I have to disagree. The fish can urinte and defacate in the bath. Closing it up will breed harmful bacteria. It’s not that expensive to risk issues.Agree to disagree. Definitely nothing wrong with using bath water twice. The methylene blue is there to keep the fungus or whatever you are treating dead. I would say the bath water is probably better from an infection stand point than the tank you are keeping them in. It's not a "bath" like we are used to thinking of the term. We take baths to get dirt and grime off of our bodies. We give fish "baths" to treat fungal or bacterial infections usually which is a very different purpose. Meth blue dips I believe aren't supposed to last any longer than 30 seconds of memory serves me correctly but over the years this has changed because of the concentration changes in the product. If a 30 second exposure creates dirty water then the tank they are living in must be filthy even with daily water changes. And it doesn't even have medication in it
As far as the temp goes with that short of time on the dip if you are a degree or two off it shouldn't be an issue. But the temp of water in a bucket is easily controlled.
After about 3 days off open air the meth blue will start losing its effectiveness. This my suggestion of replacing every two days. Regardless op either way you do it should be effective
Why save it though? That just boggles my mind.The meth blue should take care of or at the very least greatly inhibit the growth of bacteria if the combination is done at the concentration suggested for baths. If the fish urinates or defecates to the point where the water is toxic in two days then that's a symptom of something else going on.
All I can say is of the several dozen fish I've had to treat with meth blue, to my recollection the ones I reused the bath water I still own and survived. It's been several years since my first use of meth blue and I've ironically had better results reusing bath water than not. Not saying there is anything to that... Just purely anecdotal.
Why save it though? That just boggles my mind.
Gotcha! I could see it in something like that.So I deal with lots of African fish that are wild caught in the polypterid family. These fish often come in with a form of fungal infection and meth blue baths are my first line of defense besides clean water in the qt tank. I typically give these fish two baths a day for multiple weeks to fully kill the infections. Saving the bath water for two days saves me 4 doses and saves a considerable amount of meds. But this treatment isn't specific to polypterids as I've done similar for years now with wild cichlids and such.
I'm just saying in my experience as long as you don't stretch the bath water to long and make sure it doesn't get contaminated with anything else, the risk is negligible
He is due for his 100% water change tomorrow, would it be safe to keep him with this dosage for 18 hours or so? Or should I do a 50% WC? I just added about half a gallon of water to try and dilute it but it really didn't lighten the color at all lolToo much M. Blue IMO. That amount is fine for a 30min bath but for a constant use I’d only do half that dossage.
Of course it won’t hurt the fish at a higher dose, M. blue is very safe and hard to OD fish on IME.
Thank you so much for the advice! I just noticed a weird bubble on his dorsal fin that he's been clamping so I'm glad I can keep him at a higher dosage for a little while. I'll make sure to check on him every so often until I go to sleep just to make sure he doesn't seem too stressedI never really go by the direction when I use M. blue, I eyeball it by color. I think he will be fine until you change the water tomorrow.
This is in a hospital tank with no filter just an airstone which is also why he gets every other day 100% WCs (I use a cup to scoop him no net). This is a 5 gallon tank that I use two 1 gallon jugs to fill, so I know the water volume is an accurate 2 gallons (it was more for making dosing the antibacterial meds easier and more accurate but also to it easier for my betta to gulp air). I have severe anxiety and went through a WHOLE lot over the last 14 days pulling him back from the brink of death so I am currently doing a 100% WC and adding less methylene blue This time even though demeter said he should be fine...I couldn't stop worrying lol.Normally, the equivalent measure is 20 drops per 1 ml if you are using a medicine dropper, pipette or dropper bottle to form the drops. One teaspoon is equal to 5 ml or 100 drops.
How big is your tank? Medication should always be dosed based on water volume, not tank volume. A two gallon tank will hold less than 2 gallons of water.
Typically, when the word "dip" is used you are talking about using a medication at a concentrated dosage for a brief period of time...seconds or minutes, not hours. The instructions for Kordon methylene blue say you can prepare a 50 ppm concentrated dip by adding 5 teaspoons (25 ml) to 3 gallons of water. However, the dip should not last more than 10 seconds.
Instructions for normal treatment say to dose 1 teaspoon (5 ml) per 10 gallons of water to produce a 3 ppm concentration and treat for 3-5 days. That is the 10 drops per gallon dosage you followed. If your tank contains 2 gallons of water, 20 drops would be the suitable dose.
Methylene blue can affect beneficial bacteria. Thus, keep an eye on your ammonia levels in the quarantine tank. It is not recommended for use in the main tank because it can affect the cycle.
At the recommended dosage, you should either wait 3-5 days before doing a water change or do your water change and add more methylene blue based on the amount of water replaced. If you want to do a 50% water change (1 gallon of the 2 gallons), then add another 10 drops of methylene blue after the water change. After several days, do another water change and add fresh activated carbon to the tank to remove the remaining medication.
Do not be surprised if your silicone seals, plastic tubing, etc. are stained blue after the treatment. That is another reason a quarantine tank is recommended.
Thank you for that information! I'm wondering if the hole I popped in the lid created drops that were bigger than what would come out of a pipette. Unfortunately I don't have any spares left around so that's why I poked a hole in the lid and did drops that way. I'm figuring I miscalculated on that variable and under that assumption 9-10 drops out of the lid is equivalent to about 20 drops out of a pipette. I ordered some more on Amazon since I use them constantly for water testing and feeding my puffers and next water change I will dose to 20 with a pipette instead, or I will just use slightly less than a 1/4 tsp to measure which would also give me an accurate dosage for 2.5 gallons.Methylene blue is a very strong die. That is why it stains everything, including your skin if you are not careful. You hospital tank situation with a measured volume of water is ideal.
Be careful not to dilute it too much as it will lose effectiveness against pathogens. Following the Kordon dosage recommendation of 10 drops per gallon is not likely to be too much. Remember that they recommend using many times that concentration for a brief dip.
Thank you for that information! I'm wondering if the hole I popped in the lid created drops that were bigger than what would come out of a pipette. Unfortunately I don't have any spares left around so that's why I poked a hole in the lid and did drops that way. I'm figuring I miscalculated on that variable and under that assumption 9-10 drops out of the lid is equivalent to about 20 drops out of a pipette. I ordered some more on Amazon since I use them constantly for water testing and feeding my puffers and next water change I will dose to 20 with a pipette instead, or I will just use slightly less than a 1/4 tsp to measure which would also give me an accurate dosage for 2.5 gallons.
Thanks! I get 200 Pipettes for like 2 bucks on Amazon thoughYou can always purchase an eyedropper from your local pharmacy.
Thanks! I get 200 Pipettes for like 2 bucks on Amazon though