I'm super p'd off

[BettaMomma]

So after my whole overdose scare w/MelaFix....
Here's poor Archie's tail.

I just noticed it when I got back home today.
Wasn't like that this morning.

The story is that I (For 3 days in a row) gave both Archie and Harvey regular sized doses (for regular fish) of MelaFix.
They both were obviously getting sick from it so I gave them both a 100% water change yesterday. Above is Archie's tail. He seems to be a little bit slower than usual today but he's active and eating.

OH, and he's also got a small gray patch on his side and a little spot on his fin.
I started Maracyn for him.
I'm pretty torked off right now.
I wish I had known not to give them that much MF.

Is there any other ailments I can expect to show up as the fun aftermath of this?
UUGH

Harvey seems to have recovered okay.

 

[FishyLoveBug]

Oh poor little guy!
I know nothing of melafix yet except to dilute it thanks to your posts. Please keep us updated to the little angels condition.

*sends good fishy vibes BettaMommas way*

 

[BettaMomma]

Thanks!
Yeah, I'm rather ticked off.
I had no idea that I shouldn't be putting MF in at full strength.

I think we really need to get that to be a pinned topic.

 

[Raechal]

I agree with that being a pinned topic as I had added the full strength of Melafix to my betta when he was in a 10 gallon but that was with a filter and it had much more water to dillute it, I figured I could use the same dosage in a smaller tank as the directions said nothing about dilluting it for Bettas. I treated him with melafix for 6 days and all he did was sit in one spot and stopped eating. Then it got worse and he sank to the bottom and layed there. I immediately did a 100% water change, scrubbed his tank and gravel really good as well. Ever since he has sparkling water without melafix he has been eating like a pig and swimming around as happy as can be. Also, he grew more of that black finnage on his tail when I used the Melafix.

 

[BettaMomma]

Yep, same here.
Archie has always been completely happy and healthy, almost on the hyperactive side.
I knew there was something horribly wrong when I came home and he was laying down. Uugh, if something happens to him I'm going to be a ranting raving lunatic. Seriously.

 

[SRC]

I have never had any adverse reactions when using the following guide in administering liquid meds. And I have used almost a whole bottle of melafix using this measuring guide...none of the fish (except Toy..but I dunno really what was wrong with him..he just turned white for some reason) have died during treatment with Melafix...and there have been numerous treated. It works great for me .

The whole syringe...1 tsp (5ml)..........treats 10 gallons
3/4 the syringe.......3/4tsp (3.75ml)....treats 7.5 gallons
1/2 the syringe.......1/2 tsp (2.5ml).....treats 5 gallons
1/4 the syringe.......1/4 tsp (1.25ml)...treats 2.5 gallons
1/5 of 1 ML ............(.20ml)..................treats 2 cups

So to treat 1 gallon you need 3/5 of 1 ML.

3/5 of the 1ML section = 3rd tick (.60ml) = treats 1 gallon

 

[BettaMomma]

But I used it at full strength right out of the bottle.
Now I know that i need to dilute it, but until I ran into this problem I had no idea.
It's done some pretty nasty stuff to poor Archie - he turned pale, had horizontal stripes and was completely listless. And normally he's a psychotic freak. And then the tail today. It looks actually better in these pics than in real life. He's back to looking like the grim reaper again

I guess the problem is that there was no way for me to know not to use it at regular strength. I think it should be pinned, maybe?

 

[Raechal]

I used half a capful of the melafix in my 1.5 gallon bowl, and it still affected him in a negative way.

 

[SRC]

I used it straight from the bottle...well actually a small bathroom cup I pour it into lol. I take the fish out, put the meds in..swish it around to mix it up..then put the fish back in the tank.

If you dilute it..you are doing no more then making homemade BettaFix.

 

[SuckerLove86]

I agree with BettaMomma. It'd be good if some sort of article could be pinned on MelaFix for bettas. Cause otherwise someone who isn't aware of it is going to have to do a search for melafix and betta in order to find out info that would be helpful from the start.

 

[RandomWiktor]

Whoa wait, what? How much is it supposed to be dilted? I use 1/2 tsp per 5 gallons. I had 3 fish with fin rot, 2 recovered on one week of Melafix, one is still having trouble some I'm trying a tablet (pill, whatever) medicine instead.

But how are we supposed to dilute it? I'm scared now

 

[BettaMomma]

On the bottle, it says to put in 1 tsp. for 10 gallons.
Archie is in a 2 gallon tank, so each day for 3 days I put in 1/5 tsp.

He ended up in a big ol' mess.
I didn't learn about the dilution of it until later.

I'd do a water change soon if I were you.
Archie has never had problems until now. With ANYthing.
Harvey had problems also. He was lethargic and his whole face turned a rusty red.
100% water changed seems to have helped him, but being in that stuff stressed Archie out terribly. HIs tail's crumbling now, too.

uugh

 

[FishyLoveBug]

Hang in there BettaMomma, just be calm *big hug* They are tough little guys and while they may look rough right now remeber that their healing has just started. Just give them the love we all know you have tons of and I'm sure they will be back to the handsome flaring darlings they used to be.

 

[RandomWiktor]

Well, they all finished treatment and had an 80% water change today. Maybe because they're a larger tank and are very well filtered they didn't have trouble? Cause it worked wonders on Tim and Lug. However, since Pulpul is still not recovered, I'll have to tell my mom NOT to re-do him on Melafix, but to use Maracyn/Maracyn-2. Or even bettafix.

I have a female with a mystery illness that I can't figure out, too. She one day had a ton of bubbles, then a little blood, come out of her gills, and became super bouyant (couldn't swim to the bottom of the tank. She got very weak and developed a patchy grey area on her back. After a day, she was perfectly ok. I treated her with an anti-parasite and the grey patch went away. But now its back (some weeks later), and she had another bout of her bobbing troubles and bubbly gills. I can't figure out what's causing it. I've tried her on anti-parasites, anti-fungal, anti-velvet, things to treat flesh ulcerations... nothing gets rid of this weird grey patch, and she continues to very occasionally have her floating and bubble-gills problem. I'm stumped.

Well, good luck on your poor guy with his fins all a wreck! That's a shame; hopefully he'll have a speedy recovery.

 

[Skylar]

I killed my betta with Melafix. Being the absent-minded silly little girl I am, I put the betta in a bowl that was probably half a gallon and then I proceeded to put enough meds in the bowl for a 10 gallon tank. By the time I realized my mistake, I tried doing a water change but then I realized that all I did was put him to sleep which wasn't so bad, really.

To conclude, be very very VERY careful when treating a sick fish. Especially if you are absent-minded and suffer of short-term, long-term and even medium term memory loss like me.

Skylar