sera guide - Healthy aquarium fish

leads to anaerobic condi- tions and rot processes. This leads to the formation of, among others, highly toxic hydrogen sulfide that may poison the aquarium inhabitants if the filter is put back into operation again without being cleaned. Pathogens may also be present within the filter it- self which might cause a new infection after the filter has been connected again, which is another disadvantage. A stable, bio- logically well established filter with suitable fil- ter materials (e.g. sera siporax) usually gets through a treatment without any problems. It can therefore remain switched on. However, by all means be sure to keep the filter appropriate- ly clean before and after the treatment. It must not contain any rotting sludge. Cleaning is done by gentle squeezing or rinsing with aquarium water in a bowl (do not rinse under running or even hot water). Supporting measures – sera ectopur 10 General recommendations for application Feeding during a treatment Preferably do not use any other water conditioners or even other treatments, except is expressly rec- ommended. There might be unpredictable cross re- actions. There are some important exceptions in- cluding the care product sera ectopur. It can rea- sonably complement dif- ferent treatments. sera ectopur releases disin- fecting oxygen, which makes breathing easier for the ill fish, and it in- creases salinity, which stimulates mucous membrane growth. Healing is supported. In some cases (slight infection or prevention) ap- plication of sera ectopur can even replace us- ing a treatment. Generally, normal table salt (NaCl) without additives (e.g. anti-caking agents) can also be used for stimulating mu- cous membrane regrowth. You should never- theless consider that – even if you find suffi- ciently pure salt – there is no disinfecting and breath alleviating oxygen release as with sera ectopur. You can therefore only achieve a par- tial effect. The recommended normal dosage of sera ec- topur is about 0.01 to 0.02%. This concentra- tion is unproblematic even for fish such as cat- fish or other scaleless fish that otherwise might react sensitively to elevated salt levels. Higher salt concentrations (about 0.03% to 0.3%, i.e. 0.3 to 3 g/l) should only be used in case of acute stress situations or a disease and be lowered stepwise by normal water changes af- ter these problems have vanished. Make sure you know exactly about the salt tolerance of the fish in question before applying high salt concentrations (e.g. in a short-term bath). It is best to not feed at all, or – if you keep ju- venile fish or the treatment duration exceeds three days – only extremely sparingly during a treatment. As already described, many treat- ments harm the filter bacteria or affect the bio- logical equilibrium in another way, therefore ex- cess organic pollution may quickly make the water “turn over”. 61