Methyelene Blue

[Matt68005]

I see it over and over again, people asking what to do for fungus or bacterial infections that present as a fungus (pusedomonas and aeromonas and flexibacterium infections)
Folks the answer is quite simple really. If its just one fish, its probably fungus, if its an outbreak and fish are dying left and right, its probably one of the flesh eating bacteria infections. Both often go together, and both are treated the same.
1. Prepare a Ten gallon hospital tank/tub with a heater set to78-82F and half tank water half fresh water.
2. Add 5ml of methylene blue liquid solution.
3. Add 1 1/2 Tbsp of salt, IF your fish can tolerate salt (especially livebearers can such as guppies, mollies, sordtails, ect)
4. Add one of the following 4 antibiotics, im gonna tell you right now that Kanamycin is by far the newest and the best, but im gonna give you some options so you can get one of them.
A. Kanamycin (kanaplex)
B. Minocycline (maracyn-2)
C. Oxytetracyline (Terramycin)
D. Triple Sulfa

Use as directed, probably with a small pwc every other day. Just maintain a medium bluish color in the hospital tank/tub. Not too heavy not too light. After the initial dose of salt no more should be needed. Methylene may be only 3ml a day after the initial dose. Or none at all some days if it is still medium to dark blue (if it has nothing to kill in the tank, like on gravel,plants ect, it will stay blue longer)
Dose with your antibiotic and keep it in this blue water for a week, and youve got your bases coverd fungal/bacterial, and its really not that expensive if you order the antibiotic in bulk, i can get methylene bottles here decent size for $6. You can just use regular table salt without additives, or packing salt, Sea salt of course works best, or hell just go get small bag of aquarium salt and double doese with that.
I hope this helps some people that are new to the hobby. It really is good stuff, and its safe for humans and pets to touch (they actually inject it into people with certain anemia diseases) just be aware that it will stain clothing and carpet very badly blue.


ps. here is a link. http://www.aquarium-pond-answers.com/2009/07/fish-baths.html
he is just showing a quick bath or dip, so ofc its gonna be stronger, i would start out with this and then if many fish get sick or it dosent improve (or its a big fish like a fancy goldie or oscar that you want to save) then i would go with what i posted and keep it in the solution for at least a week.

 

[Delapool]

Great post!

Out of interest (not treating) but should temp be lowered or increased for fungal infections? Or makes no difference?

 

[Matt68005]

Increased always unless your sure it's bacterial. If your using aquarium salt it should be about 4-5 TBspn.


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[Delapool]

Thanks, thought that but wanted to check.

I assumed that decreasing temp slows down a bacterial infection rate but for fungal infection a lower temp makes the fish weaker/ more susceptible (and not that fungal infections prefer lower temps per se)?

 

[Matt68005]

Ya so in a pinch your overstocked tank gets columnaris best thing to do is add salt and unplug the heater and go find a good antibiotic. Notice some fungus on some bigger fish in an established tank, its likely fungus and methylene and temp is the best thing to do along with cleaner water. I know you probably know this but i want new people to learn this and not get confused coz its so confusing at first i know i went thru that for a long time.

Studying disease in fish is kind of "my thing" and ive gotten pretty good at it.

 

[Delapool]

Ya so in a pinch your overstocked tank gets columnaris best thing to do is add salt and unplug the heater and go find a good antibiotic. Notice some fungus on some bigger fish in an established tank, its likely fungus and methylene and temp is the best thing to do along with cleaner water. I know you probably know this but i want new people to learn this and not get confused coz its so confusing at first i know i went thru that for a long time.

Studying disease in fish is kind of "my thing" and ive gotten pretty good at it.

Thanks for the info, it's all interesting. Also just for discussion but every so often I see ich heat treatment methods recommending a temp below 86F eg 80F. If that worked I'd love it but all literature I've found says 86F. Thoughts?

 

[Matt68005]

Well your suppose to raise the temperature for parasites to speed up the lifecycle so the salt and meds can kill it faster....that should be common knowlage. Idk where you heard/read about 86 but 80-86 seems about right.

