Use Api Melafix And Pimafix Medication?

HI guys,

I have searched everywhere online on some information on API medications Melafix and Pimafix but have found nothing. I bought two of these bottles after being instructed by a helpful guy at my World Of Fish store. He said they use a combination of these two medications on all their fish tanks as soon as they see any sign of trouble and it works with good results every time.

My 4-month-old 29 gallon tank has recently went through some trama during which a fair few of my fish died. I began dosing this API combo and no other fish have passed! I'm supper impressed.

The directions on the bottles say, "Dose daily for 7 days, make a 25% water change." I'm assuming that means dose the medication for 7 days, and on the 8th day do the water change, because if you do a water change after the last dosing you'd take out the medication. I'm going on vacation early Friday morning. I began dosing the tank on Sunday so by Friday it would be 6 days. But what about the water change? I've thought of two options:
1.) Do the last dosage today and do a water change tomorrow (5 days of treatment).
2.) Do the last dosage on Friday (6 days of treatment) and wait to do a water change when I get back the following Monday. Can my fish handle the medication in the tank over the weekend without a water change? Is the water change necessary?

 

They are basically useless, but won't hurt anything either. The reason fish get better with the "medications" (there is no actual medication in either - they're homeopathic remedies) is that water changes are being done.

I would personally just do a large water change before your vacation and stop dosing the useless products.

 

I respectfully disagree. Well, I partly disagree. I agree that you can avoid diseases in the first place by having clean water. However, recently had a drastic tragedy with my tank. My water parameters were 100% perfect. My fish were healthy. Everything was running smoothly. But then I bought some new fish and within 3 days all of them, as well as some of my healthy fish were dead.

Day 1; I work up and all the new fish were dead. Checked the water, parameters were still good.
Day 2; one of my gouramis began to act slow and lethargic. He wouldn't swim around with the other gouramis, he wouldn't eat, and within 8 hours his scales began to rise off his body like un-poped blisters and he died.
Day 3; two of my other gouramis began to act the same way. For them in 4 hours they were covered in blisters and white fuzz, inflamed red gills, and randomly floated instead of swam. My guppy had a rapid case of what may have been fin rot. His tail turned black and within 4 hours his tail completely deteriorated and his body began to turn black and dead-like. I felt so bad for these 3 fish that I mixed some tank water with some vodka and they died in peace. After they died I checked the water parameters and they were fine. The nitrates were a little high 10, they are usually 5, so I did a water change.

Day 4; My remaining gourami began to show signs of being lethargic and some of the neon tetras began to breath heavily. I began dosing these API Melafix and Pimafix and within an hour there were some noticeable improvements! I think this medication combo is great!

 

I would just do a large water change before you go. One missed day of dosing shouldn’t make a huge difference.

Melafix is an essential oil, and pimafix is a homeopathic anti-fungal. Neither one need to be used for a specific amount of time. Not like an antibiotic, where you miss a dose and it can be an issue.

When you get home, you can re-evaluate. If needed you can do a second round of treatment.

I don’t usually recommend Melafix at all. It has mixed reviews. But Pimafix as an anti-fungal doesn’t have a bad wrap. So unsure of it really.

 

I respectfully disagree. Well, I partly disagree. I agree that you can avoid diseases in the first place by having clean water. However, recently had a drastic tragedy with my tank. My water parameters were 100% perfect. My fish were healthy. Everything was running smoothly. But then I bought some new fish and within 3 days all of them, as well as some of my healthy fish were dead.

Day 1; I work up and all the new fish were dead. Checked the water, parameters were still good.
Day 2; one of my gouramis began to act slow and lethargic. He wouldn't swim around with the other gouramis, he wouldn't eat, and within 8 hours his scales began to rise off his body like un-poped blisters and he died.
Day 3; two of my other gouramis began to act the same way. For them in 4 hours they were covered in blisters and white fuzz, inflamed red gills, and randomly floated instead of swam. My guppy had a rapid case of what may have been fin rot. His tail turned black and within 4 hours his tail completely deteriorated and his body began to turn black and dead-like. I felt so bad for these 3 fish that I mixed some tank water with some vodka and they died in peace. After they died I checked the water parameters and they were fine. The nitrates were a little high 10, they are usually 5, so I did a water change.

