Is it safe to use multiple fish medications at once?
by Aquaboy on Wednesday, March 31st, 2010 | 4 Comments
In my 5 gallon micro, my betta has started showing major signs of dropsy (big, swelling belly) as well as the beginnings of ich (a white spot on him one of my tetras).
Is it safe to medicate for both these things at once, or would that be an overload? If it’s not safe, which should I treat first?
rea the prescription and it should explain in the booklet given with it xxx
Some, but not all, medications can be used with other medications. Read the directions with the medication. Most of them say what medicines can be combined with them.
I’d treat for ich first. Dropsy is hard to diagnose and treat, but ich is easy to identify and to treat. The ich, if it’s very advanced, may even be the cause of the dropsy. Also, ich is starting to spread to your other fish, so you shouldn’t delay action. Use an ich-specific treatment, not a more general one.
Wow, bummer. I’d check the meds info on the boxes and see if they explicitly say don’t use with other meds or certain ingredients. I’ve mixed meds before, but never for two such major diseases. For dropsy and fin rot I used mellafix and maracyn and it worked fine together.
I guess it depends how bad your little guy is and the chances you’re willing to take. If you’re uncomfortable mixing I’d do the ich first, and then the dropsy meds.
However, you could also do a salt/heat treatment for the ich while giving meds for the dropsy. Up the tanks temp to 82-84 degrees and add aquarium salt to his water. Also perform a salt dip to help kill surface fungus. Both the heat and salt in the water plus the salt dip will help lower stress and kill surface fungus and help stop and slow the progression. Change the water daily while treating the water for dropsy.
Best of Luck!
There are several meds that can be used simultaneously, such as Maracyn and Maracyn 2 (which you should be using for the dropsy. It’s the only med I’ve seen that treats it, but that doesn’t mean it is the only one) Mardel makes these meds, and alot of others, and I think any of them can be used together at the same time.
They man at the fish shop said that normally if they’re made by the same manufacturer you can use them together, unless it says on the package.
Since you’re most likely going to use the Maracyn 2 for the dropsy, you should check all the other products made by Mardel and see if there’s any they make for ich. I’m pretty certain if they make one, they can be used together,
I hope your little guy makes it!