Methanol blue vs Melafix for betta

[Paccula]

ok, so my boyfriend has been putting "Methanol blue" disease preventative in his betta's water (at about 1/4 teaspoon per liter of water, and the right amount added to new water every week). but he's almost out, and the lfs isn't getting any more in for some reason. they do however stock "Melafix", and we are wondering if this can be used the same way. it contains "Melaleuca CAS # 8 008-98-8 1%" we're not sure what that means but maybe someone here does! is it the same ingredient as Methanol blue? thanks!

 

[Cloud-9]

Melafix

Melafix is not the same as methylene blue. I am not aware of using Melafix in a prophylactic/preventive capacity. Maybe your Beta can do quite well without the preventive, as long as you treat the water for chlorine and to make sure that you don't shock the fish with a big temperature change.

Melafix is used to treat bacterial infections.

 

[Mako]

Cloud-9 is right on.

Lol, be careful though.... You don't want to put "methanol" in your tank--- methanol is the fuel that Big Foot, Grave Digger, and other monster-trucks and dragsters run off of--- makes gasoline look like cherry coke. "Methylene" is a different story....

I, personally (as well as most here I'd bet) wouldn't bother with the methyblue or melafix as a constant additive. Just dechlorinate the water with Prime or Amquel Plus (both of which remove ammonia from chloramine in tap water) and make sure it's the right temp (for bettas I've always done the finger dip, but ONLY b/c I've done it for years and know how much is too much). Long range exposure to methyblue *may* have degenerative effects on the fish. It's really a dye (as I'm sure you're boyfriends fingers are aware of) that just happens to be a good fungicide.

Melafix is made from an herb of some sort. A fantastic bacterial remedy. Useless, as far I I'm concerned, as a preventative. It stinks (smells worse than eucalyptus) and I bet the betta would call you dirty names for using it in his water if he could.