Is pimafix safe to us with Pleco's?

[filterfish]

Sorry the question is.....Is Primafix safe to "use" with Pleco's?


Hello;

I am treating my 20 gallon tank with Pimafix. My pleco is out and about which is unusual for him. Thrashing somewhat. Does pimafix or even melafix affect pleco's negatively.

Thanks in advance.

[escamosa]

Hi there! I was wondering what you're actually treating your fish for?

Pimafix really doesn't do a very good job of getting rid of bacterial infections compared to other products. Pimenta racemosa - which is a plant that some places actually get the oil out of to use as a cologn - is the base ingredient in Pimafix. There's actually two different types of pimenta racemosa - one of them has more of a anti-bacterial effect than the other - but both don't do a good enough job if the infection is bad enough. The plant is actually quite toxic to humans, so who knows what it's actually doing to fish! I'm not really sure if it effects plecos in a negative way or not, but most medications you do have to be careful with, if you have those scaleless types of fish in your tank.

[Lady Hobbs]

I've never found Pimafix or Melafix good for much of anything but making the water stink. But I have the same question as above.....treating it for what?

[filterfish]

Thanks for that info. Well, I was sure the tank had an infection of some sort, as I couldn't figure out why the tank was cloudy. I do weekly water changes, so it couldn't be anything else. Or so I thought.
As I went out to check out some more med.'s Where I ran into someone who suggested to check the chemistry of the water. I swallowed my pride and did the tests. Everything was out of wack except the Nitrates(I think I have that right). Anyway, I did an 20% water change and added some stability(good bacteria). Hopefully, this will fix it.
I resently sold 20 of my male baby guppies, so the tank may have been overstocked. And last week I did a biofilter rince, 'cause it was clogging. Maybe it was both that caused the chemistry to go haywire.
Tomorrow I'l do more water tests and hopefully it will all be normal. If not I guess I will have to do another water change.
thanks for the help.

[escamosa]

If you post up the test results, we'll be able to help you out a lot more. It kind of sounds like that your water went cloudy because your tank is either not cycled, or it's fallen into a mini cycle because of the filter cleaning. When you clean your filter media, ALWAYS use some of the water that you syphon out of your tank to rinse it with. Tap water (chlorinated water) will kill off the good bacteria.

[Dennis Bissett]

+1 Escamosa, combination of slight overstock, filter clean and maybe not enough water change would send you into a mini cycle. (its amazing how much poop baby fish can generate - a bit like their human counterparts)

[filterfish]

Yay!

Thanks for all the information! I learned so much and my fish have been saved! Pleco is back to normal behavior. So happy!

Thanks, thanks, thanks^_^!