# I feel a bit silly asking..............



## Allison (Mar 8, 2008)

Emaciated fish........... spitting out food............... white poo.

Thanks to the infomation on this forum I've been able to start treatment today with Octozin. I'm in the UK so I don't have access to Metronidazole or Clout.

I also bought some epsom salts from my local pharmacy but I'm not sure how much to put in. The posts I've read say 1 cup per 100 gallons but I'm British so I don't know how this converts to ounces or grams. The only time we use cups as a measurement is when we're talking about tea!! Lol.

An education in this matter would be greatly appreciated.


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## mthigpen_02 (Dec 29, 2008)

You can google cups to grams or whatever you want to use as your measurement. 
1 cup eguals 240 ml in liquid but it varies for solid stuff from75 grams to 225 grams.

Here is the link i used http://www.recipegoldmine.com/kitchart/kitchart2.html


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## Allison (Mar 8, 2008)

I'm none the wiser but thank you anyway.

I'll be sure to use this site the very next time I need to add some flaked coconut to my fish tank. Lol.


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## mthigpen_02 (Dec 29, 2008)

My point was you can fill up to your 240 ml mark on a measuring device and that should be the same as a cup. Tthe only way to use grams is for someone to weigh a cup as every substance has a different specific gravity and will weigh different amounts.


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## Allison (Mar 8, 2008)

Ahh. So a cup is a measure of area rather than weight? It's about surface area and particle size?


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## mthigpen_02 (Dec 29, 2008)

Yeah a cup measurement has no determined weight its a volume. Now someone might could tell you how much a cup weighs but they would have to measure out the cup first and then weigh it on scales. I know its crazy the only metric size most of us know is 2 liters cause that,s what coke bottles are, lol.

Hope this helps you


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## Allison (Mar 8, 2008)

So I fill a jug with the salts to the 240ml mark and that'll treat 100 gallons?

How on earth do you lot measure a cupful then? Surely all cups are different sizes. Or do you have a line on a measuring jug that's for cups?

Trust you lot to over - complicate things!! Lol.


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## mthigpen_02 (Dec 29, 2008)

We have cups called measuring cups that are marked in ranges. They range in size from 1 cup to a 4 cup normally. A cup is about the size of a coffee cup or maybe in your case a cup of tea but i'm not sure.

I think we use it cause we are lazy and cheap. We have one device to use for liquid amounts and solid instead of 2. Or maybe its we just work smartly with what we have I don't know


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## Allison (Mar 8, 2008)

You're so right. It's so simple it's genius!


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## cevvin (May 2, 2008)

A cup is 8oz. I know you guys have ounces, I see it on my babies bottle, U.S. oz. and U.K. oz.


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## TrashmanNYC (Dec 10, 2007)

Allison said:


> . I'm in the UK so I don't have access to Metronidazole or Clout.
> .


too bad.......



Allison said:


> I also bought some epsom salts from my local pharmacy but I'm not sure how much to put in. The posts I've read say 1 cup per 100 gallons but I'm British so I don't know how this converts to ounces or grams. The only time we use cups as a measurement is when we're talking about tea!! Lol.
> .


i use one teaspoon per 5 gallons if you can figure out the "translation"........ 8)


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

16 tablespoons equal 1 cup


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## Allison (Mar 8, 2008)

Thanks everyone for all your help. 
Even our gallons are different to yours so stuff's really difficult to work out. Also, I'm a nurse so I'm used to medicine administration to be really precise.

Speaking of which, I've found a source of Metronidazole that's 500mg in 100ml of saline. If my current treatment course doesn't work, what dose of antibiotic should I use and what should the water change regime be during this time?

And will you state whether this is US or Imperial gallons please so I can safely convert the instructions into something I understand?

Thanks to everyone's advice yesterday I've had no losses overnight but the poorliest fish still looks awful. Fingers crossed.

Many thanks.


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## bma57 (Sep 16, 2007)

cichlidaholic said:


> 16 tablespoons equal 1 cup


And 2 cups = a pint. 2 pints = a quart. 4 quarts = a gallon. For someone who has grown up on the 10's, 100's and 1,000's of the metric system, this must seem pretty arbitrary and silly. For the purposes of treating your tank, your most used conversions are going to be as follows:

1 teaspoon (tsp) = 5 mL
1 tablespoon (tbsp) = 15 mL
1 cup = 237 mL
1 gallon = 3.8 L

If you get into weights:

1 pound (lb) = .45 kg
1 ounce (oz) = 28.3 g

I hope that helps. Good luck.


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## Allison (Mar 8, 2008)

No losses last night either - hooray!! - in fact even the poorliest fish has really cheered up.

They're on their 3rd and last day of Octozin treatment. How long til I can relax and stop worrying so much?


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

That is good news! I would continue treatment for a bit. (With most meds we have access to here, I usually double the recommended treatment regimen! The meds we can buy are pretty mild - if they were stronger you'd need a prescription - and I really think the manufacturers skimp on their recommendations.)

Squeeze in all the water changes you can along with the treatment, giving the substrate a good vacuuming with each one. :thumb:


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## Allison (Mar 8, 2008)

Thank you so much for your support. It's really reassuring to know that there's people out there that care about my fish as much as I do.
I have managed to get hold of some metronidazole. How long should I wait after the Octozin treatment before I start the metronidazole?


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## TrashmanNYC (Dec 10, 2007)

cichlidaholic said:


> Squeeze in all the water changes you can


daily?


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

TrashmanNYC said:


> cichlidaholic said:
> 
> 
> > Squeeze in all the water changes you can
> ...


Daily isn't always do-able, and I would only do one just prior to adding more meds. You don't want to remove meds before you are prepared to add more. :thumb:

So, the water change regimen always depends on your treatment plan. (I usually make up my own treatment plans... :roll: )

Just put some fresh carbon in your filter system before you're ready to switch to the new meds, Allison. Running it for a few hours will remove the old meds. Make sure you take it back out before adding the met, though!


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## TrashmanNYC (Dec 10, 2007)

cichlidaholic said:


> TrashmanNYC said:
> 
> 
> > cichlidaholic said:
> ...


when adding meds after the w/c, do you add meds for amount of water added for for total tank volume?


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

I add meds for the total potential tank volume...If it's one tab per 10G and it's a 100G capacity tank, I use 10 tabs. (FYI...If it's a 55G and it's one tab per 10G, I use 6 tabs...)

These meds that we have access to are so mild...If they weren't, we'd need prescriptions.


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## TrashmanNYC (Dec 10, 2007)

so for my 10g hospital tank, just use a 10g dose after a w/c......

Thanks..


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