melefix and copods

[blennyluv]

Hi
i have a fish with a little parasite problem. found some medication that says it is all natural made from the tea tree extract. says it is completely reef safe. but will it hurt my pods????? they are really getting abundant, would not want to have to start over?? its called MelaFix
anyone??
thanks

 

[beth]

blennyluv, I feel that these medications are not reliable. Tea cures ich?? :thinking: Anyway, the effects of this medication is mostly unknown. While there may no immediate noticable adverse effects, longterm ramifications may well be present. Bottom line, you should treat your fish with medications in a tank with LR.

 

[bostonpro]

I think what Beth meant was you "should not" treat with medications in a tank with live rock.

 

[blennyluv]

Hi beth
its made from tea tree extract and is made by aquarium pharmacueticals. but i was really leery of that and this is why i have decided to just try a little garlic in the food. it seems to be working.my tang has also had a spell of white spots and seems to be about done with them (stress from the grandkids being too rowdy around the tank at christmas i am guessing, it was quite a night for the fishes). thanks for the advice. this stuff says it is completely natural and safe for all inverts and corals and live rock.
boston, i think you are right on your comment:yes:
i have spent alot of money on pods for my mandarins, and would be really ticked if i killed them off

 

[beth]

blenny, please read the post on ich in the FAQ Thread at the top of this forum. There you will see why ich seems to come and go, and sometimes fooling the hobbyist into thinking that the problem is resolved, when, in reality, it comes back even worse in just a week or so.

 

[blennyluv]

hi beth
you can call me dani. i will read it. hope it is not ich. if it is, what do you do?

 

[elfdoctors]

Tea Tree Extract also enjoyed a surge in popularity to treat human diseases about a decade ago. The other name for this is melaleuca. It seemed to be just a passing fad. There are far fewer people these days who are using this product now (although it's use still shows up in my patients occasionally).
While I was in Australia (where the stuff grows wild - it is practically a weed), I asked a botanist if the tree had medicinal usages locally and she had never heard of this. My impression is that this medication will fall out of favor in the marine trade also. There is a market since there are so few medication options, it is appealing for LFS owners to offer something when their client's fish get sick.
Hyposalinity is the preferred treatment. I used it successfully when I had an ich infection before my QT was established. My biggest problem with this treatment involved overstocking an uncycled QT.

 

[blennyluv]

so i got sucked in to spending 5 bucks on nothing. they saw me coming.
so, IF my fish get worse again as beth said they may, i will have to move my mandarin into the main tank, put my tang and goby in the qt tank and start to reduce salinity? what about a fresh water dip (with ich medication) how do you do this and is it recommended? i know blue tangs seem to have a pretty stressful personality, so would this be too much on her? i suppose i could put a seperater in my main tank if the male mandarin was a butt to her again. both fish that had the spots seem to fine right now, but will keep an eye out. i dont think my tang will be real happy in a five gallon tank :scared:
now i am getting stressed.

 

[elfdoctors]

Freshwater dips can be valuable for a few ectoparasites. Unfortunately, it is ineffective for ich.
Because the ich trophonts tend to bury into the mucous layer of the fish, they are protected. Part of the reason that hyposalinity has to be done as long as it does is that it does not kill the ich until it falls off the fish.
Hyposalinity is the preferred treatment.