Proper Way To use Medicine

[FishSticks]

One of my tetras has Ick so I added an "Ick Clear" tablet yesterday. The directions say to remove carbon from filter but since you can't separate the carbon from my filter I removed the entire filter. Then I woke up this morning and there were 2 dead neon tetras and the water was cloudy, almost milky. I immediately did a 20% water change and put the filter back. Now my question is if it's ok to leave my filter cartridge in the tank next time I add a tablet? Because the one neon tetra that had Ick still has white spots all over it's body!

 

[rykitten]

Sorry you lost 2

You can rid your tank of ich without meds by increasing the heat to 84 and adding aquarium salt. The temp. increase speeds up the ick life cycle. There a link to this method here: ICH and another on ICH.

 

[Zanne]

FishSticks,

What type of filter do you have that you can't remove the carbon. I have a hang on back Penguin 170 biowheel filter that uses filter cartridges that contain carbon. I simply cut a slit at the top and removed the carbon and placed the cartridge in the filter. Carbon will remove the medication from the water.

If I recall correctly, you may need to be careful with medications and salts on neon tetras as they are considered scaleless fish (loaches, corys, etc.). I know when mine had ich, I had to halve the dose of the medication and even with that I have lost 2 so far.

 

[FishSticks]

I never though about cutting open my filter cartridge And this time I'll only use 1/2 a tablet maybe that's why 2 of my neons died

 

[piscean]

a note under the mardel precautions section states "if an activated carbon filter is more than 6 days old, it may be left in place. however, fresh activated carbon and certain chemical sponges may reduce the activity of medications and should be removed."

my fish once had a mild case of ich. i treated him with mardel maracide. i didn't have to remove my carbon filter during treatment. i often reuse my filters for 4wks. but if i treat my tank with meds, i replace it with a new one after the treatment is done. so depending on how old your carbon filter is, i think it would be safe to keep it running during your treatment.

i'm not sure it's the proper way but it's definitely my way so hth

 

[FishSticks]

Ah nuts, I just cut open a new filter and took all the carbon out and I threw away my 3 week old filter! Can my fish survive without the carbon in the filter for at least a week?

 

[subopposite]

Leaving the same carbon in your tank for much more than a week or two is a bad idea anyhow as the carbon loads up with junk, but once it is filled it releases the stuff it kept in back into the water. At least that is what I have read. I don't use carbon except after medications or maybe once in a while for a short period of time.
You can buy big things of filter floss that you can cut out to fit in your filter and they are usually thicker and have the ability to trap more debis than most of the thin, skimpy filter replacements that are sold by companies.
My fish have survived without carbon on a regular basis for a while now and I am sure many other people in here will tell you that carbon is useful, but not as an everyday thing, unless you want to put new carbon in once every two weeks or so.

 

[Zanne]

Carbon is typically only active for a few days (5-6 if I remember correctly). It also isn't 100% necessary to filter the fish tank as a general rule. After you finish the medications, it probably would be good to add back a filter with carbon as this will help to flush the medication out of the tank.