chickadee

I have not posted this topic to cause so much problem with debate. I have been so surprised at the number of people who have read the articles and yet still insist on trying it out on their fish just to prove that the articles are not accurate. Those of us who did lose fish purely by innocent actions before knowing of the problems will never forget the agony they went through and it is so sad that a "supposed" expert (which is sadly what most buyers in the petstores see the salesclerks as) would recommend this product as AFTER reading the article. It is nothing but pure capitalism in trying to sell something. It is really terrible when there are safe products that he could just as easily have recommended to her and he was too stupid or lazy to do so.

Had I been there I would probably have found another store that security would have been tempted to escort me out of.

Rose

Phloxface

When I went to Big Al's to get stronger meds for Lava last week the sale guy suggested I use Melafix. I said "No, he's a betta and they cannot have Melafix". He said "Oh, it's a Betta, okay" I don't know if he really believed that Melafix was bad for labrynth fish but at least he didn't argue with me. I explained to him that Bettas, Gouramis and so on should not use Melafix and he said "Oh, okay, yeah". Hopefully if another Betta or Gourami parent asks for suggestions for meds he remembers that. Besides that Melafix is not a very strong med and I would not risk my fish's life on it even if it was safe. The few days wasted on a weak ineffective medication could mean death to the fish.

I too do not understand why people here or elsewhere insist on tempting fate and using Melafix in spite of people posting their own tragic experiences with it. It's not like it's the only choice they have. There are lots of other meds that are much stronger and safer.

I have the same problem with people who insist they can make an all female Betta tank work in spite of all the experiences to the contrary. They'd rather believe teenagers on other sites who set up a female Betta tank and post that everyone gets along (yeah for the first couple days maybe...) and then never follow up weeks later to say how many fish have been killed. I guess they feel too foolish but they are not doing any of the other female Bettas out there who'll suffer the same fate any favors.