Discus burned from heater (just add Melafix, Bob?)<<Don't raise my BP!>>      1/27/15
Hi there,
We just added couple discus in our tank and one of them started sulking and didn't notice he was sulking by the heater. When I moved him, there's a white mark, scales sloughed off and u can see his white meat. The damaged area is about half inch.
<Oh dear.>
Right now, I have him QT with Melafix and 2 tbsp of Aquasalt. Temp is about 84-85F.
<Apart from the salt and the Melafix, neither of which are helpful, you're doing everything right. Time, good water quality, the right diet are all that's needed here. In spotlessly clean water (0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, below 20 mg/l nitrate) fish have an astonishing ability to heal. Provided the wound stays clean, it will be covered with mucous very quickly, largely sealing it off from the outside, and new skin will start growing within a few days. You should see clear signs of healing after a week or so. Adding salt doesn't really do anything helpful, particularly for soft water fish like Discus. Instead make sure the water soft (less than 5 degrees dH, and the lower the better) and keep the pH at 6-6.5 or even slightly below. Why?
Because bacteria don't enjoy acidic water, and many fish from blackwater habitats -- such as Discus -- are actually overwhelmed by bacteria if kept in alkaline conditions should they become stressed for some reason. Since
you're keeping Discus, you presumably know all about water chemistry, and I'd like to think you're keeping this fish in soft, acidic conditions anyway.>
Am I doing this QT right? Any medication u can recommend?
<Not really any medication for burns. An antibacterial is worth having on hand in case Finrot appears, but adding Melafix may or may not be helpful.
It's an unreliable medication, and while it is sold (in part) as a preventative, something to stop infections getting started, in some situations it makes things worse. Bob F is not a fan, and I can certainly think of better, more reliable medications.>
Thank u
Mike
<Cheers, Neale.>

A Marine (Water Quality) and a Freshwater (Discus Injury) Question - 04/22/06 Hello, and many 'thank you's' for all the wonderful help you've provided me over the years! <<Howdy...and you're welcome>> I have two concerns that call for your brand of expertise: <<Alrighty>> 1) My 55gal reef tank has quite a layer of 'scum' on the surface and has had quite an algae problem over the last week or so and 2) My discuss is breathing better and I'm wondering if he's going to keep on keeping on or what. <<Okay...lets split these queries up and tackle one at a time, shall we?>> Reef details: I recently (3 months ago) moved from having very good water (20ppm total hardness strait out of the tap) to having very hard water (340ppm out of the tap). <<Mmm, indeed...though should be a moot point if you are filtering your tap water before use>> Our area is also home to a very large phosphates mine-I don't know if this could effect the water supply, but I thought I'd throw it in just in case. <<Ah yes, there is likely a huge excess of phosphate in the ground water>> Until about 3 weeks ago I hadn't had any problems. <<Building up in your system over time>> Then I got a slight scum on the surface that lasted a couple days and went away...for a week...to be replaced with a worse scum for 3 to 5 days and went away...for 5 days or so...to be replaced by the current scum layer which continues to get worse as the days go by.  My surface skimmer is drawing just fine, I have about 780gph turn over in my tank, and my skimmer is only producing about 1/2 cup of dark skimmate every day. <<Hmm...is curious that the surface skimmer can't handle/remove the "scum">> I'm replacing 2gal. of top off daily that is filtered through a PUR-tm faucet filter. <<Ahh...herein lies the problem.  This filter is inadequate for your needs, it is neither designed nor intended to filter water to the quality you need for your reef tank.  It may have proved adequate with your previous tap water supply, but it seems obvious you need something with "more power" now.  Do look in to either an RO/DI or Kati/Ani filtration system...can make all the difference here>> I need to replace the 10000K 250w MH as it is around a year to year-and-half old. <<I doubt these are your problem...probably even have a few more months of useful life to them>> I also have 130w CFL super-actinics that are about 3 month old.  I have about 15 sm. snails of varying types and about the same number of sm. hermits.  The bioload is 1--3" Coral beauty angel, 1--2 1/2" Yellow watchman goby, 1 Fire goby, 1--2" Ocellaris clownfish, 1 med. coral banded shrimp, 1 pr. skunk shrimp, 3 peppermint shrimp, 1--2" sea hare (not the normal species...smaller and bright green).  Soft corals include: sm. Stolonifera, 8 anthelia polyps, and various mushroom, Xeniid, and Kenya tree frags.  I also have a 3" bubble tip anemone. <<Ugh...you were doing so well up to this point <G>.  I hate to see motile invertebrates housed with sessile invertebrates...especially in a small system such as yours>> Discus details: During the move (three months ago) the largest and most hale of my four 3" discuss managed to make a dive for the floor during transfer from the transport tank to the show tank. <<Ouch!>> From that point on he's been sickly and dark, and his gill covers have been unevenly distended. <<Likely suffered some physical trauma>> His right was hardly moving and the left was always twice as open as the other discuss.  Well, four or five days ago he started hiding in the back and got really dark...trouble signs...and I was about to separate him to his own hospital tank, when, two days ago, I noticed that he was back up front, lightening up, and HIS GILLS WERE BOTH WORKING! <<Yea!>> Well, he's kept a better color, though still not his best by a long shot, and he's still using both gills equally.  Do you have any idea what happened? <<Specifically?...no...but it's obvious he suffered injury/stress from the fall to the floor...and appears to be recuperating nicely on his own>> Thanks for both helps. Branon. <<Cheers my friend, EricR>>