# Potassium Permanganate Treatment for fish



## sukhkawal (Sep 16, 2009)

hi, i recently brought 3 swordtails (1Male 2female).but they are sick, they stay on the bottom, and move up and down on side of glass. and have this white thread coming from their anal fin. im pretty sure it moved futher and turned into a parasite infection. because the store i got it from (petco), had a dead fish in it with them. i know its my mistake, never should of got it. but i was so adamant.

Now i know i can treat them using potassium permanganate, i got it from sears, near the dry cleaners, called "Kenmore Potassium Permanganate", it looks like little rocks. i dont have a QT yet. so i want to treat the whole tank just in case my other fish got the disease. So i have read that you should add 10mg per liter, or 2mg per liter to whole tank. i also heard anything over 2ppm potassium permanganate will kill fish.

My question is how do i know i have added 2mg per liter or 2ppm?? should i measure the little rocks and add 10mg per liter, or is it based on volume. how can i do this sucessfully to the whole tank. please answer soon

heres some pics:


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

I would not treat fish with PP. Please get parasite medication for the fish. 

You can treat the tank with PP without the fish in it.


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## smp (Dec 6, 2009)

As dangerous as that stuff is, I wouldn't trust putting it in my tank.

If you aren't absolutely right in your calculations you can do more damage with potassium permanganate than with almost any other chemical in your tank stand.

And the toxic level of KMnO4 is only slightly higher than its therapeutic level of 2ppm.

Potassium permanganate also permanently stains. If you get it on your hands, be prepared to have purple fingers for weeks.

It is an extremely strong oxidizer. Like chlorine, it is utterly un-selective in its action. Oxidizers react with any organic: bacteria, protists, algae, DOC and particulate detritus-- but also the delicate epidermis covering fish gills.

I think I'd find something else to use.

I'd start with Pimafix and/or Melafix


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## sukhkawal (Sep 16, 2009)

yea , your right, but i have read alot about it so far, it seems safe if used very carefully, and since i dont know how far the diseases have gone, im going to try PP. i know it kills many fungus,parasites, and other diseases. heres a website on it. "http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fa027". 

I FIGURED IT OUT. im going to try this, heres a precaution, i will watch the fish, if i see the fish acting adversely, i will take them out immediately. im going to fill a 5gal bucket of water and add .2 grams of PP (which is 10mg/l), comes to a pinkish purple color). ofcourse i will use a scale and measure the PP rocks i have. and if fish seems alright, i will leave them in there for 20-30 minutes. 

let see how i goes. wish me luck


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## smp (Dec 6, 2009)

I do.....:icon_smil


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

your fish has internal parasite, my man. 
PP ain't going to work.


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## sukhkawal (Sep 16, 2009)

i know, but i was very carefull, and i dipped them in PP for only 15 minutes, while observing them, these thread like objects came off of them, now they are back in the main tank, ill see if they do find tomorrow.

but what medicine do you recommend for internal parasites, that i can get quickly at my LFS.


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## smp (Dec 6, 2009)

I'd start with Pimafix and/or Melafix


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Melafix and Pimafix aren't for internal parasties. Neither is PP (which can be used pretty effectively against external parasites, and is often used in treating pond fish).

I think you need to get a commercial medication for internal parasites, check your LSF. I personally like the medicated food from www.AngelsPlus.com.


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## ranchu dad (May 27, 2008)

*Potasium Permaginate*

If you are bound and determined to use it then get some Hydrogen Peroxide as it will instantly neutralize the PP. It won't take much but it will work super fast. The pp is only working if the water stays pink. If the water turns brown then the PP is used up and needs to be changed. You just add some Peroxide and the water will turn clear. The next day you can try again but only 2-3 times and always do a water change and use the peroxide and prime when done.


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## sukhkawal (Sep 16, 2009)

yea, it helped a little, but after a while the fish still looked bad. i guess its only for external parasites while my swords have internal. so i went out and spend $100+ on QT tank,heater,filter, medicines,small pumps,etc,etc. the medicine i got is coppersafe, but i believe its only for ick,velvet,and other external parasites. i also got jungle anti-parasite medicated fish food for internal,and aquarium salt(in case). tomm, i will get jungle parasite clear, thats the one i need. any hints?? should i add salt?? temp of water?? mixing meds??


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Mixing meds is generally a bad idea unless you know for sure they're safe together.

I'd focus just on treating for internal parasites for now. I'd pull water for the QT tank out of the main tank, and keep the temperature the same unless the medication tells you otherwise (most IP meds don't recommend temp changes that I'm aware of). I personally like treating IPs with medicated food, so that's the direction I'd go. You may need to fast the fish for a few days to get them to eat it, however.


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## sukhkawal (Sep 16, 2009)

cool, thanks for the fast reply laura, i have read so many of your posts, u deserve an award. well, good luck to me. i hope i can save them..


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## lilhelper (Nov 24, 2008)

I treated my 6k gallon koi pond with Potassium Permaganate many times, and I would stay away from this stuff as much as you can.
Potassium Permaganate is like the nuclear bomb of medications. It is going to oxidize all that it comes into contact with. If your tank is dirty, the PP will work on the organic material first before working on parasites. 
Supaverm is what I have used on my koi and have seen miraculous results. I am not sure if it is compatible with aquarium fish tho.
Also, like above PP will stain any and everything..
I would stay away from this.


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## citadel (Nov 24, 2009)

as a long time koi keeper with a 14k gallon pond, I can tell you Supaverm rules.... PP is easy to screw up with so have Hydrogen Peroxide ready...

These 2 medications are widely used among koi keepers...

I am new to planted tanks so I cant help much here...


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## sukhkawal (Sep 16, 2009)

sorry, forgot to reply here. well since my fish has internal parsites, and PP doesnt help with internal parasites, it didnt help much, so i qt them for 3 weeks, and used jungle parasite clear. 1 was in bad shape, so it died afterwards . the other seems to be much better. and the male died before all of them, i was using melafix/pimafix on him.

and since now i have a qt tank, <<Learned the hard way. the next fish i get will go in qt for 4 weeks, and observe, and observe. before i dump it to the main tank and risk all my fish again

Well to those debating on using PP, just dont use it, it stresses the fish alot (and they will hate the look of you afterwards, like my platy hates me now), and there is no guarantee it will work. so just buy meds, they work much better.


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## gogreen (Sep 18, 2008)

ive killed half of my tank with pp when i first used it. if you decied to go for it, i suggest mix a VERY VERY little amount of it with water before adding it to your tank. and if unsure, keep the water color of you tank on pink side. fish shouldnt be totally stress(more like skittish than anything) if they look like they are about to croak change atleast 80% of the water quickly and add alot of prime(prime will neutralize pp and wil continue to work for about 24 hours. hydrogen peroxide will also neutralize pp). most of the time PP WILL NOT cure internal parasite and whynots IMO


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