How long does it take to notice maracyn working?

Question

I started treating my goldfish yesterday with maracyn and I'm just wondering when I should see improvement(body fungus). also my hospital tank is looking cloudy? Is it the meds? I just set it up yesterday I put the healthy fish in there since there were less healthy in the begining I lost three sick yesterday. Are they sick they have been hiding on the bottom of the tank and not coming up to eat? Is it the new enviroment or because the tank is cloudy? I checked the water for nitrites,nitrate, PH, hardness, alkalinity, cholorine and it's all perfect.

Answer 1

One thing many people do not understand is that antibiotics will kill off the good bacteria in an aquarium.  That will leave the fish to suffer ammonia and nitrite burns, which will usually end in the fish dying faster than without the meds.

Answer 2

ok first off you water conditions are anything but perfect thus the fungus infection if you just set the tank up yesterday it still has to cycle and that takes a month you didn't mention testing for ammonia and that is probley the cause of the cloudiness and is normal and very very harmfull to fish you need to test for it in both tanks and do partial water changes to keep it at 1.0 or less when the tank has finished cycling there will be no ammonia levels do not touch the gravel or filter till after the cycling process is complete .

you need to test the ammonia in the tank with the ill fish also and if there is any ammonia you need to go to your local pet store and get some white carbon called amionitrate this will lower and elimante the ammonia as it is the biggest reasion why you have the fungus infection's in the tanks to begin with

Answer 3

Did you cycle your tank before adding the fish? That would be your problem right there. Not cycling your tank will cause a condition called new tank syndrome. It will kill your fish. You should also be using a water conditioner to treat the water for chemicals and minerals. Did you use anything like an established filter on the tank? For body fungus, keep the water really clean, and you can also use a product called melafix. It usually takes a 2-3 days for you to notice changes in your fish. Meds can also cloud your tank. Do not feed them for a couple of days until you see their signs starting to improve, it will just add more waste you don't need to the tank. Sick fish will not eat, but don't worry, they won't starve.

Edit: You will need to get your ammonia levels to 0 if you can. You should try changing the water because fresh clean water will help better than water with ammonia. If the tank wasn't cycled I strongly suggest putting some of the filter media from your established filter into the one on the QT tank (without rinsing), and do a partial 25% water change (no vacuuming), doing them daily until levels come back down. Keep adding salts and add 1/2 dose of medication back into the tank after 1st water change. Then dose on the days your supposed to and add the full dose. Your fish should do fine depending on how far along he is. Hope your fish pulls through!!

Answer 4

ammonia of 0.25 is high and can cause illness in fish-it should be zero, especially for fish that are already sick. and as for antibiotics kill filter bacteria well yes some do but others dont and I've had no problems with Maracyn at all. saying that is like saying antibiotics kill all bacteria in humans-they don't which is why there are so many different types.I found Maracyn worked within a couple of days on the lightly affected fish but on the worse affected ones the Columnaris had spread to their internal organs and they died