The Puffer Forum

I think I'm going to merge the two threads on this because its ridiculous to have it going on in multiple places.

edmlfc1 wrote:Amm. and nitrites should always be 0. Some people will say my water is fine when their amm. is .25-.50 and nitrites are under .50. If that's the case then "no" the water is not fine. Not trying to be mean but I see it all the time.
Fine is a bad word here. We need exact numbers to help you. I'm glad you tested it again and posted the numbers. How is your ammonia? Is it 0? If you have nitrites showing your tank may be going through a mini cycle. Have you done what pufferpunk asked and tried Melafix before using Maracyn-two?

what my husband meant by fine (he was sitting here instead of me checking the posts) is they were 0ppm when we checked 2 days ago (i know that anything above 0 is bad). i rechecked and my ammonia was 0, but my nitrite was .50-1. i did not try melafix because i read somewhere online that it doesnt always treat popeye, and they suggested some other antibiotics and i tried the maracyn-two, it worked for the most part but i couldnt finish the last day or 2 because the water was so bad, i changed it immediately, and i am afraid to add anymore meds to it again. the water looks much better now but still not as good as it should, it is clear though. i am also using prime (when i change the water). before last night, i had not changed the water for about 5 days due to the meds, could it still be going through a cycle? i didnt over add salt (my tank is low end brackish for now), could something else cause it? my ammonia is still bright yellow in the tester, meaning 0, but my nitrites were bright purple instead of light blue like they should be last night, i panicked and changed 50% of the water.

Myaj wrote:Sounds like the meds may have crashed your biofiter. Imagine that. Get on those water changes, you're going to be doing lots of them...

the package says it does not harm or alter your biofilter, so i figured they wernt lying and it was safe to use..... it said no ph needed changed etc, it was perfectly fine to use. was this untrue?

Myaj wrote:I think I'm going to merge the two threads on this because its ridiculous to have it going on in multiple places.

....sorry.

Pufferpunk specifically told you to avoid using the meds earlier in this post, for this vary reason.

Products make a lot of claims, many of them are untrue or completely pointless. In this case you can't prove the product did it so they'll claim its safe all they want.

Myaj wrote:Pufferpunk specifically told you to avoid using the meds earlier in this post, for this vary reason.

Products make a lot of claims, many of them are untrue or completely pointless. In this case you can't prove the product did it so they'll claim its safe all they want.

ok i also got many other responses to use other stuff, so i wasnt sure which one.. should i keep changing the water and use melafix now? i changed the water again today 50%, its looking much better and the nitrites are down, for now. is there anything else i should do to fix it? other than no more of these meds?

Yes, keep doing water changes to keep the nitrites low, and if you have it, Prime or Amquel are good dechlorniators that have the added bonus of detoxifying ammonia and nitrites.

You probably didn't kill your entire biofilter, but its going to take it a bit to bounce back. The clean water will do the fish good anyways.

Medications have their place, but its best to know exactly what you are treating for and treat them in a hospital tank instead of dumping meds into their display tank and hoping for the best.

Myaj wrote:Yes, keep doing water changes to keep the nitrites low, and if you have it, Prime or Amquel are good dechlorniators that have the added bonus of detoxifying ammonia and nitrites.

You probably didn't kill your entire biofilter, but its going to take it a bit to bounce back. The clean water will do the fish good anyways.

Medications have their place, but its best to know exactly what you are treating for and treat them in a hospital tank instead of dumping meds into their display tank and hoping for the best.

ok thanks so much, yes i use prime when changing the water, its looking so much better now! i am going to pick up the melafix tomorrow and start treatment, hopefully it will finish clearing up his eye, its almost clear now.

Good luck with it, sorry I was so snippy before, have had a rough weekend

haha thats ok, i have too with this tank, i think from now on im sticking with freshwater fish, im not too good with this brackish..

FW fish get popeye too. Go ahead & add the Melafix--or you could just listen to "them".

Pufferpunk wrote:FW fish get popeye too. Go ahead & add the Melafix--or you could just listen to "them".

haha i wasnt sure who to listen to, i figured u all have had many more years of experience than i, so any of u could be right! hehe. i was referring more to the salt situation for brackish, im not very good with it, i think mainly because we dont have all the funds to get the dozens of things needed for it, so i have to improvise, and it would be much easier for us to have FW, its cheaper and easier

We all make this mistake one time or another, listening to "them". Then we get wise, get down on out knees and genuflect to the Goddess that is Puffer Punk and all things are well.

This may seem off-topic, but I remembered those days when my family and I know very little when it comes to caring for fish(books were expensive and we don't have internet back then).

One day, our red devil got infected with pop eye. So we separated him in a diff tank. We never knew there was medication for this disease.

He survived and he became one-eyed jack, with out the left eye (became one of the healthiest fish in the tank).

Sorry if my post did not contributed any help but I just remembered this experience of mine when I saw the thread title.

lol thanks guys, you've been a big help, they seem much more active today, and his eye almost looks 100% better, i havent gotten the melafix yet, my husband doesnt get off work until this evening, should i still use it, just to be certain its gone? the water is still crystal clear but i will test it soon and do another change if necessary. i read somewhere that it could be from the power head i have, something about all the bubbles creating too much of some gas, is this right?