Why do fish die when you give them medicine?

danielc316 · 08/25/2008, 06:53 AM

I found my flame angle dead this morning. Yesterday we gave and went out and got him some medicine after people kept telling us that the fish loosing his color in his fins was normal. After researching it looked like he had fin rot and some of the other fishes looked weird also but not as bad my flame angel.
Well we bought some medicine(can't remeber the name i think is mylamax, some thing like that) and he died on me now i wish i never gave the medicine, i followed the instruction correctly and my other fish are doing ok.

Why do fish die when you give them medicine??? One of my friends it happend to him also, fish was sick gave him medicine and died.

Do fish take medicine medicine bad when they are sick?

brians4671 · 08/25/2008, 07:08 AM

the time i have spent in this hobby i find fish dont recover that well. alot of the time if something is wrong and effect become visible it seems too late. thaqt said keep a very close eye and as soon as the signs arise address is with meds accordingly.

fatdaddy · 08/25/2008, 07:09 AM

Hey, sorry. I don't have a good answer for you, but treating fish can be stressful on them and can push them over the edge. If there was fin rot, then likely the fish was already stressed.

squealy · 08/25/2008, 07:47 AM

Sorry about your loss. I agree with what's been said. It is usually the reason that you decided to give the medicine (i.e., the underlying illness that is just becoming manifest but may be very advanced) instead of the treatment. We see this with humans as well, although we usually pick up their disease much earlier.

Sk8r · 08/25/2008, 08:10 AM

Experience: if you'd known what you were looking at, treatment would have been much earlier. Knowledge of drugs: I fear what you used was the very popular and highly available Melafix, which I think is tea tree oil, not an antibiotic. You have to read labels, get on the internet, google the disease you suspect, get the proper and best med for the disease, and administer it in the right conditions (hospital tank, NO carbon filter, which removes the meds as fast as you put it in.)...

Experience, is all I can say. Learn to pick out the biggest, fattest, most perfect fish of a lot---don't let them give you the slowest and easiest caught. Acclimate; and now you know about fin rot, so that won't catch you twice. And never re-buy from a lot or tank you know had disease in it.
Go onto the internet and look up the sites for Maracyn and for Cupramine. Learn about those. Never use a reef-safe med: always go for a hospital tank treatment.

alpine36 · 08/25/2008, 08:34 AM

sorry to here, those can be expensive.

agreeive?fish · 08/25/2008, 08:43 AM

Ok this is only my opinion and i have no facts or data to back it up but here is my opinion anyway.

Fish donot have a natural ability to recover from illness and most times the meds just make them more stressed and weak before it starts to help them.. the reason i believe this is because in most situations when a fish gets ill or in a weakened state in the wild they become easier prey and there fore they become food as soon as the become esier to get than the same species of fish that is 100% well... and since most weakened state fish dont live in the wild then over eons of time they donot pass that genetic ability down to thier offspring... just an opinion

08/25/2008, 06:53 AM	#1
danielc316 Registered Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: alsip, il Posts: 50	Why do fish die when you give them medicine? I found my flame angle dead this morning. Yesterday we gave and went out and got him some medicine after people kept telling us that the fish loosing his color in his fins was normal. After researching it looked like he had fin rot and some of the other fishes looked weird also but not as bad my flame angel. Well we bought some medicine(can't remeber the name i think is mylamax, some thing like that) and he died on me now i wish i never gave the medicine, i followed the instruction correctly and my other fish are doing ok. Why do fish die when you give them medicine??? One of my friends it happend to him also, fish was sick gave him medicine and died. Do fish take medicine medicine bad when they are sick?

08/25/2008, 07:09 AM	#3
fatdaddy Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Northeast Florida Posts: 1,191	Hey, sorry. I don't have a good answer for you, but treating fish can be stressful on them and can push them over the edge. If there was fin rot, then likely the fish was already stressed. __________________ "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." -- Aristotle

08/25/2008, 08:10 AM	#5
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Experience: if you'd known what you were looking at, treatment would have been much earlier. Knowledge of drugs: I fear what you used was the very popular and highly available Melafix, which I think is tea tree oil, not an antibiotic. You have to read labels, get on the internet, google the disease you suspect, get the proper and best med for the disease, and administer it in the right conditions (hospital tank, NO carbon filter, which removes the meds as fast as you put it in.)... Experience, is all I can say. Learn to pick out the biggest, fattest, most perfect fish of a lot---don't let them give you the slowest and easiest caught. Acclimate; and now you know about fin rot, so that won't catch you twice. And never re-buy from a lot or tank you know had disease in it. Go onto the internet and look up the sites for Maracyn and for Cupramine. Learn about those. Never use a reef-safe med: always go for a hospital tank treatment. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

08/25/2008, 07:08 AM	#2
brians4671 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: miami fl Posts: 2,088	the time i have spent in this hobby i find fish dont recover that well. alot of the time if something is wrong and effect become visible it seems too late. thaqt said keep a very close eye and as soon as the signs arise address is with meds accordingly.

08/25/2008, 07:47 AM	#4
squealy Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Arizona Posts: 113	Sorry about your loss. I agree with what's been said. It is usually the reason that you decided to give the medicine (i.e., the underlying illness that is just becoming manifest but may be very advanced) instead of the treatment. We see this with humans as well, although we usually pick up their disease much earlier.

08/25/2008, 08:34 AM	#6
alpine36 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: ct Posts: 49	sorry to here, those can be expensive.

08/25/2008, 08:43 AM	#7
agreeive?fish Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 3,803	Ok this is only my opinion and i have no facts or data to back it up but here is my opinion anyway. Fish donot have a natural ability to recover from illness and most times the meds just make them more stressed and weak before it starts to help them.. the reason i believe this is because in most situations when a fish gets ill or in a weakened state in the wild they become easier prey and there fore they become food as soon as the become esier to get than the same species of fish that is 100% well... and since most weakened state fish dont live in the wild then over eons of time they donot pass that genetic ability down to thier offspring... just an opinion