Here's something else I've been thinking about; if you're supposed to take the filter media OUT when dosing with something like PimaFix, how is that any worse than rinsing off the filter media with tap water?
I've been reading and reading and reading and everything I want to learn about has two answers, both of which seem to be in direct opposition to one another. I was trying to read about rinsing the filter media and some people say tap water is OK (and they've been doing it for years) and others say rinse in tank water (that's out of the tank, obviously). The beneficial bacteria are obviously in other places in the tank (not just the filter), why would rinsing it off harm the fish? Is that ONE DROP of anti-chlorination stuff really protecting the entire gallon of water I top off with? Don't get me wrong, I use it, but it just seems odd...
I've also read you should change the filter, and read you should not change the filter - just rinse it off (and then, see debate above).
I've read you can treat with salt, but you can/can't use it with a snail in the tank.
AND, if rinsing my filter media off with tap water did cause my fish to die, why are my readings OK? I mean my nitrates were 10ppm, but what level can kill fish?
The more I read about meds and fish illness...it just seems so impossible to try and figure out what illness a fish has and what to put in the water.
Sorry all... just thinking out loud...