Day 4; My remaining gourami began to show signs of being lethargic and some of the neon tetras began to breath heavily. I began dosing these API Melafix and Pimafix and within an hour there were some noticeable improvements! I think this medication combo is great!

There's plenty of science out there indicating both "meds" (neither of them is a med) are so watered down that they basically do nothing. In order to be effective, they would need to be present in concentrations that would suffocate the fish.

Anyway, it's up to you whether you decide to use the products. Neither of them is known to help breathing though, as neither carries oxygen (methelyne blue does and is absorbed via osmosis) so I doubt they were responsible for your gourami and tetra's improvement.

 

I came back from vacation yesterday and all my fish are doing fine. I'm really confused about my "meds" now. It seems really useless after what you've both said. I did research and want to get methelyne blue, and something else with something-green in the name, but I have live plants and those meds weren't a good thing for plants apparently, plus they would discolor the water and that scared me!!!

 

I came back from vacation yesterday and all my fish are doing fine. I'm really confused about my "meds" now. It seems really useless after what you've both said. I did research and want to get methelyne blue, and something else with something-green in the name, but I have live plants and those meds weren't a good thing for plants apparently, plus they would discolor the water and that scared me!!!

They are stains; that's what they do. What specifically are you treating? Dropping stains in the tank isn't going to magically fix the fish; you will need the med for what the fish actually have if you want to treat it.

 

They are stains; that's what they do. What specifically are you treating? Dropping stains in the tank isn't going to magically fix the fish; you will need the med for what the fish actually have if you want to treat it.

Yes exactly.

adh/smile what exactly is wrong with your fish? What are you trying to treat? And did they improve when you treated them?

From the sounds of it, it could be columnaris, but unsure at this point since fish have died and some are fine?

Maybe some pictures would help?

 

The use of Melafix (natural oil based) is highly recommended with corys facing adaptingissues (skin problems) and even red blotch disease.
I've seen it solving such issues in a very short period of time (amazing).

So med ? No amd certainly not for real diseases. Useful : yes.

 

They are stains; that's what they do. What specifically are you treating? Dropping stains in the tank isn't going to magically fix the fish; you will need the med for what the fish actually have if you want to treat it.

I don't know what my fish had. I'll describe what happened below:

Yes exactly.

adh/smile what exactly is wrong with your fish? What are you trying to treat? And did they improve when you treated them?

From the sounds of it, it could be columnaris, but unsure at this point since fish have died and some are fine?

Maybe some pictures would help?

I don't know what I was trying to treat. I got new fish one day, next two days BAM, them and the some of the old ones were dead. Each of the fish that died (besides the new ones that I found dead the morning after I put them int the tank) passed within 10 hours of noticeably getting sick. They'd start out the day fine, eating normal, then slowly getting less active. White blisters would pop up under their skin and cause their scales to poke out in red welts while white fuzz encased them. The last three fish that died were so immobilized by "the sickness" that I decided to put them out of their misery. After I went to the pet store and was recommended to buy and treat with Melafix and Pimafix all those symptoms went away from the last fish that had "the sickness". He is fine now. I'm still worried about him. He takes long resting "naps" but he's eating like he's never seen food before and swims around a ton when I enter the room. I think he's traumatized by all the death that has occurred around him. I don't know what happened to my tank.

The use of Melafix (natural oil based) is highly recommended with corys facing adaptingissues (skin problems) and even red blotch disease.
I've seen it solving such issues in a very short period of time (amazing).

So med ? No amd certainly not for real diseases. Useful : yes.

Thanks for the encouragement! I'm glad you think it works amazing too!