It makes me wonder what other great articles are hidden amongst the mountain of information that we call MFK..
You might find a couple.
Melafix Sudy - 2015
- Thread starter RD.
- Start date
You might find a couple.
I think if you were to test all meds under controlled conditions you may find a significant number being a lot less effective than what is claimed/ believed
This wasn't a surprise to me at all. I have always considered it snakeoil. As someone else stated, it is most likely that when people have a health issue, they also tighten up maintenance which helps the fish heal itself. Thanks for bumping this. I missed it last year.
Again, this study doesn't equate to this product being snake oil.
Years ago Dr. Eric Johnson, a renowned DVM that specializes in fish, came up with similar results in the following article;
http://www.koivet.com/a_melaleuca_tea_tree_oil_koi_wounds_healing.html
Where he stated:
"Melafix is promoted to have antibacterial properties but our research has shown this is not the case. We treated an inhabited system for five consecutive days and then ran CFU (colony forming unit) tests on the water and found a typical population of Aeromonas hydrophila/caviae, and Citrobacter freundii, as well as Serratia spp."
Having said that, he followed that with;
Koi With Wounds in Our Testing
We treated daily, using NO OTHER ADJUVANTS or other therapies. The wound was never dressed topically and the fish was never injected. No water changes were done. No SALT was applied or present in test tank water. Within three days, healing was impressive.
So while Melafix may not be the silver bullet when it comes to killing bacteria, it can potentially still be used in at least some cases to enhace healing.
Years ago Dr. Eric Johnson, a renowned DVM that specializes in fish, came up with similar results in the following article;
http://www.koivet.com/a_melaleuca_tea_tree_oil_koi_wounds_healing.html
Where he stated:
"Melafix is promoted to have antibacterial properties but our research has shown this is not the case. We treated an inhabited system for five consecutive days and then ran CFU (colony forming unit) tests on the water and found a typical population of Aeromonas hydrophila/caviae, and Citrobacter freundii, as well as Serratia spp."
Having said that, he followed that with;
Koi With Wounds in Our Testing
We treated daily, using NO OTHER ADJUVANTS or other therapies. The wound was never dressed topically and the fish was never injected. No water changes were done. No SALT was applied or present in test tank water. Within three days, healing was impressive.
- MelaFix does not harm the filter
- MelaFix does not impact the pH
- MelaFix is NOT bactericidal as claimed.
- MelaFix (1% Melaleuca) ENHANCES AND SPEEDS HEALING
- MelaFix is the most impressive water borne treatment for superficial wounds and bacterial sores I have ever seen.
- MelaFix is non toxic to all freshwater species tested.
- MelaFix may obviate the need for injections in superficially infected fish.
So while Melafix may not be the silver bullet when it comes to killing bacteria, it can potentially still be used in at least some cases to enhace healing.
If I had a bacterial infection in my tank I would look more towards treating it with a known effective medication. That being said I have heard that this stuff is quite good at speeding up the recovery rate for small injuries and this seems to back that up.
I have a bottle of it, and tried it once on my injured CA with no ill effect or improvement. A fish friend tried this stuff on his Tanganyikan compressiscep and wiped them out. Without scientific proof that it actually works, it's snake oil to me.
