Melafix?!

[mantis]

So...55gal tank is sick. I have an arrowana, a pleco, and a red tailed catfish in there. At the top of the water, I see white dots, and when I pour in the melafix, I can see that it either kills or moves away the white dots.

I've gone through three expensive bottles of the melafix.
I've done a 75% water change, and scrubbed the glass.

My fish's eyes aren't as white/cloudy as they used to be, but the dots at the top of the tank are building up again. Help! In the three years that I've had freshwater tanks, this is the first it's been sick.

 

[JNevaril]

hmmmm......

are the white dots ON the fish, or in the water.

maybe i am not understanding what you are saying.

how long has your tank been set up???

paramaters ok?

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Can you get a brine shrimp or fry net and scoop the white dots off the surface of the water?

Also, is there carbon in the filter? Because if there is, you need to remove it while you medicate because it removes the medication from the water.

 

[seastaar88]

if they're in the water column, you may need to switch to a medication that treats EXTERNAL parasites. melafix is good for things like frayed fins and sores, NOT parasites. align melafix with neosporin. to get rid of the parasites look into formalin or malachite green. i'm not super familiar with your fish (do they have scales??)

 

[mantis]

the white dots are on the water...as the water evaporates, i can see it on the glass.

only the arrowana has scales.
i have a fluval 304, not sure if there is carbon in it, but I will shut it down and take the black bags out if there is any...black bags are the carbon correct?

My tank has been set up at it's current location for a little over a year.

 

[kindaconfused]

1st of all what kind of arrowanba because from what i remember most arrowanas get to big for anything under 100 gallon to a 150 gallon tank. And for the white dots. I have no idea what they are but do turn off yor filter while you medicate.

 

[Leopardess]

I suspect the white dots at the surface are nothing more than some sort of water flea or aphid. It's just some biodiversity added to the tank. I have them in almost all of my planted tanks and they make yummy snacks. You should be able to see them hopping around.

Take heart, though. Pretty much anything that maybe looks like a parasite that is free-swimming, is likely not a fish parasite at all.

Melafix is not a good cure for anything other than wounds, really.

What are your water parameters? What symptoms are you trying to treat?

 

[LongTime]

1st of all what kind of arrowanba because from what i remember most arrowanas get to big for anything under 100 gallon to a 150 gallon tank. And for the white dots. I have no idea what they are but do turn off yor filter while you medicate.

DO NOT TURN OFF YOUR FILTER! Simply remove the carbon from your filter. If you turn off your filter the bacteria you need that reside in the filter will die!

 

[Leopardess]

Oops, I missed that filter thing. Listen to longtyme; don't turn off your filter. All you would need to do is remove any new carbon (old carbon is ineffective anyway).

 

[mantis]

I'm going to remove the carbon. I believe when I leave the white stuff at the top for too long, then my fish get cloudy whiteish eyes and then start to die.

Yes my arrowana needs a bigger tank, but he's only about a foot long right now. 150+gal tank is few months away.
Speaking of growth, the redtail will grow much bigger than the arrowana

 

[mantis]

The white dots at the top look like someone who took a thing of chalk from the teachers board and scraped it off and the flakes is what's on top of my water