Furan 2

[paekakboyz]

I've read (somewhere on the forum) that Furan 2 can knock off your good bacteria and as a result cause an ammonia spike... I was in my lfs the other day and had a look at Furan 2 - it clearly stated that it did not impact on bacteria in the tank (filtration related bacteria).

What are peoples experiences with Furan 2?

cheers

[tHEcONCH]

It is evil. It gives you cancer. It can also be a useful remedy for ailments that can be avoided by keeping your tank clean, but it does seem to have negative side effects on the nitrogen cycle (and suspended oxygen levels) in my experience. Use it as a last resort.

[SpidersWeb]

Whereever possible I apply all treatments to sick fish outside of the aquarium. Sometimes making hospital tanks out of buckets. I never risk my good bacteria, because I've lost too many fish to nitrite spikes before.

I've had mostly good experiences with Furan2, but I set up hospital tanks each time, so couldn't guarantee their nitrogen cycle claims.

For serious 'save the fish' campaigns for bacterial problems, I thourougly recommend getting anti-biotics from your vet. For non-bacterial stuff I tend to just use salt baths, but Furan2 would be my second choice.

Thankfully it has been a long time since I've had to treat a sick fish, but I think this is mostly because I'm very careful with the good bacteria in the first place (now anyway).

[billd]

I've had most of my plants die after using Furan 2, Now if I need to use it, I remove fish to a hospital tank. You have better control and use less Furan as you have less water to manage.

[alanmin4304]

I have used it successfully on a number of occasions. It says on the label that it controls gram positive and gram negative bacteria so since bacteria are all one or the other it would seem likely that it would knock off a few nitrofying bacteria