Do Melafix and Pimafix Work?

[YSS]

I've been reading conflicting opinions on Melafix and Pimafix. Do they actually work? Not just for healing nicks and scrapes, but for bacterial and fungal infections as well as stated in the bottle.

[diamond_discus]

They don't seems to work for my fishes ... I would rather use Methylene Blue, Quick Cure, Maracyn/Maracyn-2, or Malachite Green.

[milton]

never worked for me

[Eddie]

LOL

[David Rose]

A waste of money.

[Spardas]

Nope, doesn't work for me either.

I think it smells like scented oil or something. Maybe it'll cure the fish because they'll be smelling good while swimming, .

[Witos]

NOT WORTH A PENNY!!

[Darrell Ward]

Snake oil! It only does a good job at separating the aquarist from his money.

[Dkarc@Aol.com]

It smells good....LOL. Money better spent on salt IMO

-Ryan

[nc0gnet0]

In some case it can actually act as a food source for the bacteria (it's an organic oil....tea tree oil to be exact).

API's stance? They say it works on some bacteria, which ones they don't actually know, and it has never been tested, nor do they have any plans to do so......they just know it sells.

Some will swear it works, some people can also take a plecebo and swear by it as well. Worst thing about primafix is the time wasted when you could be treating with the right medication........

[scottishbloke]

Yet another case of products that are totally useless being peddled to uninformed/unsuspecting people for a profit simply because they are "all natural" unlike all those nasty (but proven effective) chemical treatments. The scientific research backing up Melafix's/Pimafix's claims of efficacy against all kinds of diseases/ailments is virtually non-existent, yet many still buy it despite this fact. A case in point: my wife read on one of the "mommy" forums about some moms giving their kids colloidal silver every day as a health supplement, despite the fact that it has no known benefits, may cause neurological issues and can permanently turn the skin a very dark blue color (I'm talking Blue Man Group blue here, folks!). It was once used by Medieval "doctors" as a cure for sufferers of lycanthropy, i.e. people they thought were werewolves!!! And some of these moms are still feeding it to their kids daily

IMHO, I would give the Melafix etc a big body swerve, a waste of $$$.

Colin

[discusjoe27]

it's a waste here is what you are buying if you are buying pimafix.

Pimenta racemosa
The West Indian Bay tree (Pimenta racemosa, also Pimenta acris or Caryophyllus racemosus in old references), also known as the Bay Rum tree, is a plant originating from the Caribbean. It is used to produce a fragrant cologne called Bay rum; although Bay Rum is essentially rum, the plant itself is toxic and renders the product undrinkable.[1] The tree is 4-12 m tall and the white, about 10mm-wide flowers become black, oval fruits, measuring 7-12 mm.[2] The plant grow in wide areas today, including in Oceania. The ideal conditions for Pimenta racemosa are regular irrigation and bright sunshine.

here is what you are buying if you are buying melafix


Melaleuca (pronounced /ˌmɛləˈljuːkə/)[2] is a genus of plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae. There are well over 200 recognised species, most of which are endemic to Australia.[3] A few species occur in Malesia and 7 species are endemic to New Caledonia.[3][4] The species are shrubs and trees growing (depending on species) to 2–30 m (6.6–98 ft) tall, often with flaky, exfoliating bark. The leaves are evergreen, alternately arranged, ovate to lanceolate, 1–25 cm (0.39–9.8 in) long and 0.5–7 cm (0.20–2.8 in) broad, with an entire margin, dark green to grey-green in colour. The flowers are produced in dense clusters along the stems, each flower with fine small petals and a tight bundle of stamens; flower colour varies from white to pink, red, pale yellow or greenish. The fruit is a small capsule containing numerous minute seeds.

Melaleuca is closely related to Callistemon, the main difference between the genera being that the stamens are generally free in Callistemon but grouped into bundles in Melaleuca.

In the wild, Melaleuca plants are generally found in open forest, woodland or shrubland, particularly along watercourses and the edges of swamps.

