# does primafix work?



## Goldeen (Jun 20, 2012)

i found out that my goldfish has specticima i think is how u spell it and i looked online forever and they said that this should work. does it really work as good as everyone says? i just wanna make sure before i use it


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

i would not use it for septicemia...instead use metronidazole..


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## Goldeen (Jun 20, 2012)

ok what is that and where can i get it please


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

go to www.aquabid.com and look in the meds section..


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## Goldeen (Jun 20, 2012)

omg thank you one more question though what triggers this? and what can i do to prevent it so that Seaking doesn't ever get sick again?


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

usually dirty water and poor diet is also a contributor....goldfish are pretty messy and really need lots of water changes...
i would try to get him into a bigger tank..no heater at all..good filtration.....goldfish tanks should have a turnover rate of 12-15X....sponge filters..HOB and/or internal power filters..i would do at least 2 water changes a week , each being 30-40%....


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## Goldeen (Jun 20, 2012)

ok what in the world is a "turnover rate of 12-15X....HOB and/or internal power filters" cuz i have a filter ,really good one (i think so anyway) but u just cunfuddled my brain lol


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

turnover rate is how many times per hour your filters pump the volume of the tank..
50gal..10x turnover would equal 500 GPH..12x = 600 GPH...you need to check the GPH of your filter...
HOB = Hang On Back...formerly known as a power filter..
internal filters are containers that hold sponges with a power head on top..


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## Goldeen (Jun 20, 2012)

well thank you again for the advice i thought id just update you and say my goldfish is all better i kept using primafix and it did wonders i didnt want him my big tank just yet because he has lost a lot of scales and i didnt want him getting hurt on the big fake coral rock i have in there should i just wait to let them grow back or just put him in there and take the coral out and just go get a different ornament? (sorry i ask a lot of questions runs in my family)


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

yes, if you have stupid or aggressive fish, don't use sharp ornaments. A single scrape can lead to a fatal infection. The dumb one will just ht them, and a chasee will hit them running away. I gave up real coral for the sake of my hands and my fish.


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## Goldeen (Jun 20, 2012)

emc7 said:


> yes, if you have stupid or aggressive fish, don't use sharp ornaments. A single scrape can lead to a fatal infection. The dumb one will just ht them, and a chasee will hit them running away. I gave up real coral for the sake of my hands and my fish.


ok thanks what is something i can put in there so my corys have somewhere to hide i have fake plants in there but they provide little privacy


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

Driftwood would work, many fake plants will not hurt your fish especially if you get silk ones, just make sure you get soft ones. I have a fancy glass in my 20ga tank for a cave for my cories. I rolled it in sand to cover it, but that is starting to come off for some reason. Maybe silicone will only hold it there for so long. 

Terra cotta pots work, they make those in all sorts of sizes. My cories and pleco loved it when I had it in there.


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## Goldeen (Jun 20, 2012)

ok but isnt drifwood hard to maintain or something like that? i read somewhere that they were


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

um, no. You put it in the tank, and leave it there. That's it. 

It will create tannins which will give your water a mild tea look to it, but with regular water changes it's not much at all.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Pvc pipe or fake plastic logs. Stuff can be hard, just not sharp.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

Well don't just throw the driftwood in there. Get pieces that are small enough to be boiled to get most of the tannis and bacteria that might be hiding in the wood out. With a big piece you have the problem that you will need to let it soak for a few weeks and it seems like you don't have the time for that.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

hmmmm...i have never boiled or baked driftwood and have never had a problem with it...yes ; it does usually stain the water with tannins and a lot of people find it horrible and ugly...they want pristine crystal clear tanks so everybody can see their pretty neon colored gravel and plastic plants.....
i mostly use malaysian driftwood along with some others..they are quite dense and will sink almost immediatly....the fish like them and i like them ; so it works out perfectly..


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

Well lohachata I don't have neon gravel, and I use real plants , and I wouldn't mind tannis if it wasn't for the fact that I've read that it lowers your ph. I don't know if its true but I just didn't want to risk a sudden ph drop causing my betta to die.


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## Goldeen (Jun 20, 2012)

lol both suggestions are great thank you and BettaGuy if your avatar is your betta's tank its absolutly beautiful im trying to talk my mom into letting me have a betta but she says i have "too many fish tanks" whatever that means


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

i have been using driftwood in almost all of my tanks for a little while now..(almost 40 years) never put it where it didn't belong.(such as rift lake tanks)...never lost a fish because of it... and most of the species we keep like their water a little more acidic...


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## Goldeen (Jun 20, 2012)

well coolio i like the driftwood idea mainly because I'm trying to make it look natural but i like my fake plants lol they r just so bright and pretty OH YEAH whats that plant that looks like carpet/grass and its super pretty i want it so bad but i have no idea what its called (I'm doing a planted tank in my 5 gal)


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

Thank you goldeen, yes my avatar is my betta tank. If lohachata says it won't hurt your fish chances are that he is right. It's hard to see in my tank, but I have some micro swords in there which are a carpeting plant. I just planted them a week before in the pic so obviously they havent spread yet but they are doing so veeeery slowly. Problem with a lot of carpeting plants is that they require high light and Co2 to grow. You don't even want to know how much money I spend on my betta tank (it is my first tank so I bought everything new :chair: ). So if you go for a carpeting plant be ready to spend some big bucks.


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## Goldeen (Jun 20, 2012)

ok then so driftwood is it true u can use stuff straight up from the lake?? this one guy has a beautiful 120 gal tank and he said he found his long in the lake and made his friends take it home for him lol can u really do that?? just use whatever is lying around just a question out of curiosity (i ask a lot of questions)


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

i live in cleveland ohio..i have collected driftwood (and rocks)from the shores of lake erie and many of the surrounding rivers and streams....never boiled or baked...the most i ever did was hose it down with hot water....
i have never had any kind of a problem with it.....


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

If you collect wood from a stale little pond chances are that it is not clean enough to put straight into your aquarium. A big lake like lake erie has more watermovement and the wood doesn't lie in the same little patch of water all the time. Also, if the lake or river you want to collect the wood at is polluted by a factory of some sorts I would stay away from it.


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## Goldeen (Jun 20, 2012)

omg awesome!! im totally going to the river tomorrow!! my friend will probably think im crazy lol. she will want to fish and ill be collecting wood x)


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