Well, I made a mistake and added a dwarf gourami to a tank that had Buenos Aires tetras in it. The tetras harassed the poor thing and now I've moved it to a 5 gallon hospital tank. It's fins are pretty shredded, but it's still feeding and without the tetras bugging it it appears to be much less stressed. I'm considering treating w/Melafix to help the fins grow back. Is this an appropriate treatment or should I treat w/something else or just leave it and let time heal all wounds?
Best way to treat a fish w/fin damage
- Thread starter chinnp
- Start date
It will take weeks. I have a male betta who had more than half his tail eaten away, but a month later he is as whole as ever. I have also had tetras and a gourami with minor tail/fin damage and they also looked fine within a month. It just takes time...fins grow at a similar rate to, say, human hair, from what I've observed. The most important thing is that the fish is kept in a healthy environment, IMO.
Since the does you need for a 5 g tank is used up well before the tail grows back, I have used it if I have it laying around, but otherwise I don't go out to get any. My betta like to munch his tail from time to time
It takes a month or two to fully grow back (that is about 1/4-1/2 inch of tail).
Keep your tank extra clean, so there are no infections started. carbon removes chemicals from water, so if you add any chemicals take it out.
5g is a good hospital tank size, but if you can swing it, your gourami might do better in a larger tank.
It takes a month or two to fully grow back (that is about 1/4-1/2 inch of tail).Keep your tank extra clean, so there are no infections started. carbon removes chemicals from water, so if you add any chemicals take it out.
5g is a good hospital tank size, but if you can swing it, your gourami might do better in a larger tank.