MelaFix

[ozzyrockman]

I have a very strong opinion of this product and feel it is one that is very misleading in its claims. My first observation of this product was that it is made from Melaleuca, which is a fancy name for Tee Tree Oil that is an oil extract from the tee tree of Australia.

This being said one thing instantly comes to mind is oil and no two ways about it aquatic life does not withstand to oil very well. Second the tee tree oil in used for topical wounds for humans and non-aquatics furthermore should not be ingested or placed in the eyes if this happens you are asked to contact a doctor immediately.

No factual evidence has been produced to show how effective this product is in aquatics and people new to the hobby should not get the false hopes that it will cure their problems. We have many other products available to us that do work in given situations and MelaFix not being one of them. Allen

[dOHd]

I just got back from an exiting three day workout at the UGa. THree whole days with some of the best minds in the Koi health world.

One of the things that was mentioned was the use of Melafix. There were very few times that this should ever be used. And they really didnt give any real world times when it would help the fish. Maybe only when the fish looses most of the skin.

d

[Jackie Ramo]

I've stopped using it although I must admit I had only used it a very few times and to treat a wounded fish. I read that it was poisonus to small dogs and figured, why take the chance, the fish are not that much bigger than the dogs are :P

[ozzyrockman]

D, the thoughts that just went thru my mind when I read your reply where not pleasant they where however what I was expecting.

Salt is much cheaper, works and causes less stress because even though they are sick they can still breath unlike when they are in MelaFix.
Allen

[Terri]

I'm not a fan of it's use with fish. It's quite an irritant from my observations. I know that if one chooses to use this product they should heavily aerate the water... it tends to coat the gills.

Stuff stinks to high heaven!

Hi Daniel!! :D

[Jackie Ramo]

The smell is the only part I like of mela fix

[ozzyrockman]

Jackie, have the koi tried snacking on the dogs lately? :lol: Allen

[Jackie Ramo]

The dogs are smart enough to stay back from the edge :D But come spring.... who knows, the dogs a old now anyway and starting to get expensive :twisted:

[Dayleen]

I like the smell too.

Koi seem to wig out when it's in the water. I did have very good luck using it on a Goldfish that was almost dinner for a raccoon. Fins were shredded so bad they looked like feathers instead of fins. Lost about 80% of it's scales too. With in 2 weeks the difference was staggering. 2 months later, you couldn't tell it was the same fish.

Other times it did nothing.

[Jackie Ramo]

Yes, I've heard similar stories but then would the fish have healed just as well in warm salted water or even faster? can't tell without comparisons.

[Dayleen]

True enough Jackie. Who knows.

Though, honestly....i have never seen anything so dramatic with warm salted water but with out consistency...what's the point in taking up critical time with something that may or may not work...hence the reason i have stopped using it.

[Terri]

I have but not on a koi. Treated a couple of tropical that way, they don't like it in the water either :wink: Was for your basic fin rot, work well I suppose.

[Tamianth]

Well, I've used it with no adverse effects. When the koi got posisoned, after everything else was said and done, Bectie still had cloudy eye as well as the fins that needed healing up from the fin rot. They where fine, it cleared it up and helped the fins heal a bit faster. But, on recomendation, I used it every other day rather then daily.

I also used it recently on Chubby, he got a chunck of wen caught and tore off, and no reactions with it, he healed up nicely and his wen has even grown back nicely!

So I guess bottom line is, I have been pleased with results, but in perspective, I also would not use it to try to do half the stuff its say's either. I feel it works more along the lines of neo sporin, clean the wound then go from there, apply a bandaid! I think its served me well to that extent anyway. Doc j did have a article about it I read also.


I'd say fish that react badly are possibly more sensitive to it, but that IMHO.

[Terri]

:bump2:

Re: I'll try and give you a research based response Posted by thom blischok on 3/26/2008 on NI (http://members4.boardhost.com/koimag)


Lee,

We did a small and relatively uneventful study on Melafix. Our observations were as follows.

1. We saw an increase in hyperplasia on the gills as a result of administering the drug in the pond. Therefore I can draw the precise conclusion that Melafix is an irritant to gill lamella tissues. Clinical observations ranged from mild hyperplasia to severe hyperplasia including the development of necrotic tissues -- however in normal dosage ranges -- the most common clinical observation was mild hyperplasia. The severity of the gill irritation is directly tied to the level present in the water. At levels which I will not describe, one can actually get the koi to flash and even in some instances actually jump out of the water.

2. At the higher dosage levels we saw on increase in surface mucous -- not significant but an increase. For normal dosage levels we did not clinically observe increased mucous production on the scales.

3. We could not see the exact benefit to recovery with this additive. At best we were able to position it as a bactericide BUT with VERY CLEAN WATER in a hospital tank. But I must tell you we did not observe and radical improvement in healing with Melafix over other bactericides. Could have been that we simply did not perform the right clinical study.

4. Conclusions from our basic study. The product may have merits in some situations as a mild bactericide but we were not able to validate that. The real concern I have is adding this to a pond where the water quality is not as good as it needs to be, and thereby increasing the organic load on the pond which in turn further deteriorates water quality.

Hope this helps in answering your questions.

Thoughts from a simple koi keeper.............

thom............

[Jackie Ramo]

Thanks Terri. The results are much as I thought they would be. I'm sure the results for Primafix would be the same.