The Puffer Forum

I housed my injured red Scat in a small breeder container (in the main tank), after i discovered that his friend is pecking it to death. The injury is near the dorsal area and that was last week. However today when i was doing my water change, I notice that there are white stuff growing on its right fin and near the anal fin.

1) I don't have any test kit so I am not sure of the water parameters.
2) It's a 40 UK gallon brackish tank. 10 Feeder mollies, 2 red scats (6cm), 3 spotted scats (4-6cm) and 5 monos (4cm)
3) Do 20% water change weekly. Fed them brine shrimp, algae wafers and sinking pellets
4) No changes have been made since I redesign it two months back
5) The tank have been in use for 3 years.

What medication should I use? and the cause?

You really need to get some test kits. It's very important. You can treat with melafix and pimafix. Use both together and it should help him/her heal it's fins and get rid of the fungus that's now growing on it.

Definitely second edmlfc1's advice: use melafix and pimafix in combination together - they are very mild and at the same time effective. Give it a good week of treatment.

Also, as she said, find someway to test your water. At the very least, you can take some water to your LFS as most of them will test it for free. If you want a test kit but can't afford the whole thing now (they can run $50-60), do like I did and buy the individual tests for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and pH - those are all most of us will ever need. The API ones do both fresh and salt water.

Melafix, pimafix and clean, clean water. Bump up those water changes.

Okay will try the melafix and pimafix combine this weekend,because i am in the army now and they only let me out on the weekend, as for the test kits - next pay day.

For test kits, is there a limited amount of times you can use them? Out of ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and pH which is more important in this situation?

Well, not sure exactly what you mean when you say "For test kits, is there a limited amount of times you can use them?", but the test kits last a looong time, as long as you're not testing 10 times per day every day.

That is because, I saw someone selling second hand test kit online and in the comment he put "used 15times" So i though maybe its like a litmus paper (use and throw) or something similar.