My freshwater singray had burned himself on a aquatic heater, I think he has an infection, what do I do? Help?

Question

I have a young freshwater stingray. In his tank I have his aquatic heater in a glass vase. The breeder we bought him from warned us about that he could eaisly burn himself if the heater is not covered, so we covered it. But, he managed to knock it over and burnt one of his eyes. The eye I think partially came off or something. It was there just burnt, and then it turned redish and is gone. The eye at leat and the socket is open. Where it was burnt around the eye it looks swollen and what appers to be puss or some kind of infection. His other eye looks swollen and he won't eat. He is breathing a bit heavyer too I think. What do I do? The breeder said that you can't use normal fish medications on freshwater stingrays or salts. What else? Will he fight the infection? Thanks. I may put up a picture if I can.

have a young freshwater stingray. In his tank I have his aquatic heater in a glass vase. The breeder we bought him from warned us about that he could eaisly burn himself if the heater is not covered, so we covered it. But, he managed to knock it over and burnt one of his eyes. The eye I think partially came off or something. It was there just burnt, and then it turned redish and is gone. The eye at leat and the socket is open. Where it was burnt around the eye it looks swollen and what appers to be puss or some kind of infection. His other eye looks swollen and he won't eat. He is breathing a bit heavyer too I think. What do I do? The breeder said that you can't use normal fish medications on freshwater stingrays or salts. What else? Will he fight the infection? Thanks. [IMG]http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a255/musicalrain/Bruno72.jpg[/IMG]

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[IMG]http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a255/musicalrain/Bruno001.jpg[/IMG]
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http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a255/musicalrain/Bruno72.jpg

Answer 1

FW stingrays like yours (and mine btw) are very sensitive to certain types of medications however they don't seem to display any particular sensitivity to typical antibiotics. I have 4 such rays personally, but so far I haven't had to treat them for anything (knock on wood) and can't find much about treating them with antibiotics. You could try the typical antibiotics such as Furanance or Maracyn 2, but do be warned that these guys are VERY sensitive to declining water quality. The antibiotic will at best damage and usually kill your biofilter, so be ready for huge daily water changes to keep the Ammonia, nitrite and nitrates under control as they become a problem.

So little is really known about the treatment of these fish you are treading where foew have gone before.

I wish you the best of luck with him and please, please let me know what you use and what the out come is. Since I have some and hope th breed them, I would be so very grateful for any info you can pass along.

MM

Answer 2

Apparently, heater burns are very common in rays. A little salt will help the healing process. See below.
ww.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=591766

On the other hand, www.wetwebmedia.com has some of the best fish experts on the net. Here is what they say:

Disease:

River stingrays are susceptible to ich and other tropical freshwater maladies; what's more they frequently harbor monogenean fluke and internal worm problems on arrival (all specimens are wild collected). As with all aquarium set-ups, these difficulties are best dealt with through quarantine, prevention and providing proper habitat.

Treating for infectious and parasitic disease is problematical with freshwater rays. Though many other authors encourage the use of copper-based, organophosphate (e.g. dylox), and other commercial nostrums, I warrant against this. These fishes are quite sensitive to poisoning by such treatments, and frequently are killed by the "cure".

Some writers state good success using salt(s) (sodium chloride, artificial sea salt) prophylactically and for medicating; others, myself included, do not specifically advise salt use.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwstingrays.htm

Answer 3

You do have to be careful on what treatments you use with Stingrays because of their sensitivity to treatments although it's usually parasite treatments containing copper which tend to be the most harmful.
It sounds like it's become infected so you will need to treat him with a bacterial treatment. The best bacterial type treatment around that i've used is Melafix, this is tea tree oil based so should be fine with your stingray (although i've not used it myself on any of the species) - it could be worth phoning the manufacturer and double checking but because of the qualities of Melafix and stingrays normally only reacting to copper based treatments I would think it would be ok to use.
The problem is if it's left untreated the bacterial infection could worsen and become systemic (ie run throughout the fishes body) obviously if this happens it's much more difficult to treat than a simple lesion.