tHEcONCH

:lol: Send me Carnations!

If it is a flatworm infestion, that Salifert product for planarians might be effective - I haven't used it myself, but when someone else used it it also seemed to affect bristleworms etc, so it may well do in pretty much all planarians as well as their close relatives. This stuff:

I'm not calling you an idiot alanmin, and if the reference to the proverb has caused offence then I apologise, (I've removed the reference), however it is clear that I'm not going to convince you with either logic or facts. If trying to do so makes me arrogant, so be it.

Put a control sample of untested (but stained) tank water over the colour indicator (same volume as the test sample)

No, I'm simply observing your reluctance to admit that you do not understand these things well enough to be giving advice beyond a preference, which you are still perfectly entitled to have. If you like Wonder Tonic then by all means use it and recommend it as something you have had good results with, but don't enter into a debate about the merits of other products like Furan2 based upon your demonstrated misunderstanding of chemistry and what it says on the packaging.

:roll: :lol: So you are just going to contradict yourself?

No - I don't have a microscope (or at least I do, but it is burried in the garage somewhere between the fondue sets and the old jug chords). :lol:

Most of them ended up in the skimmer - oh well - cool to watch whilst it lasted

Why don't you post up a list of fish you like, and we can give you some advice on them?

Like in... :lol:

If you put some Java Moss into your tank you could probably try danios or cherry barbs. Both will eat their own eggs, but not fry. If the eggs drop into the moss, they'll be fine.

Not really. With some other fish (like Discus) this is done deliberately. There are genetic consequences, but more likely than not they will be fine.

If you use Melafix according to the instructions your biofilter should be OK, but I didn't find it to be a very effective medication compared to some others that target specific problems. Is there something wrong with your fish, or are you just curious?

Hang on - having a fiddle... Old: Hit the 'quote button' and you will see the code I've used - see the difference? If you go to photobucket, open the picture, then put your mouse over it and right click you'll see the properties. Cut and paste that string between the 'img' tags

Go back and read my previous posts.

Squirt a bit more 'filterstart' or something in there - it'll help metabolise the waste before the cyano can use it.

You are drawing a conclusion not supported by the evidence. Just because a drug affects SOME positive and SOME negative bacteria does not make it broad spectrum, nor can you conclude that because it controls a SPECIFIC bacterium that is Gram positive that it will control ALL bacteria that are Gram positive. Does the packet claim to control ALL positive and negative bacteria? If it did, do you think you could give it to your fish without killing all of the beneficial bacteria that live in their gut, in their gills, on their skin, and are absolutely critical if they are to live? Surely they must all be positive or negative too? And we haven't even got into the issue of dosage yet - that also plays a huge role in the effects and effectiveness of a drug. How come people can drink Indian Tonic water, which contains Quinine, yet they don't kill off the bacteria in their gut?

But not all bacteria is the same - and Gram positivity or negativity just isn't that relevant to chemical compound sensitivity (except at a very superficial level). Just because a drug controls SOME Gram positive bacteria does not mean that it contrals ALL Gram positive bacteria. Some drugs will retard the growth of both positive and negative, but there is no useful correlation. There is no reason to assume that because a particular chemical compound controls a Staphylococcus population/infection that it will also control a Nitrosomona one. It just isn't that simple.

Nope.

So what is going on here then? At first I thought it was just a cloud of tiny bubbles, but then I noticed they weren't popping, all the corals opening up and the fish having a feeding frenzy. Apologies for the cruddy photos, but they were near impossible to photograph close up

Fungal infections are quite common. Acriflavine might inhibit some bacterial infections as well (in fact it will even inhibit some virus), but it isn't the best option for controlling them - its primary strength is as a fungicide. Some drugs are more effective than others in certain applications, which is why the person who started this thread wanted to know if the extra expense was justified. You are missing the point - whether a bacteria is gram positive (will hold dye for a microscope slide) or gram negative (won't hold dye for a microscope slide) is irrelivant to whether or not a drug will inhibit a chemical pathway. Sensitivity to chemical compounds is not measured by whether or not a particular dye will stick in a cellular membrane. None of that means you shouldn't use Wonder Tonic if you personally like it, but there are a few people on this site (myself included) who report having better outcomes with Furan 2. In any event, the original poster now has plenty of opinions to read through and make a decision.

It didn't look like it to me, but if it was then there wasn't much that could have been done - it usually means a vital organ has already failed. Here's some shots Caryl took - you can see that the scales really stick out like a pinecone

It works better because the ingredients are known to be more effective against specific chemical pathways than those in Wonder Tonic. Wrong - Acriflavine is a fungicide and has some effect on some external parasites. Gram positive and negative refers to the structure of the bacteria's cellular membranes, and more specifically to whether or not it will retain dye during microscope slide preparations. (It was named after the guy who invented the process - additionally, histological methods are also where Methylene BLUE and Malachite GREEN get their common names - that's what colour they go if used to stain certain structures in cells) It isn't a valid indicator of effectiveness or otherwise of a certain drug against a certain bacteria because it has no consequence on certain critical chemical pathways, although they can interupt some particular pathways in some cells. It is quite possible to have drugs that will kill one kind of bacteria but not another - otherwise we wouldn't need different antibiotics, would we?

That is all part of the fun (I think :-? )

Yep, if it gets in the tank water it will harm your fish - make sure you cover your tank when you use it (or try to avoid using it anywhere near the tank if you can)