Alex ChongFish diseases are inevitable in the goldfish keeping hobby. They can be caused by a lot of different factors, and bacterial infection is one of the more common ones.
So it is always a good idea to have an aquarium antibacterial medication ready at home in case this happens, you know.. like a first aid kit. For me, I have API Melafix fish treatment product for this purpose, and here’s why…
An overview of the product
- Product: API Melafix Antibacterial Fish Treatment (8-ounce)
- Product Dimension: 5″ x 2″ x 12″ (8.5 oz)
- Capacity: The 8 oz bottle is able to treat up to 470 US gallons of water
- Additional Info:
Also available in 4 oz bottle (treats up to 230 US gallons), 16 oz bottle (treats up to 940 US gallons) and 64 oz bottle (treats up to 18,900 US gallons)
Melafix is a registered name of a product under the API’s range of medications for treatment of fish diseases. It is an antibacterial used to remedy and protect against bacterial infections in fishes.
Melafix fish treatment is all natural as the main ingredient is the essential oil extracted from tea trees.
Tea Tree Oil as the main ingredient
Tea tree or Cajeput tree from the Melaleuca genus is a native plant in Australia. Its leaves and twigs contain an essential oil which has a fresh camphoraceous odor. The color of this oil can be pale yellow or colorless, and when added will not discolor the water in your fish tank.
This tea tree essential oil is well known for its antiseptic properties and is very effective in treating wounds in humans as well as in animals. Because of this, tea tree oil is a very suitable ingredient used by Melafix fish treatment to deal with bacterial infections.
Melafix will also not adversely affect the biological filter and the pH in your fish tank.
What is Melafix used for?
1) To Treat Bacterial Infection
Bacterial infection attacks tissues in the fish body causing damages to the skin, fins, eyes, and mouth. Melafix is effective in dealing with these.
Melafix can be used for the following fish problems:
- Open wounds on the body
- Red sores on the body
- Fins and tail rot
- Cloudiness in the eyes
- Pop eye
- Body slime and mouth fungus
Besides healing them, Melafix also promotes re-growth of tissues and damaged fins.
2) To Protect from Bacterial Infection
When we bring a new fish home, there is a risk of introducing a new pathogen or bacteria into our main fish tank. So it is always a good practice to quarantine the new fish and treat it with Melafix before adding it to the tank.
In this way, we can protect our fish from possible bacterial infections.
Directions to use Melafix
Dosage: 5ml of Melafix can be used to treat 10 US gallons of water. However, with medication, I try to be extra careful and use slightly less than the recommended dosage. The cap on Melafix bottle also doubles up as a measuring cup.
Directions: Shake Melafix well before use. If there is any activated carbon in the filter or the fish tank, please remove them. This is because activated carbon will absorb the medication.
Disease or wound treatment: Dose Melafix daily into the tank for 7 days. After 7 days, do a 25% water change. If the fish condition does not improve, continue treatment.
Adding new fish: Quarantine the new fish and dose Melafix for 3 days. Quarantine the fish for at least 2 weeks and if there are no signs of disease, you can add it into your main fish tank.
Summary
API Melafix fish treatment is an effective all natural antibacterial remedy for our fish keeping use. The main ingredient of this product is tea tree oil, an essential oil which is very well known for its antibacterial properties. Melafix can be used to treat bacterial infections as well as to protect our goldfish from them.
As goldfish diseases due to bacterial infection are very common, it is good to have Melafix fish treatment readily available at home. What are you waiting for?
<– Click here to buy API Melafix Antibacterial Fish Treatment!! –>
After reading your article I realized why our Goldfish never lived very long after we put other Goldfish in the tank. We had no idea that the other fish might be contaminated.
Your site is so informative I cannot believe the things I did not know about Goldfish.
Melafix appears to be the answer to the fish problems. I will revisit your site again in the near future.
Thanks for the post.
Thanks Luna for your comment. I am very glad to know that my site is able to provide some useful information for your fishkeeping hobby.
I have been searching for ways to help improve the health of our fish. I have been hearing a lot about Tea Tree oils lately, the main ingredient you mentioned. I think they are good for more than just fish tanks. I really didn’t think about the fact that putting a new fish in your existing fish tank can introduce new bacteria. Maybe that is part of the reason that our fish don’t seem to last very long. After reading your post, this makes sense. I have noticed some of our fish have had cloudiness in the eyes, body slime, but I didn’t really think about it until now. Thank you, this post has been very informative. By the way, I love the title of your site!
Hi Steve,
Yeah, tea tree essential oils has been really popular lately and their usage have expanded broader that just for people. Animals (and fish) are benefiting from it as well.
Anyway thanks for dropping by and I am happy to know that this post has been helpful to you.
I like to do my research well in advance before i make any sort of purchase. It’s unfortunate how easily we can harm of goldfish and most if not all the time do it by complete accident.
I remember in a recent article you posted about using a quarantine tank and that was a brilliant idea.
How do you suppose that bacteria can get into the tank even if new fish haven’t been introduced?
The amount of harm that can come to goldfish is unreal. Open wounds, red sores, fins and tails rotting…. that’s no way to live.
I really do like the use of tea-tree oil and it’s great to hear that goldfishes can really benefit from this essential oil as well.
In addition to healing the wounds it also promotes the re-growth of the affected tissues and i’m really impressed by this.
Thanks for sharing this valuable information!
Hi Justin,
There are a few factors that contribute to infection in our goldfish, even when no new fish is being added. The bacteria could have been there all along, but the fish’s immune system is able to protect from it. Infection happens when our fish is stressed up which causes their immune system to go weak. You can read more about this in this post: Why do my goldfish keep dying? – Getting to the root of the problem
Thanks for the visit!