Originally posted by OrionGirl
I've heard from numerous people who reported fish gasping at the surface following a melafix dose. Most of the claims for positive effects are suspect--no proof that Melafix actually did anything good, it's addition just didn't result in wide scale deaths.
Welp, this post got me interested, as I've seen lots shady advice being thrown about as of late.
Just cracked out my Lamotte dissolved oxy test, and the oxygen levels are around 110% in a planted tank I've been dosing Melafix in for the past 3 days. In the past I've had average readings just below that mark.
On many occasions in my experience, tea tree oil does help. Last week one of my altums had a torn dorsal fin. I did a water change and allowed it to heal for four days on it's own, little progress has been made (about 1/2" healed), three days of dosing Melafix and it's healed all but the last 1/4" of the 2" tear. Now going on day three, should be all healed by tomorrow. When a chance presents itself to do a side-by-side comparison, I'll be sure to compare results and post them here.
Now, I have seen gasping on occasion when using the consumer strength stuff in the small blue bottles. However, never have I experienced it with the professional/pond strength which I currently use (5ml per 50g). As far as the gasping was concerned, in my experience, it seemed likely to be caused by the sensation from the oils, much as we would experience with Vick's Vaporub.
Cheers,
Raithan O. Ellis
