But HOW do i know when Redox is outa wack???
Do you have Methlylene Blue or Potassium Permanganate?
From the AAP Redox Article linked above:
As far as medicines to always have on hand, here is a list of what I have used, and use the most of, in order of usefulness:
- Seachem Stressguard 500mL
- Seachem Paraguard 250mL
- Potassium Permanganate (tests, snails, nets)
- Medicated Wonder Shells
- Methylene Blue (Dips, tests)
Then add the rest of the list on AAPs "Basic Things to have on hand" as far as Antibiotics.
Stressguard - Proteins to help heal any nicks, help with excessive handling, first line super-mild treatment. MB content isn't high enough to stain silicone or hurt biological filter if used as directed. Fixes minor things, if not, do a water change and try a Medicated Wonder Shell instead. I keep much of this handy.
Paraguard - Fixes everything external that I've come across: Ich, fungus type stuff. Quickly and easily heals fishies without hurting your bio filter. Keep Much Handy!
Medicated Wonder Shell - Used when Stressguard didn't help after a few days, and after a Paraguard treatment. These have a nice blend of things that knocks out anything Paraguard didn't hit. If that combo doesn't fix your issue, you'll need medicated food. Keep many Handy!
Potassium Permanganate - For tests and uses outlined above. 1 pound of the powder will last you a lifetime. Will kill bio filter if used in main tank! Pretty purple color. Waiting for AAP to sell the powder in bulk packages. Will burn/damage fish if open wounds are present! Strong Oxidizer/disinfectant/etc! Fish safe for net/tool/bucket/etc sterilization, just don't dip fish in it unless you know what you are doing. Used to be added "a pinch" at a time to boost aquarium health. Water clarify in small amounts.
Methylene Blue - Similar to PP, but safe for fish, used in dips, not as strong of an oxidizer as PP, more expensive than PP, but still very, very low cost. Will kill bio filter if used in main tank! Will Stain silicone a pretty color of blue permanently!
Then the rest of the list of meds, listed on the AAP site. The above list will give "paramedic treatment" for diagnosis until problem is fixed, or you have ordered the precise stuff you need from AAP.
Both MB (Methylene Blue) and PP (Potassium Permanganate) lose color when reduced. PP is a stronger oxidizer, so takes more reducing agents to change color...
A redox quick test I've found for aquarium water is using Potassium Permanganate. Essentially same as Methylene Blue test... Fill a test tube, 5mL or so (any API test kit's tube to the line) with aquarium water. Add one DROP-ISH of Potassium Permanganate 1%-Ish solution. Watch it for the first minute, then let it sit for an hour or so. The faster the PP turns from bright pink to clear, the more reducing your aquarium water is. You don't want it to switch immediately, but it shouldn't stay pink for over an hour or so, either. The secondary benefit of this test is once it has sat undisturbed for an hour or more: The Organics in your aquarium will clump together, and you'll get a quick visual estimate of how much DOC/gunk is in your water, settled out as brown flecks. After the water has sat for a day, it will all be at the bottom. This is because PP is also a flocculent, making small particles clump together, making a filter catch them instead. I can post pictures of this process if anybody is interested. This is essentially the same as the MB redox test above, but with the clumped together stuff as a little bonus at the end. If you see much, do a water change.
PP is also great for snail removal from plants, get and keep the water bright pink for half an hour while in a bag, then rinse off plant to put into aquarium. I did this for 15 minutes, and the water had turned clear by the end, and it let snails through...
Delicate plants may get slight damage, so I'd suggest re-dosing PP rather than putting a huge amount in at the beginning. This is also how I "discovered" the test above.
Other things you might need, depending on your water test results for KH and GH:
Seachem Replenish - Adds electrolytes (GH) to RO Water when mixing your own, or gives your tap water a boost with them. Use at half dose if water is already hard.
Seachem Alkaline Buffer - 1 tsp per 10 gallons for around 120 ppm KH if you are starting from RODI water like I am in one tank. Otherwise, half that or whatever is needed to stay above 100ppm and under 200ppm. KH is what absorbs the acidic byproducts of Nitrification, so if levels drop frequently, there are too many rotting organics in the system.
Reef Salt / Seachem Cichlid Salt - see below for info on
my opinion of salts...
"Salt" - I read this as "Salts", mixed, the chemistry way. This would be the Reef Mix or the Seachem Cichlid Salt mix. Similar to Replenish, but has a few more ionic minerals as well. This is what should be used when making "brackish water". It's essentially adding a bunch of electrolytes. Adding plain NaCl/Table Salt will help move fluids through a fish, but there's nothing around to boost the rest of the needs. Compare to humans drinking Gatorade instead of Table Salt w/Water (and maybe some flavoring), just one type of electrolyte (sodium) won't replace the wide array of spent minerals sweated away in exercise (including Sodium, Calcium, Magnesium, and a bunch of other -iums).
Table Salt is useful during illness to "flush out" a sick fish by increasing osmotic rate, but not the best thing long term, compared to Replenish + Trace, or the Reef type mixes AAP sells for cheap!
Quick response, sorry for any repetitions or gross typos/errors!