Hi,
I'm treating ich in my tank
. Inhabitants are platys, rubbernose pleco, B. kubotai loach, and von rio tetras. After loads of research, I decided to try a half dose of Quick Cure (malacite green/formalin) for an extended period of time. I know loaches and tetras are sensitive to this medication, so I'm trying to be very careful. On loaches.com (or something similar) I found what appeared to be a good set of directions.
Basically, raise the temp, then dose at 1 drop per 2 US gallons. Then, in 2-4 days, do a 50% water change and redose, repeating this at least 4 times. The directions said to raise the temp to 86, but that seemed really high...so I opted for 84 instead. I don't have the most accurate heater, and I dont want to cook my fish!
It seemed straight forward enough, but then I got to wondering: just how long is the half life for this medication? I raised my temp, dosed, and waited 3 days. I just did the next 50% water change. If I redose as before, and the half life is longer than 3 days, then I will be increasing the concentration of the medication, which may harm my loach and tetras. Just to be safe, I only dosed half of what I had previously (so, in this case, 1drop/4g). I figured I can always add more later...but if I had too much, I'll kill my fish!
So, my question is this: did I underdose this time/should I add the rest....or did I do the right thing? According to my directions, I should have to redose at least 4 times total.
So far everyone is tolerating the medication. The fish are stressed, but everyone is still eating and swimming.
Thanks,
Mel
mbbowman at gmail dot com
I'm treating ich in my tank
. Inhabitants are platys, rubbernose pleco, B. kubotai loach, and von rio tetras. After loads of research, I decided to try a half dose of Quick Cure (malacite green/formalin) for an extended period of time. I know loaches and tetras are sensitive to this medication, so I'm trying to be very careful. On loaches.com (or something similar) I found what appeared to be a good set of directions. Basically, raise the temp, then dose at 1 drop per 2 US gallons. Then, in 2-4 days, do a 50% water change and redose, repeating this at least 4 times. The directions said to raise the temp to 86, but that seemed really high...so I opted for 84 instead. I don't have the most accurate heater, and I dont want to cook my fish!
It seemed straight forward enough, but then I got to wondering: just how long is the half life for this medication? I raised my temp, dosed, and waited 3 days. I just did the next 50% water change. If I redose as before, and the half life is longer than 3 days, then I will be increasing the concentration of the medication, which may harm my loach and tetras. Just to be safe, I only dosed half of what I had previously (so, in this case, 1drop/4g). I figured I can always add more later...but if I had too much, I'll kill my fish!
So, my question is this: did I underdose this time/should I add the rest....or did I do the right thing? According to my directions, I should have to redose at least 4 times total.
So far everyone is tolerating the medication. The fish are stressed, but everyone is still eating and swimming.
Thanks,
Mel
mbbowman at gmail dot com
