Dear Waterkeeper,
I have had my Boxfish & Coral Beauty in a 6.6gal (bookcase) style aquarium with filter (using floss only) since March 6. Three weeks now. I've been treating both for ich. I have been using formalin and going according to the directions on the bottle which is 2 drops per gallon of water. I started out the treatment for a week. Then cycled out the formalin with non medicated water for a week. Then BAM - late last week an ich spot showed up on the tail of the Box fish. Been re-treating ever since. Today, everyone is clear again. My question is, how long can a fish be treated with this kind of lethal chemical without the patient being slowing poisioned? The other question is, the directions on the bottle read two drops per gallon, may this not be enough to kill off the ich? How far can I push this dosage or should I be patient?
I am getting weary of this, I change 95% of the water in the morning and again at night - & re-treat with the formalin each time. Luckily the Box and the Beauty get along great. Can you suggest any thing else? The Box can't do hypo, and the Beauty can't do copper, well..... neither can the Box.