Archived message board.

First-Aid kit for fish

After reading some of the comments about disease, poor water quality, or accidents that might happen for fish I was wondering if anyone had some suggestions on what to have on-hand for fish First-Aid. I always have some Ick medication, a general bacterial fungus medication and ph up/down on hand. But what else should we have on hand for Sunday night emergencies? please list your suggestions so I and others can practice what we see on ER with our fish.......CHARGE TO 200....CLEAR!...ZaP




• wow steve..I could write forever on this one...but I will keep it brief...A real basic start kinda nice to have handy would be info for one...a book on disease and treatment,a good web site(this one to start) and a reliable test kit cause it's usually the water thing to start so lets say ammonia,nitrites,nitrates and ph oh and a thermometer on board as well....meds are another ball of wax...lets start with bringing them home from your LPS or having them shipped...so nifurpirinol to take care of skin and gill problems they get....an anti-parasite Rx as well like clout, some fungus eliminator and throw in some malachite green and your done.. well that I feel is the simple stuff...have a QT tank handy and you are pretty set for the basics....I said this was a simple version so wake up now OK!..ha ha

• If you are putting ph down in your tank check the labels. Many of the down chemicals have phosphate. Algae loves phosphate and so many people have that problem because they are trying to lower ph. First ask if it REALLY necessary to lower your ph and if there is an alternative method. If you are a novice maybe it would be easier to match the fish to your tap ph instead of mucking around with chemicals that can be tricky. I invested in $100 reverse osmosis unit to keep my fish at a lower ph. Adding peat to the filter is also an alternative method for lowering ph. Sorry I am really against putting chemicals in tanks unless it is absolutely necessary.Also consider that many fish in the wild may need the lower ph, but after having been home-bred for years and years at a higher ph they have actually adapted. Angelfish are a good example. Some hatcheries in Florida are actually breeding these fish at around 8.0 PH. Yes there are som fish that really need the lower ph. Discus is one good example but certainly not a fish any beginner should keep. If you really are going to be doing the ph bit please read up on reconstituting ro water, peat additives, black water and the need to constantly check that your ph does not 'bottom out'.
  As far as meds I keep ich med and Kancaycin, but I do have a 24hour store 1 mile from my house that carries basics.