Maracyn 1 and 2???

Question

my male betta is in a 5 gallon filtered tank. i changed his water and with in a few hours, his tail fell apart. people have told me that their tails can fall apart if they are stressed. i have treated him with maracyn 1 before but i was wondering what the difference between maracyn 1 and 2 are. and which is betta for his tail? thanks!!!

Answer 1

The difference is that each uses a different antibiotic. Maracyn 1 primarily treats gram positive bacteria (these will turn color when a certain microscopic stain is used) while Maracyn 2 only treats gram negative bacteria (don't react to the same stain).

Since you've been using the Maracyn 1, you've affected the beneficial bacteria in the tank as well as the "bad" bacteria. This may have allowed ammonia to accumulate in the tank and ammonia is associated with fin damage as well. Rather than treating him further when that may not be necessary, I would do a water change to remove any traces of the medication (assuming the previous treatment is fininshed) and wait to see if the tail continues to show new damage, or if the current damage was caused by ammonia and the tail begins to heal.

Since a number of types of bacteria can be the cause of fin rot, if you don't see any improvement (or the condition of the tail gets worse) in two days, you may want to change the medication, or use both products together. Another option for treatment would be Furanace.

Answer 2

I assume you mean Maracyn and Maracyn Two.....My little fishy diagnosis chart that came with the meds says Maracyn is used to treat gram positive bacterial infections, and Maracyn Two is for gram negative bacterial infections. Most fresh water fish bacterias are gram negative though. If this just started, I would try treating with some PimaFix first instead of an antibiotic. Most meds are stressful to fish, and PimaFix is more of an herbal remedy that works fairly well in most cases. Plus, the PimaFix won't kill off your beneficial bacteria like most antibiotics do-which will cause your tank to go through a mini cycle.
How much water did you change out? If you're not, I would do it once a week, and change out about 20-25% of the water at a time. That way it'll be a smaller water change, and less stress for him. And doing them frequently like once a week helps keep the water quality good. Good luck!

Answer 3

Actually using both in combination will work the best as your betta has fin rot, use equal parts of both meds together, for example if it says to use 1 teaspoon per 10 gallons of water use 1/2 teaspoon of each together. I know you have a 5 gallon but I can't remember the dosage for that so read directions carefully. Or buy a med specifically for fin rot as it is a fungus. Also you might want to add a 1/2 a table spoon of aquarium salt as that helps stop secondary infections and helps your fishes electrolytes, which will make him feel better.

Answer 4

maracyn is an antibiotic for gram-positive bacteria and maracyn2 is an anitbiotic for gram-negative bacteria. aren't you glad you asked? unless you have a bachelors degree in bacteria science its not going to help trying to explain it. it has to do with the cell walls in the bacteria and how they can be permeated and killed off.

fin rot could be either -- so if you dose both it should work. they also make a gram positive and gram negative antibiotic that is cheleated to maximize effectiveness called maracyn plus.
another gram positive and gram negative antibiotic made by mardel is called tri-sulfa.

tikis idea might be better -- using melafix and pimafix together has become a fairly common treatment. its not a man-made antibiotic and i don't think there are pimafix resistant bacteria yet.

Answer 5

If his fin shredded by accident (being torn by some sharp ornament or other), leave him be. He will be fine and his tail will eventually grow back. Medicine will only stress him out.

If his fin is shredded, is continuing to be eaten away, is not growing back (you should see a transparent film which is growth), and is perhaps black edged, your betta has tail/fin rot and needs the appropriate medicine.

If he has fungus or parasites clinging to his body, treat him for this.

If you're using multiple medications, make sure they can be taken together.

If you just changed the water and his tail fell apart it could have been due to adding chemicals like PH Down.