Formalin and Panaque

dlrzrwlf · Post by **dlrzrwlf** » 18 Mar 2005, 14:59

I was just wondering if anyone knew if Panaque Maccus is overly sensitive to formalin as a treatment for ICH.

Thanks

As long as I'm asking, I might as well ask the same about Ancistrus sp. (possibly ranunculus?)

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 18 Mar 2005, 15:24

I don't know if it's particularly sensitive to formalin or not, but it's relatively tolerant to high temperatures, so I would go down the route of raising the temperature in the tank if your has Ich (or other occupants in the same tank), since that's a known "cure" that doesn't stress the fish too much.

Frequent water changes and vacuuming of the substrate will help too, both in removing the "eggs" of Ich and that it helps keep the fish in good health by giving it clean water.

If you have, put an extra air-stone in the tank to increase the dissolved oxygen too, which will help the fish feeling "good".

Read this article for some more advice on Ich, and the one linked in this link. It's not exactly Panaque Maccus, but close enough to help... Searching for Ich in the forum will give you lots more articles, but I picked this one because it talks about formaline as well.

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Mats

dlrzrwlf · Post by **dlrzrwlf** » 18 Mar 2005, 15:44

Thanks for the reply. I have been keeping the temp at around 88F for 24 hours, and then back down to about 72F for 48 hours in a cycle for about a week, put a blanket around the tank to keep light out, and put in an extra tablepoon of aquarium salt with the last water change yesterday. I have been changing about 20 percent of the water daily. The tank is a 55 gallon standard tank that has been up for about a year and a half. Water is moderately hard, Ammonia/Nitrite 0, Nitrate varies from about 5-10ppm.
Ph is 7.1.

Other inhabitants are:

2 pimelodus pictus
6 gold skirt tetras
6 sepae tetras
1 Ancistrus sp.(ranunculus?)
1 panaque maccus
4 chanda ranga(unpainted)
1 Black lace Angelfish
5 corydoras schwartzi
2 peppered cories
2 "green stripe" cories
I include this info because most of the catfish are bottom dwellers/cave dwellers and I was wondering if I should remove the caves. Filtration is one Emperor 400 HOB, one Eheim 2217 canister, 1 4-inch airstone, one powerhead with sponge filter mainly for circulation. Thanks again and sorry for the long post.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 18 Mar 2005, 16:24

You probably want to do bigger water changes for one thing, up to 50% is fine. The bigger changes you do, the better to remove the free-swimming Ich, and vacuuming the floor will help removing the eggs.

Adding salt is a bit dubious, because although it helps kill the Ich, it also irritates the fish, so it may not work so good for the fish.

It's a hard thing, becuse you either kill the fish with Ich, or you kill the fish with the "cure"...

I'm not sure if cycling the temperature is better than not for Ich. From what I understand, the rised temperature doesn't kill Ich, but it makes to cycle quicker, which means that you have a better chance of catching the eggs/free-swimming mode, before they attack the fish. I may be wrong.

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Mats

dlrzrwlf · Post by **dlrzrwlf** » 18 Mar 2005, 16:41

Thanks Mats, I think I will just leave the temp up and do the larger water changes/vaccuums. I really didn't want to use the formalin anyway. Chemicals, IMO, aren't healthy for any organism.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 21 Mar 2005, 11:43

dlrzrwlf wrote:Thanks Mats, I think I will just leave the temp up and do the larger water changes/vaccuums. I really didn't want to use the formalin anyway. Chemicals, IMO, aren't healthy for any organism.

Depends on what the chemicals are, doesn't it. Everything around us can be classified as "chemicals". So no chemicals would mean no water, no protein, no fibre, no sand, no wood, etc. Which would make it pretty hard to create any form of life...

But I agree with formalin not being particularly nice to any organism. That's why it's used to PRESERVE dead organisms...

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Mats