Medicating after using bio-spira

[rotten_stars]

Whats the general rules for medicating after using bio-spira to cycle a tank? We added the bio-spira about a week ago and just today one of our fish badly injured itself and required medication.

So we removed the filter cartridges and added mela-fix to the water. I am wondering how this will affect the situation with the bio-spira in the water. I have a feeling that adding this med may have been a little hasty and may do the fish more damage than good (i.e. by killing off all of the bacteria newly formed by the bio-spira), especially as we experienced an ammonia spike just yesterday.

[wetmanNY]

No more problem than if you had added a little basil to the water or a little oregano.

[rotten_stars]

but my issue is with removing the carbon filter and the filter which deals with the ammonia from the tank, after what seemed to be an ammonia spike associated with the cycling. Wont the ammonia keep on rising until i do a water change? (something that i dont think you are supposed to do whilst using the melafix)

I need some advice in keeping the ammonia down while the melafix takes hold. And are you sure that this will not mess with the cycle effects of the bio spira. I thought removing the carbon filter would be removing some of the bacterial colony.

[rotten_stars]

poop. scrap all of that. i just put the affected fish in a hospital tank. problem solved

[dave76]

In the future you could just remove the carbon from the filter cartridges and put the cartriges back in.

[Gunnie]

Try Ammonia/Nitrite Eliminator made by Acquamarine. You can get it at www.drsfostersmith.com if you can't find it locally. I experienced lethal ammonia levels on a tank a few months ago when my husband brought home a 7 inch jack dempsey and put it in a brand new (uncycled) 29 gal. tank. My ammonia levels were at 0 within 48 hours. Of course I had called the company, & he recommended using 6 times the recommended dosage. He said you couldn't overdose on the stuff. Just an idea. It worked for me.