Pleco Eggs and Fungal Medication

ClayT101 · Post by **ClayT101** » 20 Feb 2004, 00:42

Does anyone use anti fungal medication in there aquariums when they have pleco eggs? I was at the LFS today, and they said that they had a natural anti-fungal medication. It was from the makers of Melafix, but I don't remember the name. Has anyone tried it?

Crazie.Eddie · Post by **Crazie.Eddie** » 20 Feb 2004, 07:30

I'm not sure if it's a good idea to put any type of medication. Usually when the fish lay their eggs, the male just fan them with their fins to keep them oxygenated so that fungus will not grow on them. Otherwise, if you want to seperate the eggs, keep them in a small container with an airstone.

Caz · Post by **Caz** » 21 Feb 2004, 19:11

I recently had a hoplogenys type bristlenose pair spawn (starlight bristlenose - too many L numbers that are brown/black with white spots for me to be sure which species) and the male rejected the eggs (kicked them out the cave). I have had this before with first time spawnings of bristlenose pairs and I usually leave the eggs to fend for themselves. As these were special to me though (grew the parents up from babies); I transferred them to an ice cream container floated in the main tank (to keep warm) and added some methyline blue and an airstone. I changed the water every couple of days and they eventually hatched succesfully - I lost a few in the wiggly stage where they eat up their egg sacs but was eventually able to transfer 15 healthy ones to their own filtered tank, where they are growing nicely and just starting to develop their spots.

I am really pleased I got any at all as my water is very hard with a pH of 8 and they prefer very soft water for breeding. The female is currently fattening up and I am hoping they will be more succesfull this time as I seem to get better survival rates when the male does all the work.

I wouldn't use anti-fungal treatments if the parents are doing their job as they usually pick out the fungusing ones and eat them before it can spread and I would be wary about using it in a cycled tank as methyline blue destroys filter bacteria.

I haven't seen anything from the makers of melafix for fungus but will have a look next time I am in my LFS.

Caz