Featherfin Catfish with Heater Burn ??

HI All,

We have recently (4 days ago) acquired a 6ft tank complete with a large oscar, 6 x cichilids (varying kinds), a couple of silver dollars and 2 x featherfin catfish. We were able to retain approximate 1/4 of the their original water.

The tank has a sump / biological filter with jap mat, bio balls and coral that in the cabinet underneath. The filter media was installed as is and wasn't washed to retain all the beneficial stuff in there.

One of the featherfins appears to have heater burn I think - see pic attached. He seemed fine and I did notice that sections of his skin appeared a little scaly but now they have turned white and are red around the edges. He was sitting on the bottom of the tank this morning but has since started to swim around a bit!!

All the other fish in the tank are fine.

We have relocated him to a smaller tank where he can be treated (containing 1/3 water from the 6ft tank and 2/3 new water (with stress coat)).

We have had aquariums on an off over the years and currently have two 4ft community tanks but this is our first tank with large fish so are a little lost.

Any help on how to treat him or what else we can do to help him would be appreciated.

Many thanks
Helene

 

Good morning,

Hate that your fish has been injured.

Pristine water conditions goes such a long way in helping a fish to heal. Good that you moved the fish to Quarantine until it gets better. For now, I would leave it alone and just keep an eye on it. A few extra water changes and making sure your water parameters remain at 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrites and under 20 Nitrates (under 40 not so bad).

The Stress Coat should help since it contains aloe vera.

Keep us posted! Best wishes for a full recovery! Hold on for more responses.

Ken

 

Thanks Ken,

Good to know I am on the right track

 

Just to ease your mind a bit, I had a Silver Dollar with a really bad gash on its side from ramming into a piece of driftwood. Although the fish does have a scar, the fish healed on its own with no intervention from me, other than making sure my water was/is pristine. I didn't use any type of treatment at all and the fish is now around 14 years old. This happened several years ago.

I left the fish in the main tank as no one was picking on it.

If the wound turns fuzzy (sign of fungus) then you may have to take more drastic measures, or if the wound spreads for some reason.

Hopefully it will be fine. It may take a good while to heal.

Ken

 

That's good to know Ken that there is hope for this guy yet!! I'll keep an eye on him (or her!!)

The main reason I moved him from the main tank was that I though the other fish might pick on him particularly the Oscar as he is a decent size!! Also I thought it would be easier if I did have to medicate him for some reason.

Fingers crossed he recovers from his ordeal. Needless to say there is not a heater guard on the heater to prevent future occurrences!

Helene

 

Ouch, that's a nasty injury.
I'd agree with Aquarist's advice, pristine water should help it heal.
You could soak some of his food in garlic to help his immune system with the healing process

 

Just need some more guys he has now developed a white fuzzy fungus on the wound. We need some help in treatment - we have the following Melafix, Malachite Green and Triple Sulfa (Broad Spectrum) Medication. Can I use any of these and if so which one ? If not what is the best treatment for the fungus ?
TIA

 

I'm not so sure you'll save this one. The loss of fluids will be quite severe. It looks a lot worse than a heater burn too, I would say more likely to be cichlid damage. What are the six other cichlids?

 

Fish Fungus

You may want to try a combination of Melafix and Pimafix together.

Best of luck!

Ken

 

Thanks everyone. We don't have Primafix (and can't get anywhere to get it). Can I use the malachite Fungus cure malachite green with the Melafix or is this a bad idea ? Or maybe just one or the other ...

 

Hello,

I would choose one for treatment but not both. The only combo remedy I can suggest safely is the Melafix and Pimafix. Mixing other treatments could be risky and even possibly fatal.

Ken

 

Thanks Ken. I was cautious on mixing the two. I think maybe the fungus cure as he now seems to have more fungus than open wounds.

Thanks for your help.

HI Hampalong,

The other fish in the tank are:
Oscar X1 - 200mm
Feather fin x2 - 150mm
Golden Severum x1 - 75mm
Compressorcep x1 - 75mm
Convict x1 - 40mm
Braziliensus x1 - 60mm
Silver dollar x2 - 60mm
Electric blue x3 - 60mm
Blue with vertical stripes (don't know the name) X1 - 80mm
Blue with horozontal stripes (don't know the name) x1 - 65mm

Apparently they have all been living together for a number of years

Helene

Thanks Coradee - it does look nasty poor fella.

Hopefully the treatment will do him some good - time will tell I guess.

Helene

 

HI Hampalong,

The other fish in the tank are:
Oscar X1 - 200mm
Feather fin x2 - 150mm
Golden Severum x1 - 75mm
Compressorcep x1 - 75mm
Convict x1 - 40mm
Braziliensus x1 - 60mm
Silver dollar x2 - 60mm
Electric blue x3 - 60mm
Blue with vertical stripes (don't know the name) X1 - 80mm
Blue with horozontal stripes (don't know the name) x1 - 65mm

Apparently they have all been living together for a number of years

Helene

Hmmm, at those sizes, if they've been together for "a number of years", then they're all very stunted. Also some of them shouldn't be together. The dollars should be in a gruoup of six+. Are you keeping all the fish?