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What meds/treatments should be kept at home 'just in case'?

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

It never fails, the fish will come down with whatever you don't have on hand. Currently on hand I have some maracide, and melafix.

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*Proud member of the Committee for Sig line Restoration*

A "just in case" scenario can be delayed, perhaps forever...

Excellent water quality and superb maintenance along with a balanced healthy bacteria colony will cause your meds to go stale from sitting unused.

I don't believe I have one med in the house.

I do have NIC on hand at all times.

Melafix?? What's that??

--garyroland.

Vero Beach, Florida

Only have one med in at the moment, whitespot treatment which I got when first started the hobby, luckily still unopened in the cuboard, I go with what gary says, good water quality, and always put new fish in quarantine.

Seeing as how we ALL don't have superb water quality ALL the time..I would say basics should probably include MelaFix and PimaFix and also some Maracide. Which BTW was recommended by Babelfish for a recent bout with ich....Good stuff!

Large tanks, those 50 gallon and over, have a distinct advantage over their smaller counterparts...

They tend to have less temperature fluctuations, one of the main causes of ich and require less maintenance because of the increased volume of water they contain.

After a long period of time in the hobby one becomes a "purist". The "purist" hobbyist refuses to dose any type of med or water conditioner.

If, and only if, the purist should experience a disease problem, he/she looks for the cause and immediately tries to correct what was overlooked.

An individual who does not smoke, does not drink alcohol to excess, eats a balanced diet, controls stress and exercises a little rarely suffers from disease.

Trops can be compared to humans in that respect.

A bacterially balanced/maintained tank always provides a comfortable environment for trops to remain healthy.

It's my opinion that hobbyists are dosing way too many meds and neglecting the other fine points of fishkeeping.

The ich parasites, and there are several different species, just wait for a fish to become stressed to attack. One way to prevent most attacks is to be real fussy about new water temp.

Try to match new water to the exact temp of the tank. Even a few degrees difference is an invitation for an ich party.

"Prevention" is my theme here. Done properly, you'll never have a disease problem. I've gone years without disease in my tanks. So should you. It's a beautiful way to enjoy the hobby.

--garyroland.

--Vero Beach, Florida

Well put Gary. I don't have Garys ability to have a problem free tank.... YET !

What I do is just buy a med when it is needed,
there will be some left over to keep in stock.
I always seem to have a few around always, such as Melafix, plus meds for ick, fungus, parasites.

The Amazon Nut...

I keep aquarium salt, Jungles Fungal Eliminator, Kanacyn ...and for my bettas...BettaMax on hand. I am always getting bettas given to me and most are not the healthiest.

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If at first you DO succeed, try not to look astonished.

My Canadian friends have the right approach if, and when, disease should strike...

When I had a fish service business dealing with doctor's offices and the like, I'm sorry to say I had to dose meds even after I taught on the finer art of fishkeeping.

Overfeeding and a tight schedule for business owners produced some real interesting tank conditions.

I'm not adverse to killing bad bacteria when required, only sorry for those who depend entirely on meds to maintain a tank.

--garyroland.

--Vero Beach, Florida.