Re: Wardley Complete Remedy? :(

[IDMiamiBob@aol.com]

Sherry writes:

> I just announced a few days ago that I had finally gotten the Blue Rams I
>  had been waiting for so long on. Now I hope someone can help me on a 
problem
>  with them.
>  
>  One of the six started showing signs of heavy breathing with swollen gills
>  soon after acclimation to my tank, while the others seemed fine. I couldn't
>  tell whether it had been already acting that way in the bag or not. I 
picked
>  them up from the LFS while they were still in their shipping bag. The sick
>  one lasted until this morning, almost exactly a week since I'd gotten them.
>  Now a few more are beginning to breathe heavily also.
  
>  I don't believe it's my water, as Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates are all "0",
>  PH is 6.2, Temp. ~83, GH 6. They are currently in a 10gal. w/ 4 small zebra
>  danios. The danios are showing no signs of distress. My 30gal will be ready
>  for them to move into by morning. I'm currently working on bringing the PH
>  down and the temp. up in the 30gal.

Since the pH is below 7 and the readings are zero, I'll go with your next 
guess.
  
>  I asked my LFS about the possibility of gill flukes a few days before the
>  first one died, and he said he hadn't seen or heard of gill flukes in fish
>  in this area for years.

That's comforting.  He brings the fish in from out of town, and because none 
of his other customers have reported gill flukes, these fish probably dont' 
have them either.  NOT ! !

> Unfortunately, I can't think of anything else that
>  might be causing this as they show no other signs and it seems to be
>  contagious.
>
I vote for a parasite.
  
>  Now, to the subject. All I have on hand for tonight is "Wardley Complete
>  Remedy". It claims to be good for external parasites, fungi, and bacteria.
>  The only listed ingredient is sodium chlorite. I says on the bottle that
>  this is not a salt solution, but an oxidant. 

If it is sodium chloriTe and not sodium chloriDe, then it is not a salt 
solution in the sense of a table salt solution.  There are lots of salts and 
this is still one of them.  My chemistry is kinda weak here, but I'd trust 
that it oxidizes the same way peroxide does in human cuts, and becomes NaCl 
(common salt) in the process.

> Would this work for gill
>  flukes? 

Don't know.  It's worth a shot.  If Wardleys specifies external parasites, I 
would try it.

> Has anyone had any experience with it?

Not me, sorry.
 
>  Also, as far as salt solution goes, I've seen on deja news that it can be
>  helpful in taking care of parasite problems. My questions on this is how
>  much you should use with a soft water cichlid, and wouldn't any amount 
cause
>  the hardness and thus the PH to increase? 

No.  Sodium has the wrong valence to raise general hardness (GH).  Most 
household water softener systems, and also water softener pillows, reduce 
hardness by replacing Ca and Mg ions with Na ions.  The chlorite should not 
have any reaction that would change the H+/OH- equilibrium.

> I would think that this would put
>  more stress on the fish. 

In theory, NaCl (common salt) helps by raising the salinity of the water to a 
level closer to that of the fish's body.  This allows the fish to expend less 
enery on water extraction and removal, so it has more energy to deal with the 
problems in its body.  Whether that is how it really works or not, I don't 
know, but it does help.

> Would non-iodized table salt work? It was
>  recommended for use in my pond, so I have plenty of it on hand.
 
It won't do the oxidizing thing that the sodium chlorite will, so I would use 
the Wardleys.  They are  reasonably reputable company.  Table salt will help 
also, it just won't kill germs and the like the way the other stuff will.
 
>  Sorry so long,

Not so long.  It was of reasonable length, concise and informative.

Bob Dixon
Cichlid Trader List Administrator
http://cichlidtrader.listbot.com


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