Freshwater

Remember that overly bright lighting reduces the effectiveness of many medications.
Try to use a lower wattage bulb for your hospital tank setup. Add a
few extra airstones to the hospital tank to increase the oxygen supply because
many medications tend to reduce the oxygen supply in the aquarium.
Understanding Medications
Chapter 11: Diseases and Treatments
There are a large number of medications on the market, and many of them
can be used to treat a variety of diseases, so deciding which one you should
actually use can be very confusing. More often than not, the final choice of
medication rests with you. Each case is unique, and many aquarists prefer
one medication over another.
In time, you’ll discover which medications work best on certain diseases and
different species of fish. Until you reach that point, try to keep a wide variety
of medications around so that your friends and family think that you have
everything under control. The following list gives you an idea of how to use
common medications, and the pros and cons of each drug:
Salt: Common table salt or marine salt is generally used to treat ich and
other parasitic diseases in freshwater fish. The normal dosage is one
tablespoon per gallon of water in the aquarium. Salt is very inexpensive,
but you can’t use it in tanks containing certain species, such as catfish.
Methylene blue: You often use this liquid to treat diseases such as ich,
fungus, and velvet. You achieve the correct dose by adding enough
methylene blue so that the water is difficult to see through, usually
about five drops per gallon. The bluish cast in the water disappears with
proper filtration, but stains decorations and gravel, and cannot be used
with many species of living plants. Methylene blue is hard to get out of
clothes and stains everything it touches.
Malachite green: Use this wonderful medication to treat velvet, fungus,
and ich. It is very effective in battling disease, but cannot be used in
tanks that contain fry (newborn fish) or certain species of fish such as
tetras. Malachite green can be very toxic if used in large doses.
Formalin: This is a bath-type treatment only and should not be used in
the main display tank. This is a great remedy for parasites, but it doesn’t
work well on internal infections and can be very toxic.
Penicillin: Penicillin treats bacterial infections and is non-toxic. The
main disadvantages of this drug are the expense and the difficulty of
obtaining it.
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