I was told by a fairly reputable LFS near here that I could dip my tail rot fish's tail into straight melafix. Would this be ok???

I don't have enough experience with melafix & goldie fins but I would think that this would be too strong. I believe that it's meant to be more of an antiseptic & I would think that at that high of a concentration it wouldn't feel too good. (In my betta tanks it has accelerated the rotting process. I would try it in the water in a gf tank but very carefully!)

I would suggest getting to the bottom of why you think the rot started first before you try this as I have learned that rot will not heal unless you remove the cause (be it poor water conditions, bacteria, other nippy fish or whatever)

Can you post the info from the blue box???

It would be most helpful!

Jenn

Hey - I've never heard that one before. Straight Melafix is very strong, I wouldn't do it, it may even do more harm than good.

Hey now I remember! We were working through a cycling tank! How's that going?? If the tank is still cycling I def would not try this as it will surely stress the fish out & the fish are already in a stressful situation.

Have the fins stopped rotting?? If they have I would just watch very carefully & see how they do when the water is perfect. I have found perfect water to be the best healer of rotting fins.

If the water is perfect & you want to add some melafix to it, then I would try it (to see if it helps accelerate the healing).

How's the tank coming?? (Sorry I forgot!)

Jenn

Well, as far as the cycling, the ammonia is between 0 and .25 without ammochips now, the nitrItes are between 1 and 2, and the nitrAtes are around 60. Its comming down slowly but surely. Only the one fin rot fish is still showing signs of the rot...the other one is healing up quite nicely. No more red veins, etc in the fins, and they are starting to get nicely rounded on the ends, rather than jaggedy. The one still looks like she went through an electric fan. I have used melafix numerous times and never semed to have too much in the way of results.
Let me know what to do now!!!

If you are game, soak a Q-tip in peroxide. Net the fish and clean the rotting fin with that. Be sure to remove all the rotted bits. Make sure no peroxide gets into eye, mouth or gills. It sounds rough but it will stop the rot in its tracks. Do not attempt this if you are not comfortable in handling the fish out of the water or are already treating the finrot with some success by other methods.

well, I will give this a try....on the tail for now at least...I think I would be afraid to try it on the top fin or the little flippers....Im not treating her at the moment...I dont want to mess up my new tank cycle, etc yet. Ive handled them, they eagerly come to my hand when Im cleaning and eat from my hand, so theyre not shy, and I dont mind a little fish slime.....I will definately give it a try.

One question tho...what do you mean remove all the rotted parts???

Well, your fish's tail will be frayed and bits of rotting fin will still be attached. You want to use the Q-tip firmly to remove all the broken, rotten bits at the end of the tail until you can a nice clean edge. OBTW, have a bucket of clean fresh water ready to place her in for a few minutes after you worked on her. You don't want any peroxide in the main tank.