help get melafix out of tank

WRECK DIVER 61 · 10-13-2007, 07:47 AM

I had a sick clown and didnt want to loose him so against my beter judgement I desided to put melafix in my tank. I dosed for 4 days and the fish died anyway.
I did a 25% water change as per directions on the back, and the second I put my skimmer on my tank turned into a bubble bath. how can I get this stuff out?
will carbon help.

veriann · 10-13-2007, 09:29 AM

melafix is melaluca oil, all natral brother, just fish & corals dont like the taste, & it might sting abit just like when we have a cut & put it on. having said that, shock of treatment can always inflame the issue when treating, & i express my sympathy over the loss.

Carbon & skimming will rid the system.Depending on how efficent your equiptment is dictates its removal rate. Dont worry, its not going to do any damage till its out. As mentioned its like a real bad after taste. Next sugestion is to do all your dosing in a dedicated QT, & only leave the most extreme cases to the DT

**CarmieJo** · 10-13-2007, 12:24 PM

When I used it in my DT I did the 25% water change and then skimmed and ran ChemiPure. Everything was back to normal in less than a week IIRC.

JeffDubya · 10-14-2007, 02:10 AM

Actually, melafix will probably nuke your copepod population. That's what happened in my system.

This is actually a hard but great lesson. Like veriann says, get the equipment for a 5 or 10 gallon "hospital" or quarrantine tank. You really should never dose directly into your reef, but isolate and then dose only the affected fish.

JeffDubya · 10-14-2007, 02:11 AM

Also, having a canister filter for situations like this can be a great help. You can pack that sucker with carbon and run it until you no longer need it... then clean it up and put it away.