Maracyn and Maracyn 2

[Coop]

Does anyone know if it is ok to feed fish when treating a tank with Maracyn and Maracyn 2? It doesn't say in instructions, online, nor did the person know when I called the company. This is bs!

[morpheus]

what illness are you treating? is it widespread or just one fish? maracyn is a very strong medication mainly for widespread outbreak. there are some more gentle antibiotics available, but if you already started treatment just continue it

really it depends on the fish. if they are still readily eating there is no harm. some fish get really stressed during dosing and wont eat at all which will just contribute to food buildup/decay on the bottom.

make sure to remove your carbon from your filter if the meds instruct to do so as well

[SunnyHouTX]

Another reason to not feed when treating with either of these is to keep water quality as good as possible since antibiotics can interfere with your bio filter.

[marauder_77868]

I believe most nitrifying bacteria are gram negative...so if you're using Maracyn I would think that it shouldn't hurt those too much...but I've never really tested that theory. As I recall Maracyn is used to treat gram positive pathogens while Maracyn 2 is used to treat gram negative pathogens. But that's all based from memory...which can be suspect at times.

[Coop]

Thanks for replies. I had a fish breathing hard and red gills, and also another fish that was breathing hard and not moving much. I decided to treat with both products to ensure the tank was wiped of any gram positive or negative bacteria. It will not hurt the bio filter according to manufacturer so we will see. My tank is stable so fingers crossed everything will play out fine. I have fed a lot less during the treatment and also have a few scavengers in the tank to take care of any leftovers. I treated for the last time on Maracyn but have one last dose of Maracyn 2. Wed night I will be doing a large water change. Then Friday night I will probably pull everything out, clean, and do a water change. I didn't feed the first and second dose days but day three to tonight I have fed. Doesn't seem to have bothered them. Unfortunately the shelldweller and one of my clown plecos didn't make it. After this I am going to get a hospital tank to put new fish into for a couple of weeks before putting in show tank. Also going to get a big tank for bedroom to move puffer into.