Injured Tinfoil

[MamaBarb]

My largest tinfoil has injured herself - probably by jumpimg and scraping her side on the lid of the 75G tank. The wound appears to be getting infected and the rosy barbs are picking at it (yuck!). I have tried raising the salt level, but don't want to go too much farther, as there are cories in there as well, and they don't tolerate a lot of salt. I have started to cycle a 20G Q-tank and am just looking for some help on medications. I hope to move her later today. I'm thinking maybe some Melafix, and/or some tetracycline? Whatchall think? thx

[OrionGirl]

Getting her away from the barbs should be your first priority. Medications are hard to recommend--antibiotics are only affective against certain bacteria, and without knowing what's going on, you'd need to get one that was both gram negative and gram positive. Otherwise, it might not help at all.

I would move her into another setup (a large tupperware storage box will work as well as a glass tank), and concentrate on keeping the water in tip top shape, and giving her top notch foods. The salt may help a well, but it is not the same as a medicine. If you don't see signs of improvement within a few days, pick up a broad spectrum antibiotic.

[beviking]

OrionGirl gives sound advice (so what's new!) but I'll throw in my 2 cents anyway.
Being that columnaris is everywhere and a very common ailment in aquaria, I would bet that it is the infectious agent on your fish. I have had great success treating infections (columnaris) with tetracycline and it is very likely that it would work in your case. Likely as it may be, it isn't an absolute...but then again...what is?

[MamaBarb]

Thx all - I love all my fish, but the 2 tinfoils are my favorites. Want to take good care of them without hurting anyone else! When I move the injured one to quarantine, I will put the other one with her - I know they like to be in groups and that will prob be less stressful for all.