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I have placed this here as it is often mentioned here and various other forums.

I often read about the wonder cure "melafix" used in the USA/Canada. Can this be bought in Aust if not what is its equal or alternative medication.

Keith

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Melafix is mostly tea tree oil. Tea tree oil has many medicinal uses as well as being potentially toxic. It's not that great for anything serious but can help grow back fins on fish, hair or skin on mammals, and fight minor surface bacterial infections. It's wonderful for fungus both on aquatic and other animals. It also has a sedating effect on invertebrates and can cause death to aquatic snails or clams even though the bottle says it is safe. I'm not sure if it's available internationally because of it's potential to be toxic. Just don't try drinking it. Not like it tastes good anyway.

is it the tea tree stuff that also gives it it's unique smell?? (btw, am i the only one who likes that smell?? )

and an add on to this post, if mela-fix is tea tree oil, what is pima-fix??

Daka<<<<

MelaFix is more hype than it's worth, IME.

It has never once improved anything in the multiple times I have used it, both at home and at work. If you want something that serves the same purpose but actually works, try Maracyn. It's real medicine and not just tea tree oil, and I have had a lot of success with it.

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Then to get more specific: Pimafix and melafix are different tea tree oils. Pimafix is made from the Bay Rum Tree(pimenta racemosa). That's why it has the spicy scent and melafix doesn't. The chemical composition of Bay Oil includes Eugenol, Chavicol, Myrcene, Cineol, and Methyl Eugenol.
Bay oil can be used in the treatment of rheumatism, neuralgia, muscular pain, circulation problems, colds, flu, dental infection, and diarrhea and skin infections.

Melafix is neem tree oil. It is probably the most common tea tree oil used as far as I know. For lots more info than you ever needed to know about it see
http://www.neemfoundation.org/index1.htm

Tea tree oil has been an invaluable medicine dealing with various minor injuries and infections in my horse herd. However, I haven't had much result using it with fish. In my opinion it is only good for very minor things when you don't want to use a medicine with possibly more side effects.
I love the scent of pimafix. Can I get that as a candle or potpourri or something? Melafix only smells good in small amounts.


Last edited by sham at 11-Apr-2005 02:09

all u guys missed it - yes it is avalable in Australia

OK, to break it down in basics;

Melafix is for bacteria, and Primafix is for fungal. They are not intended to be used as a 100% cure! They are intended to be used as a preventative and help in the cure. Or for minor things. Melafix is used by most all fish farms, and every hobbyist and breeder I know of personally. It is used for fish that have been injured or damaged in a fight or just general. It helps prevent the bacterial infections, not so much cure them. It increases the fish's natural immune system. Kind of like taking mega multi vitimans.

Personally I use Melafix on all new fish. I also use Primafix when tumbling eggs. It does not work as well as most of the other fungal preventatives, but I prefer to add something natural to my water, rather than some poison, to kill off or prevent fungus. This brings us to the other point; Melafix and Primafix are both 100% natural and no poisons added. If you read the ingredients of any bacterail antibiotic, or fungal medication, you will find them to be poison.

HTH....

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There is always a bigger fish...

Another important thing for people to remember about Melafix is NOT to follow the directions. In my experience, adding the full dose every day results only in 1 thing: Fish Death. I have been told by a scientist friend that Tea Tree Oil in large concentrations in water could easily be deadly for aquatic life, including plants and inverts.
I treated 3 guppys in a quarantine tank with the full dose 3 days in a row, and all 3 guppys died. I did the same to treat 2 pencilfish with mild abrasions due to a new ornament, and both died again after three direct doses of Melafix. My Scientist friend suggests to follow this logic: When dosing any strong Med to fish (espescially Melafix and Pimafix, dose no more than every second day, and do a 35% water change after 4 doses. This way the amount in the water cannot build to a lethal concentration.
Melafix is neither filtered out by carbon, nor dissipated through evaporation, only Water changes remove it.
I have found it does work, but only if NOT overdosed. I recently treated a cory with Extreme Pop-Eye, and he was fine, after only 3 doses back to normal. The treatment was one dose per 10g every other day, followed by a water change when complete.
I would agree that Maracyn is the better choice- However it is terribly terribly EXPENSIVE!!!
Melafix does work on some things- but not all. I use it as a "first try" medicine. If after 3-4 treatments I see no results, I attempt another medicine.


