Safe Medications?

[fireman5214]

Are there any safe non-copper based medications to put in your tanks? Id like to get a reference of any for future if i need it. My water is partially cloudy even after i changed 85% of the water and screened some of the stones, also cleaned the filter. I do have them in a seperate tank right now. I would like to put a water clarifier in it. I have well water. I look for ingredients but most packages dont have them.

[cocoa_pleco]

melafix and pimafix are one of the safest meds for inverts and sensitive fish

[Alfcea]

I guess the first question to be asked is: Why do you want to medicate your tank? If it isn't broken, don't try to fix it. If you already added something that killed the nitrifying bacteria (I'm thinking erithromicine, copper sulfate, hydrogen peroxide...) then the cloudiness that you see is a bacterial bloom. That is normal and will go away by itself. Just don't add anything else to your tank...

[fireman5214]

I did not add any medications to my tank nor do i want to. I want to know for future reference since i have done searches all over yahoo/google and could nto find the non-copper based chemicals. Right now the water is cloudy after 3 weeks and 2 water changes. The last water change i did was about 85% water and sifted 90% of the stones. I have a catfish, plecotomus, and snails, and whenthe shrimp are bigger i will add them. Right now I just want to add a water clarifier but was not sure if it had copper in the ingredients since there is no ingredients on the labels. The shrimp wont be in the tank for a few weeks so Im thinking i should be ok after a few cleanings.

[Crispy]

melafix and pimafix are one of the safest meds for inverts and sensitive fish

agreed... great stuff! Stinks a bit, but it's all natural and actually works!

[Naturestee]

Did you cycle the tank before adding the fish? It sounds like a bacterial bloom to me. Have you tested for ammonia and nitrite?

[Anomaly]

Are there any safe non-copper based medications to put in your tanks? Id like to get a reference of any for future if i need it. My water is partially cloudy even after i changed 85% of the water and screened some of the stones, also cleaned the filter. I do have them in a seperate tank right now. I would like to put a water clarifier in it. I have well water. I look for ingredients but most packages dont have them.

Ich Attack is a organic ich medication that's non-copper based and is safe for inverts. Agree with Naturestee that it sounds like a bacterial bloom.

[fireman5214]

Did you cycle the tank before adding the fish? It sounds like a bacterial bloom to me. Have you tested for ammonia and nitrite?
I did check for the ammonia and nitrate.. nothing so if its a bacterial bloom, it snot too bad? Just add a water clarifier?

[Naturestee]

If you just add a water clarifier you won't be solving the problem. You said nitrate- nearly all tanks will have some nitrate as this is the end product of the nitrogen cycle. If you don't have any it's usually either because you have a lot of fast growing plants, an extraordinarily low stock level and frequent water changes, or your tank isn't cycled. What about nitrite?

You didn't say anything about whether you cycled the tank- if you didn't, the tank is probably still cycling and this bacterial bloom is often what happens when you have a buildup of fish waste without the mature bacterial population to handle it. I don't know if the cloudy bacteria in itself is a danger, but it does signal a problem in your tank. IMO, do a water change, then do another one in a day or two. Cut back on your feeding. Also make sure you're using the liquid test kits not the strips as the strips aren't very accurate. Shrimp are really sensitive to ammonia and nitrite so don't add them until the tank is stable (no ammonia, nitrite, bacterial blooms, etc.) for several weeks.

[fireman5214]

the tank has been in use for 4 plus years.