Melafix can cause heavy breathing, especially at anything approaching full dose. That's not just my experience, a lot of people report or ask about heavy breathing with Melafix. For that reason, I typically use it at low doses and still find it effective for minor scuffs and scrapes, etc. Even at a 1/4 dose or thereabouts it does what I want it to do. If I need a higher dose (which is rare) I dose it part at a time to mitigate the heavy breathing issue. Even at lower doses you may see some mild, temporary increase in breathing. Whether that's your answer to your tank/fish I couldn't say, but it's a known effect of Melafix.
I'd be hesitant to judge pH color on a computer screen because screens vary, etc. I assume it's the tube far left and I'm thinking it's the low range test kit, in which case it appears to be in the high 7s or so on my screen. Past a certain point the low range test may not be accurate and it could be higher than it looks. In other words, in your shoes I might get water tested at a lfs as a double check. But, like I say, color can vary on different screens.
Stress coat can help heal minor scuffs also, something of a forgotten fact since Melafix came along. Normally I use one or the other to heal minor wounds, not both-- that's just me.
I'd be hesitant to judge pH color on a computer screen because screens vary, etc. I assume it's the tube far left and I'm thinking it's the low range test kit, in which case it appears to be in the high 7s or so on my screen. Past a certain point the low range test may not be accurate and it could be higher than it looks. In other words, in your shoes I might get water tested at a lfs as a double check. But, like I say, color can vary on different screens.
Stress coat can help heal minor scuffs also, something of a forgotten fact since Melafix came along. Normally I use one or the other to heal minor wounds, not both-- that's just me.