The best-accepted common name for Melaleuca is simply melaleuca; however most of the larger species are also known as paperbarks, and the smaller types as honey myrtles. They are also sometimes referred to as punk trees.[5]

One well-known melaleuca, the Ti tree (aka tea tree), Melaleuca alternifolia, is notable for its essential oil which is both anti-fungal, and antibiotic, while safely usable for topical applications. This is produced on a commercial scale, and marketed as Tea Tree Oil. The Ti tree is presumably named for the brown colouration of many water courses caused by leaves shed from trees of this and similar species (for a famous example see Brown Lake (Stradbroke Island)). The name "tea tree" is also used for a related genus, Leptospermum. Both Leptospermum and Melaleuca are myrtles of the family, Myrtaceae.

In Australia, Melaleuca species are sometimes used as food plants by the larvae of hepialid moths of the genus Aenetus including A. ligniveren. These burrow horizontally into the trunk then vertically down.

Melaleucas are popular garden plants, both in Australia and other tropical areas worldwide. In Hawaiʻi and the Florida Everglades, Melaleuca quinquenervia (Broad-leaved Paperbark) was introduced in order to help drain low-lying swampy areas. It has since gone on to become a serious invasive weed with potentially very serious consequences being that the plants are highly flammable and spread aggressively. Melaleuca populations have nearly quadrupled in southern Florida over the past decade, as can be noted on IFAS's SRFer Mapserver

The genus Callistemon was recently placed into Melaleuca.

Uses
[edit] Traditional Aboriginal uses

Australian Aborigines used the leaves traditionally for many medicinal purposes, including chewing the young leaves to alleviate headache and for other ailments.

The softness and flexibility of the paperbark itself made it an extremely useful tree to aboriginal people. It was used to line coolamons when used as cradles, as a bandage, as a sleeping mat, and as material for building humpies. It was also used for wrapping food for cooking (in the same way aluminium foil is today), as a disposable raincoat, and for tamping holes in canoes. In the Gadigal language, it is called Bujor. [6]
[edit] Modern uses
This section does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2009)

Scientific studies have shown that tea tree oil made from Melaleuca alternifolia is a highly effective topical antibacterial and antifungal, although it may be toxic when ingested internally in large doses or by children. In rare cases, topical products can be absorbed by the skin and result in toxicity.[citation needed]

The oils of Melaleuca can be found in organic solutions of medication that claims to eliminate warts, including the Human papillomavirus. No scientific evidence proves this claim (reference: "Forces of Nature: Warts No More").

Melaleuca oils are the active ingredient in Burn-Aid, a popular minor burn first aid treatment (an offshoot of the brandname Band-Aid).[citation needed]

Melaleuca oils (tea tree oil) is also used in many pet fish remedies (such as Melafix and Bettafix) to treat bacterial and fungal infections.[citation needed] Bettafix is a lighter dilution of tea tree oil while Melafix is a stronger dilution. It is most commonly used to promote fin and tissue regrowth. The remedies are often associated with Betta fish (Siamese Fighting Fish) but are also used with other fish.

go with prail-pro instead.

[YSS]

Wow, thanks for the long write up discusjoe27. So it appears there is some basis for claim for anti fungal and bacterial effects of melafix and pimafix. It is odd how different group of people have different opinions on a same subject. I posted the same poll on my local cichilid club and 65% voted it works well and 35% so-so. No doesnt' work vote at all. This is based on 14 votes. But here, 75% voted doesn't work. May be it doesn't work for discus, but works well for other fish? Personally, no medication I tried worked well with discus including metro and JPC. But it also could be from wrong diagnosis and using the wrong medication. I actually lost a bunch of fish including healthy discus while treating with JPC. Sick fish don't get better but healthy fish die. Go figure.

[YSS]

For what it's worth, this in one of the postings from my local club on the same subject:

I've met Jack Wattley numerous times and have gone to his hatchery in Florida a bunch of times. He swears by Melafix for his discus (does not receive any financial reward for his verbal 'endorsement'), and that was good enough for me when I saw any of my discus needing treatment (bacterial).

[brewmaster15]

If you dab a few drops melafix on your hat it keeps away the blackflies when Hiking...Other than That..It makes nice paper weight.
-al