I don't know dude melafix is supposed to be safe for the fish. Maybe try placing all your infected fish in a temporary holding tank I know it brings a huge amount of stress to the fish but than again not so much... For instance this one time I accidently killed off all of my natural bio-filtering bacteria and therefore caused a ammonia epidemic which sent all of my bottom feeders jumping and all they could to get a gasp of air... And anyways one of them (a 14 inch channel catfish) got seriously pale white and stopped breathing... I thought he was dead but decided what the hell and threw him into a cooler with clean dechlorinated water and walah a miracle the fish started breathing and regained his color and still he sits in my tank a very happy healthy fish! But I digress I'd recommend placing them outside of the tank.. and or using a diluted amount of chemical.. and definately do a water cycle that will help all the fish maybe a 10 percent and try to get all the gunk out of the ground with a gravel pump. hope that helps I still am kind of a noob at fish keeping but I have had several occassions like yours where and ich outbreak kills all my untainted clean healthy fish and leaves the other sick infested ones alive.
Melafix and Ich ASAP
- Thread starter OneJun
- Start date
well i have a sand bottom..kinda deep i guess,ill stop using the melafix. it looks like the ick is going away but i think it migt be the stage where it drops of and multipys. ill still keep treating though.i dont have extra tank to qt it and if thier wuz an amonnia spike, i ahve a really good established tank/homeade BB filter.
kj5kb
KEEPER OF CATS, FISH AND CATFISHES
Salt and heat definitely works. Watch your corys for signs of stress with the salt treatment; so far mine have not had a problem with it at 1-2 teaspoons per gallon (havent tried higher). Yes, the ich will drop off and multiply, so you need to treat for 3-4 weeks.
Don't dump the whole salt dose in at once; dissolve a fraction (say 1/3 or 1/4)of the desired dose in a jar of water and add it slowly over a few hours, then repeat over the next few days til you have the full dosage in.
May want to add an airstone if doing salt/heat, as heat reduces the dissolved oxygen concentration in water.
Carbon...If it was me, I'd lose the carbon, even if it means running with no filter cartridge...just because it's been in a sick tank. Until it's "full"/used up, carbon will remove any meds in the water ( but not salt).
Most cartridges can be gutted (remove floss and carbon from the plastic frame) and then sleeved with nylon stocking/pantyhose to make a mechanical/bio-only filter.
At the very least, I'd slit the filter cartridge, dump the carbon and give it a good rinse in tank temperature water (preferably dechlorinated). If that's your only biofiltration, that may be the way to go.
Melafix/Pimafix...I use em in conjunction with salt/heat treatment to help with secondary infections, but they are not an ich cure. They are well tolerated by most fish.
Don't dump the whole salt dose in at once; dissolve a fraction (say 1/3 or 1/4)of the desired dose in a jar of water and add it slowly over a few hours, then repeat over the next few days til you have the full dosage in.
May want to add an airstone if doing salt/heat, as heat reduces the dissolved oxygen concentration in water.
Carbon...If it was me, I'd lose the carbon, even if it means running with no filter cartridge...just because it's been in a sick tank. Until it's "full"/used up, carbon will remove any meds in the water ( but not salt).
Most cartridges can be gutted (remove floss and carbon from the plastic frame) and then sleeved with nylon stocking/pantyhose to make a mechanical/bio-only filter.
At the very least, I'd slit the filter cartridge, dump the carbon and give it a good rinse in tank temperature water (preferably dechlorinated). If that's your only biofiltration, that may be the way to go.
Melafix/Pimafix...I use em in conjunction with salt/heat treatment to help with secondary infections, but they are not an ich cure. They are well tolerated by most fish.
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ok. i think the carbon may already been used up but ill remove them anyway. all of my fish seem fine and are eating regulary. My cories look fine. I dont noe how much i put in their yet but usually every few days, i would throw in about a teaspoon in their into the filter. ill keep adding melafix then to prevent secondary infections. So far my cories look fine from the salt.ill keep adding a teaspoon every day for about 3 more days and dat should be about half the strength.
Still no sign of improvement. I dont c any white dots so i think that multiplying rite now. I jst lost a guarami today and i already lost 4 fish in 4 days...im using melafix still to treat secondary infections/prevent. tempereature is at 80, water parameters are fine. Im still adding a little salt everyday but im not overdosing with the salt.
