Question About Anti-Bacterial Fish Medication?

Question

I have a betta that has fin rot. This morning I completley cleaned my tank including 100% water change and I scrubed all of my rocks and decorations. I went to the pet store and bought API TC Tetracycline Anti-Bacterial Fish Medicine. The directions said "For best results REMOVE ACTIVATED CARBON O FILTER CARTRIDGE FROM FILTER AND CONTINUE AERATION. Empty one packet directly into aquarium. Repeat dose after 24 hours. Wait another 24 hours then change 25% of the aquarium water. Repeat this treatment for a second time for a total of 4 doses. Then make the final 25% water change and add fresh activated carbon or replace filter cartridge. " I removed the filter and carbon as the directions said now 2 hours later the top of the water is all bubbley. Is it ok for me to leave my filters out for 4 DAYS? Should I put my filter back in? HELP!!

Apparently I didn't make myself clear enough...My betta has SERIOUS fin rot. I had an angel fish and he attacked my betta(he is no longer in the tank) and after that his fins started to rot(started 3 days ago) but I didn't realize what it was till today I thought his fins were just hurt. I DO NOT have another safe holding tank. Am I going to kill my fish with this medicne? Another thing is is it ok to have NO FILTER what so ever as the box says?

My tanks last cleaning was LESS then 2 weeks ago. I also forgot to ask if I should get a new filter and carbon after my tank is done medicating? or is it ok to put the old filter in there after it has been washed until I feel VERY sure its clean. Its been in use for just over a week.

Answer 1

Yes, you certainly want to leave the carbon out of the filter during the entire treatment process. The carbon will remove the TC from the water and prevent it from getting the job done. Once treatment is complete, you should place a fresh, new cartridge in the filter and I would suggest you replace that a week after as the carbon will get exhausted quite quickly from the removal of the medication.

Further, if the fin rot is quite progressed, I would also suggest you do a third round of treatments. That is, treat, wit 24 hours, do a water change , repeat and then repeat again. Fin rot can be a bit tough to kill off completely and the third round of treatments will insure you have cleared it from your tank.

Also be aware that this treatment will kill off the good bacteria in the tank just as it is killing the harmful bacteria. You will have to cycle your tank again once the medication is out of the water. So be very careful to watch ammonia and nitrite levels closely.

Cycling refers to the process of growing certain bacteria in the tank that will break down the ammonia from the fish waste into less harmful nitrites and then into even less harmful nitrates. For the details of how this happens and what you should expect during the cycling time in your tank, see this link:
http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php

MM

Answer 2

Yes run the filter without the carbon. Follow directions carefully. Expect the tank to go through the cycle again when you finish medicating. That med will completely wipe out the biological system. Fin rot is usually caused by stress, stress from less than ideal water perameters. Simply keeping the water cleaner would have cleared up the fin rot.
What I would do is put the fish in a safe holding tank, dump the medicated water, refill with fresh dechlorinated water, and replace the filter as was. Add a teaspoon of salt per gallon until the fins start to regrow, heat if you can to 83 degrees is all thats need to cure fin rot. Don't use salt unless medicating with it. That med is a super strong one for what your fish has.

Answer 3

Tetracycline will make make your water all bubbley and yes it is okay to turn off your filter for 4 days as long as you change 25% of the water every two days as the instructions states. The water changes will help in getting rid of some of the waste and dilute the medication so you can treat the fish a second time. I suggest you use a Aqua Clear power filer for your aquarium filtration. The filter has three separate filter media, a bag of biomax for biological filtration, a bag of charcoal for chemical filtration and a foam insert for mechanical filtration. When your fish is sick, all you need to do is remove the bag of carbon and continue using the filter with just the biological filtrations (biomax) and mechanical filtration (foam insert) this way you can keep your filter on during the treatment.

Answer 4

It is OK to leave the filter out. If you don't the medication will not work. Do you really have a choice?