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Looks like I started something here.
My reason for asking this most of if not all the male Betters I have seen at LFS have damaged fins. I can get a very good anti bacterial over the counter at the chemist usually only a few $$ but this does/will have an effect on the good bacteria as many of these products are not selective as to which type of bacteria it kills.
I hope I got that across all clear and not too confusing.

If I am correct
Tea Tree oil is sold in Aust in many forms usually as a cure all for humans.

neem tree oil Is sold widely in Aust in the horticulture trade I have neve used it but I have been told it is good but it stinks.

sneaky_pete
I would agree that Maracyn is the better choice- However it is terribly terribly EXPENSIVE!!!

OK in comparison to other medications/cure alls how expensive twice the price or more.
If you have an expensive collection basicaly cost does not come into it. Each of my large clowns would retail at over Aust$100+ therefore what is expensive in that case it would have to be greater than the total value of you collection or an individual fish.

Keith

Last edited by keithgh at 11-Apr-2005 22:53

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

Yes, you can get it in Australia!

[link=Melafix]http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/melafix.php" style="COLOR: #000000[/link] is tea tree oil, as has been said. And no, daka, you're not the only one who likes the scent.

[link=Pimafix]http://www.aquariumpharm.com/pimafix.html" style="COLOR: #000000[/link] is bay leaf oil. And am I the only one who doesn't like the scent? If you peek into your spice cabinet and take a whiff of bay leaves, you'll find the same scent. Pewf! Great in soups and stews, but BLAH to the nose. Although apparently it must smell good to some people, because it's also been used in perfumes and such. Meh. Melafix is sweetly pungent, but I find pimafix to be bitter smelling...

[link=Tea Tree Oil]http://www.essentialoils.co.za/essential_oils/tea_tree_oil.htm" style="COLOR: #000000[/link]

[link=West India Bay Oil]http://www.essentialoils.co.za/essential_oils/bay.htm" style="COLOR: #000000[/link]

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

I'd have to say the opposite on smell. Pimafix smells spicy to me and melafix is definitely not sweet.
Melafix and Pimafix do leave the aquarium. If I leave the carbon in the smell of melafix will be gone within an hour. If I take it out then it stays. Also because it is a sedative to invertebrates it's been tested quite a bit by people on the applesnail.net board. Leaving carbon in the snails recover faster. On the bottle it says to remove carbon. It also seperates out some and is broken down by your biological filter. Most of the time when I used it I didn't think it worth it to remove the carbon and had to add the full amount daily to maintain a noticeable level. Within 24hrs there is no smell in the water and the snails are no longer affected. Which makes me certain it has been removed. Otherwise my snails would be hanging at the edge of the water or closed up at the bottom. The only thing affected over 5days of full dose was my snails which I had to take out of the tank.
Pimafix is considered stronger than melafix and I would not add the full dose daily or any at all with an invert in the tank.

I work with drugs all day long. As far as I am concerned, they both smell like some kind of antibiotic to me. And with this said, they both stink! lol

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There is always a bigger fish...

I only use melafix as a restorative. I don't find that it is a cure all. Saying that... I think clean water, a little aqua salt does just as much good.

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

[font color="#000080"] I also like the smell of melafix... kinda medicin-y but it is supposed to be medicine.

BUT I AM A DIEHARD FAN OF IT. I do agree that the instructions arent the best. I leave the carbon in my filter, for example. Anyway, it has worked wonders for me on many a minor fish problem and even on one or two major ones. If used in the proper dosage (not necessarily what the bottle says) it CAN work wonders, and quickly. But I wouldn't RELY on it by anymeans. Just for regrowth and to keep away infections. [/font]

in the UK, we cannot get antibiotics, so no Maracyn or anything of that ilk. Melafix works wonders as part of a limited medicine cabinet

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I like to think that whoever designed marine life was thinking of it as basically an entertainment medium. That would explain some of the things down there, some of the unearthly biological contraptions