New T. ellioti with fin fungus

[duanes]

Good move with the Almond leaves, in nature, maculipinnis are often found in areas where the substrate is covered in leaf litter, and the tannins produced are anti bacterial and anti-fungal, and may be even more effective than the meds.
I sometimes layer a major portion of my 6 ft tanks with leaf litter, enough to tint the water brown.

Some worry they will alter pH, but I have not this to be the case in my high alkaline, high pH water.
No matter how thick leaves get stacked, my pH never drops from its norm of 8.2.

I like to collect the local almond leaf fall after rain storms now, but have not only used almond leaves,
when I lived north, made use of many kinds.
Like the maple, and magnolia below.

 

[Sinister-Kisses]

That was exactly my line of thinking. Pretty natural for them anyway to have tannin filled water and it's crazy just how much good it can do for various ailments!

 

[duanes]

Yes the leaves have lots of advantages
Because my tanks are outside, they naturally get stained by the drying vegetation around them, and the leaves falling in, as do some natural waters here in Panama at this time of year.
This is also the season when my Andinoacara spawn.
I believe the tannins leeching off the leaves, help prevent eggs from getting fungus, and when the cichlids use the leaf to spawn on, in the event of danger, they will often carry the leaf off (with its eggs) to a safer spot.

 

[Hybridfish7]

Since fungus cure is basically salt and Malachite Green, I would use it up.
The half life of these elements does not degrade much over time.
If it was something like an inert antibiotic I would be concerned about its effectiveness.

Sorry to hijack, but I've heard malachite green is deactivated by light, is this true, and how long would I theoretically have to put it back away if it's deactivated by light? I'd assume this isn't true, since that would mean it shouldn't do anything in my tanks with the lights on (it does work with the lights on)

 

[duanes]

Sorry to hijack, but I've heard malachite green is deactivated by light, is this true, and how long would I theoretically have to put it back away if it's deactivated by light? I'd assume this isn't true, since that would mean it shouldn't do anything in my tanks with the lights on (it does work with the lights on)

It is true malachite degrades under UV and possibly blue spectrum light, I don't know how fast, but probably why it is recommended to add at least .
every other day when treating fish.
Since it is considered carcinogenic, and very toxic in high concentrations, I prefer using salt (NaCl) as my preferred initial treatment option, and go to malachite products if the salt is ineffective.