meds killing my beneficial bacteria

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
k well i got the epsom salt and did a 20 minute bath. i got seachem stability and added it in. there is also some aquarium salt in to help with the stress of cycling.

i'm having trouble finding methylene blue, but my dad can get some from his work next week, he's out of town. i'm still on the lookout for MB till then.

how often should i be doing epsom salt baths? will that be sufficient till i can find MB?
 
Do the ES bath daily, that will be fine until you find MB. If the ES works the MB may not even be necessary.
 
Do the ES bath daily, that will be fine until you find MB. If the ES works the MB may not even be necessary.

K I'll update if something notable happens. How should he be reacting in the bath BTW. He was completely chill during the bath today. Will he poop while in the bucket?

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It's good he tolerated it. It can be stressful, he may go in the bucket or when you put him back in the tank. Either way if he goes it's a win.
 
okay i think this might be the last update for this.
i've done 3 epsom salt baths so far. i haven't even seen any pieces of poop yet, but after the first bath the bloating went down by 70% and he was swimming around pretty actively, before he was just sitting on the bottom. i'm handfeeding him with tongs and he even death rolled when trying to take the tilapia from me. i'm still doing the 50% water changes, adding prime and stability, and i'll keep doing the baths for 4 days so i get a full week of treatment. if all goes well i'll watch him for another couple weeks, and he can go back into the main tank

Thanks aquanero!
 
That's great news. Skip a day on the bath and reduce the duration to 15 mins for the remainder. With hold food the day you skip the bath. Hope all continues to turn out well.
 
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