Malachite Green / Formalin - a treatment report

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OgreMkV

Father of Earth's Next Emperor
Apr 26, 2007
964
0
0
51
Port Arthur, TX
ogremkv.wordpress.com
OK, so my two clowns had ich. I assume it was ich because I don't have a microscope and a degree in marine parasites.

The two clowns have been in a ten gallon quarantine tank with a small heater and a maxi-jet 900 ph with a sponge filter. The sponge filter and the maxi-jet have been in my display tank for about 8 months, so it's well seeded with bacteria. Never-the-less, I did a 10-20% water change daily. There are a pair of 3-inch PVC pipe elbows in the Q-tank as well.

The smaller of the two clowns got several (less than 10) white spots on him. After a day, the spots went away and they were gone for four days. Then they came back and there were many more than before (not a dusting, but more than 10 spots). The large clown also got a single spot this time. At no point did either fish show signs of stress due to the ich. No clamped fins or fast breathing and both were eating heartily.

We were advised by an authority that I trust (i.e. not LFS) not to use copper products on clownfish. We had the malachite green/formalin solution and went ahead and started the treatment. 9 drops went into the tank. It's supposed to be 1 drop per gallon. I figured with a light case of ich and the pipe, sponge, ph, and heater, 9 drops would be sufficient without straining the fish. The water turned a nice bright blue and we watched the fish carefully for the first hour. They seemed to have no problems so we turned out the light and went to bed.

Apparently, it's important to medicate as near as possible to the time the lights go out so that the parasites are hit with the treatment when they drop off the fish for the night.

The next morning everything was fine. That evening I did a 10-20% water change (because the medication probably killed all the bacteria in the sponge) and retreated. The medication regime is for three doses 24 hours apart. For us it was nine drops each time and a 10-20% water change a few hours before treatment time.

At no point did the fish seem stressed due to treatment. It was obvious that they didn't enjoy it, hiding under the sponge filter or in the pipe elbows, but no stress, heavy breathing and always hungry.

After the third treatment, I waited 24 hours and placed a large bag of carbon in the tank. I don't have a HOB filter, so I just dropped the carbon bag in the tank. I'll do an additional water change tomorrow and return to my testing regime.

Malachite green/formalin is some nasty stuff and you don't want it on you or spilling on the table or floor.

There have been no spots on the fish since the final treatment. I'm hoping that the treatment will not have to be repeated.

In conclusion, Malachite Green/formalin (30%) solution seems to be an effective treatment.
 

Amphiprion

Contain the Excitement...
Feb 14, 2007
5,776
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Mobile, Alabama
Real Name
Andrew
Keep an eye out for recurrence. I typically recommend hyposalinity for the vast majority of fishes, as it is practically the safest method available. It is true that you don't want to use normal copper sulfate on clowns, however, I have used Cupramine with great results, even on typically sensitive fish. Also, the formalin is a good thing to have on hand, as it is highly effective, actually, against clownfish disease or broolynellosis. So it is something to have on hand in case that is the issue. I just wouldn't have used it to treat ordinary ich.
 
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