Treatment options for Ammonia / Nitrite Poisoning / burn (guppy)

[Thundercracker]

I have a guppy that I'm pretty sure has ammonia/nitrite poisoning. I've been doing 50% water changes everyday for two days (so far) with prime conditioner. I think he's injured, but I'm not sure which would be better to treat him with: methylene blue, (just) aquarium salt, or something like Maracyn. I first saw methylene blue for ammonia burn on YT by Luke's Goldies, but I've seen other people treating it with aquarium salt. I also read a review on aquarium co-op that says that they used Maracyn and it helped their fish that had ammonia burn. I'm not sure which to choose or if there's something better to treat this with.

I'm also not sure if I should follow the instructions on the package, an article by Spruce Pets, or Luke's treatment. Luke's is about half of a 5 gallon bucket of water with 1 tablespoon of salt per gallon and 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of methylene blue per gallon. Then put the fish in the bucket for 30 minutes, then return the fish back to the tank and repeat once daily until they appear better.

The article's recommendation has two treatment options with one being for a longer period of time or a dip. The first treatment is pretty close to Luke's, but doesn't include the aquarium salt. I'm not sure if I should do the dip because it lists the dip as helping with those that have cyanide poisoning and I'm worried about the dip being too much for my guppy to handle: Add 1 teaspoon (5 ml) of 2.303% Methylene Blue per 10 gallons of water. This produces a concentration of 3 ppm. Continue the treatment for 3 to 5 days. Make a water change and replace the filter media at the conclusion of the treatment.

Article dip recommendation: "You can also use Methylene Blue as a dip for treating fish with... those suffering from cyanide poisoning" Prepare a nonmetallic container of sufficient size to contain the fish to be treated by adding water similar to the original aquarium water. Add 5 teaspoons (24.65 ml) per 3 gallons of water. This produces a concentration of 50 ppm. It is not recommended that the concentration be increased beyond 50 ppm. Place fishes to be treated in this solution for no longer than 10 seconds. Return fish to the original aquarium.

If it is best to use Maracyn, how should I dose? I was thinking of following the aquarium co-op dosage used for Maracyn: add 1 packet of Maracyn per 10 gallons. After 1 week has passed, change out 30% of the water in the aquarium. Resume feeding the fish, keep the water quality high, and watch for any change in symptoms. If you have very weak fish, it may be easier on their bodies to space out the treatment. Bacterial infections are the most common, so use Maracyn first for a week, but I don't know what to do if the symptoms change. What do I do if the fish gets better or worse? What do I do after 1 week?

For the aquarium salt, I would get a hospital tank for the fish as I do not notice the other fish in the tank having anything wrong. I would then follow the instructions on https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/aquarium-salt-for-sick-fish to treat the guppy, but I'm not sure if this is appropriate treatment for him.

I'm mostly not sure because this is my first tank and my guppy is small and has been exposed to the substance for a bit (I just posted about his condition yesterday if you would like more info). Luke's treatment is used to treat pretty large goldfish and includes aquarium salt, which I'm kind of worried about because my fish is a little bit weak from the ailment and might get overwhelmed from the treatment because of his size and the saltiness of the water (he is also a drama queen and is pretty reactive to stressful situations). The Spruce Pets website says that it's vet approved, but I don't know if I should go for the dip or a longer treatment time, because the fish is small and weak. Or if I should just follow the treatment recommendation according to the instructions on whatever methylene blue package I purchase.

 

 

Edited September 20, 2023 by Thundercracker
Editing title and adding Maracyn as a treatment option

[Flumpweesel]

The most important part of treating for ammonia burn is keeping the water parameters as good as possible, this is the same as any burn of cut you get keep it clean while it heals. Guppies are pretty good at getting over these thigs once the cause has been removed but it will take time to heal 

Adding meds to a tank you having to water change that much will be very expensive so I would caution against it.  Make sure you are testing for ammonia and keep it as low as you can, you are in a "fish in cycle" now so vigilance is key .  It can take a while to get a tank out of this stage because to keep the ammonia down you are keeping the nitrates and nitrites very low so the bacteria count doesn't build very quickly.  If you haven't already I would recommend watching Cory's presentations on cycling.