[PJ Currin]

Hey everyone,

Long time reader first time posting here...

I am currently Fighting diatoms (GW and GDA) and Velvet (dang LFS and my impatience with QT got the best of me). Currently Dosing 35ml Paraguard and spot feeding a couple affected fish with Polyguard/flake/garlic mixture (no Focus). Just ordered some Fenben which I plan to feed instead of the Polyguard along with a UV sterilizer. Is it ok to dose Paraguard while feeding Fenbendazole. Also when is it appropriate to run the sterilizer? I plan to run it on a time for about 8 hours a night at lights out. should I wait till I’m done dosing Paraguard?

Also any input on getting the tank balanced would be great. Algae blooms have been expected as I recently started dosing ferts.
As far as the Velvet outbreak goes (at least that’s what I believe it is) the fish are all still eating, and luckily only a couple are showing any signs of infection. The original carrier fish died in my QT tank, didn’t get him out of the main tank in time to prevent spread to that tank after I noticed he was sick.

Tank is established, 2 years old. Started pressurized CO2 about a month ago. Started dosing standard recipe (the Krib) PMDD about a week and a half ago, iron still barely registering with Seachem Iron test (not yellow result, more like clear). Just replanted recently, Java Moss, Melon Sword, Water Sprite, Hygro, Alternanthera, Salvinia minima, and Micro Sword. Osmocote plus DIY root tabs just introduced about a week ago. Flourish tabs used previously.

72 Gallon
Heavily(ish) Planted, High light (Dual T8 5200k, TrueLumen Pro 12,000k, and DIY Red/Blue LED’s).
Photo period 11hrs full intensity.
Auto drip system removing/adding 10 gal a day.
Well Stocked
Dosing PMDD, Osmocote plus DIY root tabs.
Nitrates 10-20 ppm
Ammonia 0-.25 ppm
Nitrite 0
Phosphate 0-.25 ppm
Iron 0.01-2 ppm
CO2 around 25 ppm
pH 6.7
3dKH
6dGH

 

[Pattern8]

I don't have any experience dosing Paraguard with that particular product. I have however dosed Paraguard in conjunction with a medicated food mix using either focus+metroplex or focus+kanaplex with the treatment times being roughly 3 weeks. This, even with some of my sensitive stock, as far as I know was well tolerated though I should note that Seachem does not recommend dosing more than one medication (including Paraguard) at a time.
i don't believe it's recommended to run uv while dosing. Machalite green being one of the ingredients is light sensitive and could degrade. Another thing I'm wondering, and maybe others will weigh in on, is your water change system and its effects on the concentration of dosage. I know that Seachem recommends holding off as much as possible on water changes (relying on dosing something like their Stability instead to maintain water quality) when using Paraguard as it perciptates out after 24hr.

As for the algae. 11 hours of full light intensity may be the issue??? Perhaps consider slightly raising the co2 to 30ppm and incremtally cutting back on your photoperiod. Maybe start with 10hrs, reasses, and continue to cut back until you can see whether it has much affect or not.

 

[PJ Currin]

Thanks Pattern 8.. it is very easy to suspend the drip.. or minimize it, 10g a day is alot maybe shoot for 2 or 3 as i'm dosing meds. As far as running UV while dosing meds I guess I can hold off on that as well. The algae issue is unsightly but not out of control, but I was also hoping to destroy any pathogens in the water with the UV as well.

I was already planning on cutting back on my photo period and even considered reducing my light intensity, however plants are taking off like crazy and I don't want to give them too much of a disadvantage in out competing the algae. I am going to cut back an hour this eve.. I think photo period instead of intensity is the way to go there.

 

[PJ Currin]

Well Seachem did get back to me

Hi PJ,
If you are feeding the fenbendazole in a medicated food, this should be fine to do alongside dosing ParaGuard to the water column. I would turn off the UV sterilizer while treating the tank. It won't make the ParaGuard toxic, but it will breakdown one of the active ingredients more quickly. Velvet isn't very tolerant of salt, so salt dips can be effective for removing the parasite from individual fish.
Using the PMDD method, it may take a little while for the iron to build up in the tank, especially if you have heavy growth.
I hope this helps. Have a nice day.