Using Medications

Before you introduce any medication into your aquarium, you need to do the following:

1. Carefully clean the tank. There are organic compounds that will have gathered at the bottom of your tank and in your filter. These compounds can inactivate some medications. So before you add your medications, you want to clean your tank. However, make sure you don’t get overly enthusiastic with your cleaning because it can disrupt your biological filtration system!
2. If you have activated carbon or other filtration resins, remove them. Water additives like (slime coat protectors and detoxifiers for heavy metals can also inactivate the drugs being used, so you will want to get rid of them as well. It is OK to keep inert filtration material like foam blocks, filter floss, and ceramic beads in your tank.
3. Keep a log so you have a record of the dates and how much medication you used.
4. If you have snails in your tank and the medication you are going to use is toxic to them, you will need to remove them from your tank.
5. If you have a UV sterilizer, you will want to remove it.
6. Feed your fish very lightly during treatment. Your bacterial filtration system will have a lot of work to do with the medications you are adding to the water, so you don’t want to overload it with a bunch of food on top of the medication.

After the treatment is completed, you will need to do the following:

1. For several days after treatment, perform daily water changes (around 30%).
2. Add activated carbon to your filtration system for one or two to help remove the medication from the water.
3. Once you are sure the nitrification process is working properly, you can return to your normal water changing and feeding routine.
4. Watch your fish for several days to make sure your treatments worked. If they are still not doing well, you may have to try something else.

Discus Medication

Discus Medication

QUESTIONS

• How can you prepare your discus for medications?
• How can you help your discus recover after you have applied medications?
• Why is it important to not overfeed your fish after you use medications?
• How can you keep your discus healthy?