 

[suefry58]

Is this fungus

Sorry if I'm breaking any rules but I've only just joined, and wanted to know if this is fungus? We inherited the fish from a friend and the largest one had this growth on its fin. It was pure white but yesterday it started to turn black. (The growth not the fish Can anyone help please?

 

[Matt68005]

Can you put him in a glass jar or take a short video or pic? Its hard to tell them apart by just discription, any other symptoms?

 

[suefry58]

I did attach a photo but it obviously didn't show up. I will try again with a video If it doesn't show up this time I'm obviously doing something wrong LOL.

 

[Matt68005]

You could always just use the methylene blue plus whatever antibiotic you can get on him and some salt, should work. Make it nice and warm.

 

[Eggheadfish]

Hi Matt,
Thanks for the info! Do you have any experience using methylene blue to prevent egg fungus? I tried it with cory eggs, kept them in a separate tank with good water flow and after nine days they hadn't hatched but had no fungus! I'm guessing they weren't fertilized but they did get an amber color an had a white spot in the middle. Any tips for us trying to hatch some fry? Thanks!

 

[Matt68005]

Yes i do acutually, just hatched about 25 goldfish from a spawn of about 50 eggs, (im thinking there wasnt alot of sperm from the male or maybe its just nature)
I used the methylene blue and an airstone, always gotta use an airstone. I kept them at around 76-78 and they hatched in just 5 days.
I used the methylene at the rate of 20 drops per gallon, it says 10 drops per gallon on the bottle but i read somewhere that methylene wont hurt to go 2x the dose to make sure there is no fungus, and of course keep warm and aerate. And be careful with the newborn fry and water depth and not feed for the first few days, unlike livebearer (i mostly raise guppies, the fancy goldfish fry was just for fun and for my kids to enjoy) fry, egglayer fry are pretty fraigile, so they cant take big water depth (pressure) swings or big temperature swings. At least for the first 2 days they probably will live off their egg sack, wait until their actively swimming and searching for food and use carbon to remove the methylene, and net out the unhatched eggs and fungus stuff and slowly add a little cycled tank water at the same temp and your already cycled spoonge/corner Box filter.

Edit: To add to my original post, Most people will be using power form antibiotic just added to the tank, but Medicated feed works better by going directly into the fishes body, The two meds that are commonly mixed with food are Terramycin and Kanamycin. You can also use Furan Green (nitrofurazone) with the kanamycin, or just use the methylene with the Terramycin. With ich treatments, go with a X2 dose of salt and set the heater for 86. Let it stay that way for 24 hours and then set it back, do a PWC with fresh water and put in your carbon.
Don't forget that methylene kills BB so take out your filter/pad and put it in another tank or even just some aerated water so you don't have an ammonia spike after this Week of treatment. I usually do this Methylene/Terramycin Treatment When i aquire new fish from the petsore, works everytime! Keeping them warm too will make them more active and let any disease/parasite show up faster, so i reccomend 78-82 degrees F at least while in the Q or hospital tank. Hope this helps some noobs unserstand

 

[Bloodroot]

Day three of trying methylene blue dips for some fish suffering from a fungus... I am so happy with the results!

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[Dubtike]

I've had a major problem in my coldwater 180 litre goldfish, minnows and dojo loaches. First was white spot, i medicated and the goldfish started dying. Blood in the fins and cloudy eyes. The minnows and loaches weren't affected. I did a pwc and still the same. Removed the dojo pair and added salt. The larger dojo died in the separate tank. Last resort was the methyl blue. Lost 2 more young goldfish and left only with the minnows and a 6 inch goldfish. He's now on the mend. And I may now have 2 pregnant minnows. It says on the bottle to double the dose for hatching. Happy ain't the word for me now

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[Matt68005]

Hmm idk why i posted all this stuff, maybe i was drunk or something. Anyways its nice to know what your likely to run into disease wise and so many people come asking what to use haha i just keep telling them the meds that work best for whats killing their fish and hope for the best.
It seems like everybody's fish get the same thing around the same time of year and mine too keep getting sick with this stupid HOTH disorder.