + with every water change.

rhouston

For those of you who use Stress Coat + "with every water change", is that something you do in addition to some other water conditioner, or instead of? For example, I've been using Tetra Aquasafe whenever I do water changes to condition the water. Would I add Stress Coat + in addition to that or instead of that? Chemistry aside there is a price difference between those two products.

agabr123

you would use the stress coat + instead of the aquasafe, stress coat + (as opposed to regular stress coat) is actually a water conditioner as well as helping to replace the slime coat. it detoxes ammonia and removes chlorine, chloramine, and heavy metals (just like prime)

Shawnie

whenever a fish has scale or fin damage, its necessary to have prestine water changing it at least every other day if not small ones daily, with the stress coat added...a weekly change wont cut it as it needs to be like healing a cut on a human..you wouldnt just wash it out and clean it once a week...it does take time but also takes a bit more

CWO4GUNNER

Just to clarify for my edification as well as others. I haven't yet used "API Stress Coat +". What I have been using is "API Stress Coat" for conditioning water changes (once a week 50%).
Quote "Replaces slime coat, reduces electrolyte loss, promotes tissue regeneration, removes chlorine and chloramines, also detoxifies heavy metals. To repair damaged skin and fins add 2 tsp per 10 us gallons. To just remove chlorine and chloramines add 1 tsp per gallons."

I haven't looked or used API Stress Coat + but it sounds like it only adds ammonia detox which is not needed unless your cycling. Apparently it appears that API stress Coat + ia replacing API Stress Coat because even though both are sold on the internet they are not both listed on their product line, only API Stress Coat + is offered on their website. So it appears that at some point you will have to dose with ammonia detoxifier as well whether you need it or not once regular stress coast is no longer available.

AlyeskaGirl

I had a nasty bacteria infection/fin rot breakout and lost some fish but had 3 Angelfish that survived. Their fins were damaged badly. I moved them and 5 Black Neon Tetras down into a 10 gal q-tine tank and treated with Melafix and Pemafix. Melafix repairs damaged fins, ulcers and open wounds. I dosed daily for 3 days and did 25% water change and dosed again for 3 days and did water change and so on. They still had minor bacteria infections so I continued to dose for about 2 weeks and their fins regenerated during that time. It worked wonderfully on them! They are now back in the main tank!

Note: NOT to be used on Labrynth fish. Corys I don't recommend eather.

FishCreek

Stress Coat is a water conditioner. They say that it's contents "helps in replacing the slime coat" is by irritating the fish so that the fish itself makes more slime coat. I stopped using it in my tank. My fish were always flashing, especially after a water change, and I was always careful not to add too much.

prairielilly

I use this (Stress Coat, not Stress Coat +) whenever a fish has been moved, is new, has been stressed, is ill or injured. I use it to help with the slime coat, not to treat the water (I use Prime for that). IMO I've had good results with it; whether that's actually due to the additive being beneficial or the fish just doing well naturally I couldn't say for sure, but I think it's a good product and I will continue to use it.

CWO4GUNNER

Sort of like having a nurse scrub brush a old scab off to promote healing...Now that you mention it I noticed the 1 time I use 2 tsp/10ga instead of 1 Tsp/10ga which also includes tonight, the barbs are occasionally rubbing themselves on ornamental leaves and coral.

Lucy

I've had great results with Stress Coat, I especially like the kind with Aloe.......very soothing.
That and pristine water will go a long way to help prevent infection.

CWO4GUNNER

I have never tried it myself, I'm strictly a "Vaseline intensive care lotion" man myself. LOL 8^D

Lucy

Off topic, After having my hands in tanks, I do know Prime leaves my hands feeling dried out but Stress Coat doesn't lol

rhouston

Now that I look at the web page I see that the Tetra AquaSafe I had been using all along says it helps promote the slime coat and therefore healing as well:

http://www.tetra-fish.com/sites/tetr...id=1276&cid=73

I'm finding that trying to find the right chemicals to use is very frustrating for these kinds of reasons. The directions are very terse and vague. Many of the chemicals have overlapping "features" and it is unclear what kinds of combinations can be safely used. And if you attempt to filter this small amount of information through some kind of anecdotal evidence collected from experienced aquarists (that's you guys) what comes back is still often ambiguous. I don't mean to sound ungrateful to this group with that last statement; On the contrary, I'm very happy to have this fantastic source of ideas. It just seems like despite all the research and consulation with experienced aquarists that I'm still just guessing. Do I believe this web page? Or this other web page? Or do I believe that guy on the forum? Or the other guy on the forum? My MO so far has been to consider all sources, do my best to pick one, and hope it works. It just doesn't seem like there's any definitive information to be had.

grumpy

Lucy

That's one thing about fish keeping and the different products available. We can only give suggestions as to what has worked for us. There are many different views and opinions.
The trick is figuring out what works for you and go from there.