Hey Kaysea...

I'm glad that she seems to be doing better this morning...

I use Prime as my one and only water conditioner and have had no issues with it whatsoever, and it doesn't interfere with my meds (that I know of).

Your city may have a website that may have a section or links to their water treatment... or maybe you can call.

However, if you could use Prime... it will treat both chlorine/chloramines... so you'll be safe there...

Partial water changes aren't too difficult. All I do is use a dedicated/never-used/never-seen-soap turkey baster (you can usually get these really cheap at your $ store - I always pick up a few) and suck out any poop/debris on the floor of the tank... after I've done that... then I use a never-seen-soap cup to scoop out about 25% of the water. I then replenish the removed water with freshly dechlorinated water that is the same temperature. When doing partials... you don't have to let the water sit out to get rid of those pesky little bubbles... just stirring/aggitating it is enough. I use a floating thermometer to check the temperature to ensure it matches and use it right away. For full waterchanges, I fill a (never-seen-soap) bucket and let the water sit out for several hours to let the bubbles dissipate... then add a cup or two of warm water from the tap to bring the new water's temperature up to the tank's temperature... then add the dechlorinator (my bucket has gallons conveniently marked on it so I don't have to guess how much dechlorinator to add). To add the meds... I just reserve a cup of the new (dechlorinated) water and add the meds according to the tank's water volume... let is dissolve and then pour it into the freshly filled tank.

Also wanted to add that for partials... you're dosing for the entire tank's volume of water..... not 25% or however much you are replacing. The meds only last 24hrs once in the water, after which they become inert... so you have to re-medicate the entire tank's water volume. I hope that makes sense.

I also agree about the cross-contamination issue... I always feed/clean the healthy fishes' tanks first to ensure I'm not transferring any harmful pathogens into the healthy tanks. Separate implements are kept only for the healthy fish as well.

And finally, yes... one can wait too long to medicate. While it IS responsible to be careful and cautious over the use of antibiotics in particular... recognizing the symptoms and the most likely diagnosis, (b/c we cannot always 100% verify the presence of a particular bacteria/parasite unless tests are done, which are often not feasible to us, so we have to look at all the symptoms)... warrants the use of the antibiotics if all or most of the symptoms are present.

In some cases, if the symptoms appear mild, and we know water quality is possibly an issue causing the symptoms... meds are often not needed... and just correcting the water quality is sufficient. If we know the water params have been pristine all along (nothing to correct) and they still get fin rot or another illness, then depending on the symptoms, appropriate medication may be required.

I hope she's starting to respond... as is often the case, the meds just need a little time to work.

Keep us posted on how she's doing!

Michele