malachite green and other copper-based meds for seahorses.....ive heard mixed reports on them....ok to use or not?
no im not having any problems but i just wanted to know, i always thought copper based meds would be fine for horses as long as its used correctly and in a seperate QT tank.
opinions?
__________________ Some people believe that their works are nothing more than a drop in the ocean, but the ocean would have been less without that drop.
You have to remember seahorses are scaleless fish so copper doesn't apply to them like they would other fish. It has been used on horses in reduced dose strengths but I tell ya.... in the time I've been involved in horses I can't recall a specific situation where we've recommended to the general hobbyist to use it. I don't even keep it in my seahorse medicine box. Yes, I actually have one with wheels that I've visited people's house with when they have a sick SH in the LA area.
Formalin is generally recommended over copper for horses and I have yet to see a case of ich.
well then, i guess its always good to have it just incase something comes up.
__________________ Some people believe that their works are nothing more than a drop in the ocean, but the ocean would have been less without that drop.
understood, i was saying that in reference to uses for copper in animals other than seahorses (aka...if the yellow watchman gets ich)
just fyi, i dont have the watchman yet so no need for adam to get his hands smacked by a ruler just yet.
__________________ Some people believe that their works are nothing more than a drop in the ocean, but the ocean would have been less without that drop.
just fyi, i dont have the watchman yet so no need for adam to get his hands smacked by a ruler just yet.
Don't want ya to think like that.......
You ask questions.... we share our experiences and suggestions and then you make your decisions. I'm out of the hand smacking business. No one tells me what to do with my tanks just as no one should ever tell you what to do with yours.... we are all just hear to share.
the horses are doing great, both eating like pigs. My only problem is keeping the ammonia down in the tank. I do a 40% water change weekly with daily siphoning of uneaten food and waste, so that amounts to probably a little over 50-60% water change weekly. The ammonia card still stays at the "alert" color. But ive been adding amquel+ religiously so im hoping that keeps the strain off of my horses.
__________________ Some people believe that their works are nothing more than a drop in the ocean, but the ocean would have been less without that drop.
have you tested for ammonia without having amquel in the system? remember that some ammonia tests (including the warning tags, IIRC) will still register ammonia even if it's bound by the amquel (it doesn't remove the ammonia, it simply binds it up and detoxifies it).
EDIT: just outta curiousity, are you rinsing your frozen food prior to feeding it out? we've found that this not only makes a huge difference in water quality, but that's also one way a huge amount of bacteria (not all of it good) is added to the tank.
our regimine is to thaw the food out, rinse it in a net, let it sit in some SW for a few mins, and add it to the tank. the SW soak lets the food settle to the bottom, or sit in the feeding station.
__________________ Greg
Last edited by saxman; 03-21-2007 at 10:32 AM.
Reason: had another thought
yes! i too have noticed a drastic change in the amount of fine sediments of food settling to the bottom of the tank when i rinse the food. Ive been rinsing the cube under tap water, soaking it in saltwater, and then feed half of the cube to the horses. The other half i put in the fridge and use the next day.
__________________ Some people believe that their works are nothing more than a drop in the ocean, but the ocean would have been less without that drop.
you've got it down, altho there's some controversy about storing thawed food overnight. maybe Renee can hop in on that issue as she may know the "magic number" if there is one.
i personally don't ever store thawed food, but we have 11 tanx...
It's not very long, actually. Some say they should be used within an hour of thawing because the progression of fatty acid breakdown. But it basically means one day they get nice nutritious lunch one day and the next day... not so much.
Once you get them in a cycled tank you can feed them the whole cube. They tank it no problem. My erectus that is in a tank by himself can eat a whole cube a day.
i soak the remaining cup in a saltwater/seachem "reef plus" multivitamin supplement solution overnight. Still not a good idea? should i toss the remaining half of the cube?
__________________ Some people believe that their works are nothing more than a drop in the ocean, but the ocean would have been less without that drop.
i soak the remaining cup in a saltwater/seachem "reef plus" multivitamin supplement solution overnight. Still not a good idea? should i toss the remaining half of the cube?
What I use to do when I needed only half a cube was while I was getting all the fish food ready, I would have a sharp knife sitting under some running hot water. It cut through the cube like it was butter and I could put the other half in the freezer for the next day. I don't like storing them overnight myself.
__________________ Some people believe that their works are nothing more than a drop in the ocean, but the ocean would have been less without that drop.
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