Ick Medicine And Melafix At The Same Time?

[snow_mink87]

Alright, I have a fish who lost a bit of fins today, so I've been adding melafix to the water. I also have ick from adding new pet store fish, so I picked up some Ick Clear Tank Buddies. Would it be ok to use right now with a somewhat injured fish and mix with the melafix?
TY.

 

[MermaidMel]

I jolly well hope so, because I've been treating Moses with both meds this week

 

[Bignose]

It is a risk. You just can't predict how the active ingredients in each medication is going to react. Unless each package explicitly says it can be used with other medications, I think that there is a decent chance that you are reducing the effectiveness of one or the other or both medications, and possibly having them react together to make some potentially dangerous combinations. I think that chance of this is small, but it definitely not zero.

What would be a better plan is to cure the ich problem, then treat with Melafix after. Mixing medications is almost always a bad idea.

 

[TylerFerretLord]

I'm prety sure Melafix can be used with other API medications.

Not sure about the tank buddies, though.

 

[confusion]

Any reason not to just treat the ick by increasing the temperature? Then, adding the melafix isn't a big deal.

 

[Squidman]

You could just add one then add the other a few hours such as 6 hours and i think it would be fine. Ive never added both of those before though.

 

[Bignose]

You could just add one then add the other a few hours such as 6 hours and i think it would be fine. Ive never added both of those before though.

I don't think that that is good idea, most medicines are active for around 24 hours. 6 hours is not enough, it still opens the door for possible interactions.

Very similarly, this is why you tell the doctor and pharmacist what other medications and supplements you are taking. There is a chance, albeit a small chance, that interactions can occur. Even then, the most likely interaction is that one medication will interact with another, rendering one or both of the medications ineffective. This is bad because then you aren't getting the medication you need. However, sometimes they can react together to make dangerous compounds. You just don't know. Most of the time, two medications won't interact, but you always check to make sure, and never assume that they don't.

Now, the above example is for human life, and these are just fish. (I'm hoping to NOT start a debate on human life versus fish life.) Nevertheless, there is a chance, again a small one, that the two medications could interact. If you know that they won't, then you can mix them together. But, I would never assume that they can be mixed together. Because you just don't know what will happen. Unless the package specifically says you can mix it with another medication, or unless you can find a study that shows they don't interact and both medications remain effective, I wouldn't assume that it is safe/ok to do so.

 

[CFC]

Melafix is basically just tea tree oil extract, distilled water and a emulsifier to bind the oil and water, its more of a herbal remedy than an actual medication and used on its own it does very little to treat diseases that have already taken hold, what it is good for is preventing secondary bacterial infections in already damaged/weakened fish as tea tree oil is a natural anti bacterial agent. I often use a home made version of melafix when treating fish with skin damage along side the more conventional medications and have never witnessed any ill effects from doing so.

 

[Bungy]

Ive been using eSHa 2000 for finrot together with eSHa Exit for Whitespot - it clearly states on the box that both can be used together and provides a "broad" medication covering "most" commonly encountered fish diseases. Only time will tell if this actually works as I have been troubled with WhiteSpot for about 3 weeks now and dont seem to be able to clear my 70Gal tank of it.