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medication ? please advice

KLtcb

Blue Ring
Registered
Joined
Aug 4, 2008
Messages
37
hey:biggrin2:

quick question...

i just dosed my tank with a Melafix treatment and i forgot to turn off my skimmer, so i called fish store to ask and they said turn it off for 2 days and then turn it back on but i will still get alot of bubbles for weeks. is this accurate or did i screw up? my skim cup fills with foam then it turns into water, but it is off for right now, any advice?

thanks for the help

Mike
 
It's not that we don't like you. I read your original post, but have never used that medication. I did look it up and think it sounds questionable as it's an unregulated herbal extract. From what I've just read in this thread:
http://www.reefland.com/forum/marin...melafix-pimafix-how-they-work-don-t-work.html
API doesn't publish what bacteria this medication is effective against. This is part of the account of a discussion with an API rep on the above thread:
"These products (Melafix and Pimafix) only kill some kinds of bacteria. I asked if he meant gram negative or positive and the answer was, "No." What he meant was that, irrespective of gram stain results, the bacteria that is thwarted by these products is a finite group (which is mostly unknown)."​
If you don't know what it is effective against how can you know it will be effective against the pathogen you want rid of and not the normal flora of your tank. What may be helpful is for you to tell us what ailment you are treating on what organism.

As for the dose you have already administered, what do the instructions say to do and what did you actually do? The store probably told you to turn off the skimmer as having it on would pull this supplement out of the water.
 
KLtcb;124926 said:
hey:biggrin2:

quick question...

i just dosed my tank with a Melafix treatment and i forgot to turn off my skimmer, so i called fish store to ask and they said turn it off for 2 days and then turn it back on but i will still get alot of bubbles for weeks. is this accurate or did i screw up? my skim cup fills with foam then it turns into water, but it is off for right now, any advice?

thanks for the help

Mike

If you have any live rock you should ask for them to replace it, your most likley going to experience long term issues with the stability of your tank from dosing. Melafix will cause problems with your skimmer until you literally replace the water, as in 100%. I personally would not seek any type of advice from a store that tells you to buy melafix. For bacterial or fungal infections there are specific medications like azythromyacin or erythromyacin (spellling).
 
Your live rock should be fine; if I remember right Melafix is supposedly reef-safe. Medications for cephalopods has not been widely researched, and there are very few proven treatment methods. I seemed to have a small amount of success with Tetracycline, though I cannot be certain if it helped or not.

You were told to turn off your protein skimmer because the medication will be taken out by the fractionation. You should also take out your carbon when you dose any medication. When your treatment period is over restart your skimmer, do a 25% water change, and put in a fresh bag of carbon to ensure the medication gets removed.

If you let us know what is going on we may be able to help you find a treatment that will work better than Melafix.
 
thanks for the replies, the treatment was for my lionfish who has cloudy eye...
i used it once before and it worked fine. should i be worried that i messed my tank up or my live rock? i don't get what you said... it says on the bottle that is safe with reef and inverts.. i only did one dose which is 5ml per 10g US and its a 75g so i just did 7 caps and i havent done anything else.. im also having a problem with micro bubbles and the fish store said they will go away in a few days but it is normal after you medicate your tank?

im worried now that you said replace the live rock..........
 
You don't need to do anything to the live rock. Just do a 25% water change and put in new carbon and you will be fine. Skimmers will overreact when medications are put in which is partially why you need to turn them off when you medicate. The other reason is that it will take the medication out of the water. You are getting microbubbles because the medication was not properly removed from the tank after it ran its course.
 
so if i do the 25% water change then ill be ok and the micro bubbles will stop coming out of the skimmer? i only did one dosing of the medication but the lionfish's eyes are still cloudy, should i just turn my skimmer off, restart the treatment and then do the water change? im just getting frustrated and confusing myself because everyone says something different..
 
The microbubbles may not go away completely but they should die down quite a bit. You also need to add fresh carbon to the tank to get the medication out of the water. I would do a small water change and add some carbon and then wait a day and redose. Take out the carbon while you are medicating. It will probably take several doses to cure the lion. It would also be a good idea to boost his immune system with Vitamin C and soak his food in garlic to ward off parasites while the lion is vulnerable.
 
Melafix is a complete disaster. I recently added it to a tank in a panic when one of my new fish display signs of and ultimately died from what looked like a bacterial infection. I'm kicking myself now because my skimmer will no longer operate without throwing tons and tons of microbubbles into the tank. The filter has been running with tons of new carbon and there hasn't been much improvement. I have a series of large water changes planned for the next couple of weeks and am unsure even that can undo the damage done.


On a side note: I wouldn't have added it had I not been given a new bottle along with a used aquarium I bought. It is now in the trash.
 

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