# What fish medication is in a UKAPS cupbaord?



## EnderUK (7 Mar 2014)

TBH diagnosing fish seems to been extremely difficult (for me). I try to keep good water, feed a varied diet of qualitity flakes, pellets, live and veg food and have a couple of fast days during the week. If one of my fish is behaving oddly I usualy do a big water change, stop feeding and wait a couple of days.

I do have some meds in my cupboard but along with ammonia (I did a fishless cycle once I admit it) and test kits I have I'm thinking of throwing some of my medication out. The medication I'm thinking of throwing out is melfix, Interpet Anti Slime and Velvet Aquarium Treatment (7), Interpet Anti Internal Bacteria Aquarium Treatment (9). Is there any reason to keep these, they are still unopened, I've read the ingredients are pretty hash and probably more harm than good and the paraguard should cover these issues.

I do have Paraguard seems to covers most of issues I'll probably face in the tank. Touch wood I haven't had ick but if I had an out break would get some ick medication rather than using the expensive paraguard.

I'll probably keep the Methylene Blue to deal with fungus via dips. It worked very well when my oto that got a fungal infection. It has to date been the only succesful diagnostic and treatment.

Most of the treatments recommended for parasites and bacteria seem to be quite hard to get in the UK. Just wondering what UKAPS members have and if it's hard to get where did you get it?


----------



## DrRob (7 Mar 2014)

Clean water, by the gallon, otherwise, to be honest, my cupboard is bare (actually my cupboard is a mess, I'm a hoarder of things that may be useful, but they're not medications).


----------



## Fern (7 Mar 2014)

All I have is a wormer medication, and a lot of junk....


----------



## Nathaniel Whiteside (7 Mar 2014)

Esha products are meant to be good for treating specific problems. But yeah healthy tanks with big water changes and an overpowered filter should do fine if allowed to mature before stocking.


----------



## Sacha (7 Mar 2014)

Esha 2000- general bacterial problems. 

Melafix- a general tonic. Good for new fish and especially cory. 

Waterlife anti- whitespot- for ich 

Kusuri wormer plus- for internal parasites 

Clove oil- the last resort (euthanasia) 

Apart from that, pristine RO water, weekly 50% changes, a good diet.


----------



## Alastair (7 Mar 2014)

Just esha 2000 and esha exit should I ever see a white spot out break. 

Have esha gastropex for snails but keeping that as it kills hydra in shrimp tanks too with no harm to shrimp


----------



## SA_Aquatic (7 Mar 2014)

Keep a routine maintenance, make sure your water is from a reputable source. Also make sure to feed the right food for the right fish.This should keep the diseases and parasites away. It s better to prevent than cure.


----------



## EnderUK (7 Mar 2014)

nice list guys, yes I know keep the water not the fish, but when issues do pop up it's good to have products you know can help. I don't reach for a bottle every time I see a fish spooked. My first action is to do I large slow and steady water change then observe.


----------



## Andy Thurston (7 Mar 2014)

Heres whats in my cabinet




No meds, if i need them i will buy while I'm  doing the water changes


----------



## harryH (7 Mar 2014)

Absolutely nothing!! It is extremely rare for my fish to be infected though I hate to make such statements, sods law and all that .

Should I ever see a problem I would have to deal with whatever the problem was.

I always try, before I set up my tank, to have an Idea what I will be keeping and I try to introduce them over a period of around 3 weeks. It is very important to buy from someone you can trust and resist all other temptation. Once all the tank mates are in place the no vacancy sign is erected 

So many people run into trouble buying fish etc from all and sundry, then get into even more trouble when a problem arrives by adding one medicine after another. It's so easy to lose the plot.

My view is that good management is essential, work within tight parameters, be vigilant and use your eyes. Very often a problem can be averted before it has a chance to take hold, then if medicine has to be used, work to a system in order to keep medication to a minimum. I used to see lots of used tanks from people who had packed in fish keeping and the silicone would invariably be the colour of a mixture of malachite green and methylene blue, in other words they told their own story.

Harry


----------



## Michael W (7 Mar 2014)

I am a firm believer in water changes when I spot initial/potential problems! I have a bottle of Methylene Blue if things look nasty, I will buy other medication if Methylene does not target the problem but its also nice for fish eggs. But like I said water changes are my primary medication so to say.


----------



## AverageWhiteBloke (8 Mar 2014)

I tend not to have any meds these days. Both of my tanks contain shrimp and they don't get on with any copper based meds which most generally are. I don't really get any disease outbreaks other than possibly on a very old fish which is on it's last legs. 

I use Almond leaves now and again which are supposed to keep bacteria levels down. Keeping the filter and water clean also helps. 

Tapatalk On Blackberry PlayBook


----------



## sparkyweasel (9 Mar 2014)

A lot depends on how quickly you can get meds if you need them. My LFS is 5 minutes walk away and open late in the evenings, so I don't feel the need to keep anything in stock. If you live out in the sticks it might be wise to keep a couple of broad spectrum meds in your cupboard, and keep an eye on their shelf life.


----------



## iowphil (10 Mar 2014)

All I had is aqua safe for when I'm doing water changes, I do have a bottle of interpret anti white spot but that's in my box of bits as I only had that once in my tank and not needed it since, 
Otherwise my cupboard is filled with my aqua one filter and my FE for co2


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Spnl (10 Mar 2014)

The only one I keep is white spot treatment (protozin). Unless you never add new fish there is always a risk of introducing Ich, and when you see it you need to start treatment yesterday, so useful to have it to hand.


----------

