Injured Spotted Raph needs help

[Corylover]

My Raph (JoJo) likes to hide up under the heater in my tank and has a knack of burrowing where she don't fit . I tried to deter her away but she keeps going back. After years of hanging under there the heater got her finally ( I think) and she's missing a little skin from the top near her dorsal fin.

She's has no infection or fungus growing in that spot but I can tell she's hurting a bit. Right now she in a hospital tank resting , I added a bit of salt to it to try to help her heal. Do you guys know of anything eles I could use to help her heal her wound. Poor baby.

The specs for my tank is:

Ph- 7.0
Nitrate 0ppm
Nitrite 5ppm
Water Soft
alkalinity 160
Ammonia none

Thanks in advance for your help.

[MatsP]

Are you sure it's 5ppm nitrite in the current tank? If so, do an immediate 50% water change, wait two hours, then do another 50% water change. Repeat until the tank is under 0.5ppm nitrite.

I'd also recommend adding more places where the fish can hide - hiding by/under the heater is a bad thing. A heater-guard is also a good idea - you can buy one at your LFS or make one yourself from a suitable piece of plastic pipe (PVC or ABS water pipe from local DIY/Plumbing shop) with a couple of medium-sized holes either end (roughly 3/8", 10mm - small enough so that the fish can't get in there, large enough that there can be some water flowing through the casing. Also make sure that the end is blocked so the fish doesn't think the plastic pipe/tube is a suitable hiding space.

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Mats

[Richard B]

Sound advice there from Mats.

Another option for a home made heater guard like i use: I had an old moss pole (used for supporting large houseplants, like monstera - this is essentially a tube of wide latticed plastic filled with sphagnum moss). I removed the moss & there was enough of the plastic tubing for half a dozen heater guards. I then cut the correct length & zip tied it to the heater cable to keep the guard in the correct place. Plenty of water circulation & protected fishes!

[Corylover]

No it not the Nitrite. Those specs above are the ones from the uncycled hospital tank she's in now . I checked the Nitrite again and there's none in there. I like the idea of a heater guard Mats. I don't know why but she just drawn to it thought she has nice places to hide. So is the aqurarium salt treatment best for her or should I try something eles for her?

[MatsP]

No it not the Nitrite. Those specs above are the ones from the uncycled hospital tank she's in now . I checked the Nitrite again and there's none in there. I like the idea of a heater guard Mats. I don't know why but she just drawn to it thought she has nice places to hide. So is the aqurarium salt treatment best for her or should I try something eles for her?

As long as there is nothing visibly wrong, a little bit of salt will help the fish. I personally prefer to not use medications if they are not needed - they are not always without side effects [in fact, I think most aquatic medication HAS noticeable side effects], so if you can get away without medications, then that's the ideal solution.

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Mats