Can Melafix be used as a general tonic

[ravekiss]

Can Melafix be used as a general tonic once in a while to keep fish healthy and disease free? Or not.

 

[Fish Buddy]

Just do a vacuume and add some aquarium salt
you want to get rid of what is feeding the bacteria not mask it.

 

[ravekiss]

Actually I try to avoid throwing salt because I have 4 corys in there.

 

[Fish Buddy]

What substrate do you have in that tank?

 

[ravekiss]

Gravel

 

[Fish Buddy]

Do any of your other fish show signs of illness (fuzzies on the fish, swimming funny)?
I would do a nitrate test and see if a water change needs to be done.

Edit: just remembered you said you didn't notice any illness on the other fish

 

[canarsie11]

Too kinda get back on track. I use melafix after water changes maybe every 4 changes. I do 2 a week

 

[yvez9]

the best way to keep your fish healthy is keeping clean water and all parmaters in check (ammonia, nitrite, temp,...)

I don't give fish some preventative medication
would you use a mild dose of medication all the time?

 

[Inchworm]

The best single thing you can do to keep your fish healthy is to do regular and generous water changes and vacuum the gravel. There is nothing -- including salt or MelaFix -- that will do as much.

Beside, if you make it a practice to add medications when none are needed you run the risk of developing strains of bacteria, in your tank, that are resistant to it. It's far better, IMHO, to save these products for use when they can really do some good.

 

[Nidge]

the best way to keep your fish healthy is keeping clean water and all parmaters in check (ammonia, nitrite, temp,...)

I don't give fish some preventative medication
would you use a mild dose of medication all the time?

Exactly..Why ad melifix if you dont need to.
If you change your water often and there is no disease there is no reason to ad melifix.

I only ever ad anything to my tank if there is a serious problem which is very very rare. Do regular water changes and keep your filters mature and dont over feed and your fish will do just fine.

 

[fishdudein]

Even though Melafix is "all natural", made from the extract of some type of tea tree leaf (tells you on the bottle, too lazy to go look right now ), I would not use it for a "tonic", what everyone else has posted here about water changes and cleanliness being important is true, only thing I might add would be a good varied diet (small amounts, though).

 

[Dwarfs]

I only begin treatment after I see that a fish is ill, know what the illness is, and have the proper meds to hopefully save the fish. As it has been said, the best thing to do is keep up on water changes, which usually prevents fish from getting stressed (from ammonia build up) and catching a sickness

Melafix never helped kill off any diseases IME, it only helps fins or other physical wounds heal faster.

 

[Bignose]

Beside, if you make it a practice to add medications when none are needed you run the risk of developing strains of bacteria, in your tank, that are resistant to it.

This is a HUGE point. All you are doing with casual use of Melafix is selectively breeding Melafix resistant bacterial strains. And guess what -- when you need to use Melafix, you will find it very ineffective now. Save it for emergency use, and practice good husbandy via water changes, etc., etc.

This is why it is illegal to buy over-the-counter antibacterials in the UK and other European countries. Something I truly believe that the USA could learn from.

As an aside, the number of deaths from staph infections in hospitals rise every year. Staph used to be (~30 years ago) a minor infection that penicillan or one of the other 'basic' antibacterials would kill. Nowadays some strains of staph are resistant to almost everything. The rate of mutation of these bacteria is greatly outpacing the discovery rate of new antibacterial medications. This is a large concern in the medical community. While the fishkeeping contibution is not a huge factor, it does contribute to the probelm, just like the common antibacterial soaps and sprays and cleansers while is maybe a benefit now, may in fact be a huge detriment in the long term. Sure, a great deal of bacteria is fairly benign, but there is evidence that bacteria of different strains will trade DNA, and once the benign bacteria learn to become resistant, those traits can be passed to the more aggressive (and dangerous to us) bacteria. I remember reading an article a few years back wherein a culture of bacteria in a few generations had changed its own DNA to more effectively uptake the substrate on which it was growing. Effectively, the bacteria was taking a hand in its own evolution. The example in the article was and extreme case, but you can imagine how the same thing can happen in the staph infection, or in your fishtank.

And finally, like with a lot of things in nature, having many bacteria in constant compitition is good. This is also known as Biodiversity. If your fish's immune system is healthy, bacteria should never get their foot in the door, so to speak. You do not want any strains of bacteria in your tank to become dominant (like the Melafix resistant one), instead you want lots of different kinds in constant competition with one another. Which is part of the reason why is it a good idea to change the temperature a few degrees every few months or so. Keeping the tank at a fixed temp. is letting one strain optimally grow at that temp. By changing the temp., even a few degrees, a different strain will be the optimal one. (I usually change my tanks temperatures' as the seasons change -- cooler in the winter, warmer in the summer.) And this competition is very much like nature really is.

 

[steelhealr]

Hi...I DEFINITELY agree with Inchworm. As a physician, I can tell you that dosing any animal with unnecessary medication is an invitation for trouble. I am not an expert on Melafix, but, if it provides any antifungal or antibacterial action, then low doses over long periods of time is just going to select out resistant strains, that, when your fish are 'stressed', will bang them hard. SH