gnasher
New member
I am using FURAN-2 to treat a bacterial infection in a mid-sized damsel in a 20 gallon hospital tank. It seems to me like the instructions are more for usage in a display tank than in a hospital tank and out of concern for ammonia, I would like to be more aggressive with water changes than the directions say to.
Directions say:
Apply single dose (size of which depends on tank volume), wait 24 hrs, apply second dose, wait 24 hrs, do 25% water change, then repeat until you've gone through four doses.
Maybe I'm being overly cautious, but waiting 48 hrs before the first water change in an uncycled tank doesn't seem like enough to keep ammonia levels at bay. Is it enough? I would like to change more if possible. I see two ways I could do this:
1) Larger changes. Could follow directions as stated, but change 50% instead of suggested 25%. I know this sounds like a big change, but the water in the hospital tank is from my display tank, and any water replacing it would also come from this same source, so the chemistry will be very similar. Additionally, during a water change, the new water would be pumped in and the old water drains out an overflow, so the change would be done in a continuous manner.
2) More frequent changes: Change 25% every day before dose as opposed to the every other day that it seems is suggested in the directions. The only reason I would think this would not be OK to do is if the directions are written the way they are so the medication will accumulate. That seems unlikely as the first dose (on untreated water) is the same size as subsequent doses.
What does everyone think? Could I do one or both of these things? This is my first time using a hospital tank and I am very nervous. I just want to do as much as I can to maximize this fish's chances of survival.
I've also heard different things from different fish stores about feeding the fish. One said don't feed him AT ALL while in the hospital tank, another said feed him as much as he'll eat! Any advice on this would be much appreciated as well.
Thanks in advance.
Directions say:
Apply single dose (size of which depends on tank volume), wait 24 hrs, apply second dose, wait 24 hrs, do 25% water change, then repeat until you've gone through four doses.
Maybe I'm being overly cautious, but waiting 48 hrs before the first water change in an uncycled tank doesn't seem like enough to keep ammonia levels at bay. Is it enough? I would like to change more if possible. I see two ways I could do this:
1) Larger changes. Could follow directions as stated, but change 50% instead of suggested 25%. I know this sounds like a big change, but the water in the hospital tank is from my display tank, and any water replacing it would also come from this same source, so the chemistry will be very similar. Additionally, during a water change, the new water would be pumped in and the old water drains out an overflow, so the change would be done in a continuous manner.
2) More frequent changes: Change 25% every day before dose as opposed to the every other day that it seems is suggested in the directions. The only reason I would think this would not be OK to do is if the directions are written the way they are so the medication will accumulate. That seems unlikely as the first dose (on untreated water) is the same size as subsequent doses.
What does everyone think? Could I do one or both of these things? This is my first time using a hospital tank and I am very nervous. I just want to do as much as I can to maximize this fish's chances of survival.
I've also heard different things from different fish stores about feeding the fish. One said don't feed him AT ALL while in the hospital tank, another said feed him as much as he'll eat! Any advice on this would be much appreciated as well.
Thanks in advance.
