mouth fungus, dropsy in apisto tank!! Please help

[Anonymous]

I was wondering what a good medication for treating mouth fungus on a blue ram and dropsy in small tetras in a community tank containing several species of Apistos. The tank is heavily planted 75 gallons, 0-nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, phosphates. pH-6.8 . I am mostly worried about the apistos being sensitive to any medications. I am afraid the unknown bacteria is in the tank so I need to treat the whole tank. I have small tetras, apistos and small algae eaters. Has anyone used Melafix with apistos. Thanks

 

[2la]

I've used MelaFix with apistos, but you should be aware that dropsy is a sign that the damage is already done. MelaFix will help only a little if any, but it is very rare to pull fish out of dropsy. The best treatment is keeping conditions pristine through frequent water changes, and then hope for the best. The good news is that mouth "fungus" responds very well to MelaFix and it certainly won't hurt to add it to your tank. 75G is an awful lot of water to treat, though, so you may want to isolate all sick fish in a quarantine tank and treat them there, if possible.

 

[Neil]

eric,

WELCOME TO THE FORUM

Although your values are good, fungus and bloat are usually associated with some environmental condition in the water. I would start doing larger, more frequent water changes to possibly correct the root problem, as well as dealing with the specific (but probably secondary) issues.
Good luck,
Neil

 

[farm41]

What is your water change schedule?