Tea Tree?

T

tracey

Guest
OK i was told by an acquatic place that it is a good idea to put a couple of drops of tea tree oil into tanks when you have change some of the water to help keep away fungal infection - as i have more faith in what is said on this site than from a shop i'd be interested in thoughts on this matter?
 
Yes, you can use natural oils - but ensure they are 1)PURE and 2) essential oils, not burner oils.

Teatree and Aloe Vera are two very good oils to use in aquaria - I regularly do in cases where an fish/other animal has had a scrape/nip/etc to help keep off fungus and infection, with remarkable success.
It's particularly effective on loaches, and encourages stronger regeneration of new tissue.

To use/treat a tank, mix one drop of each one per 7 UK gallons of water (or one drop for every foot) in a cup of tank water.
Stir it VERY thoroughly, and slowly add over the outflow of the filter to distribute it through the tank evenly.

Note: A severe overdose WILL make axolotl vomit, and can damage your filter's bacteria, so go steady! :p

However, if you have an aloe vera plant, you can snap a stem and use the goo inside straight. Premix with tankwater, and distribute as above. It's guaranteed to be free from manky chemicals then!
I wouldn't be without my plant - it really helped when Spyyk split her top lip.
 
This is not necessarily the best options for long term health for the animal..
With respect to tea tree oils, the essential oils from this have chemical properties and toxicities that are similar to turpentine and has been shown to be liver toxic. It is readily and rapidly absorbed through the skin.

With respect to the aloe, this adds to the organic content and bioload of the tank potentially causing water quality problems.


Ed
 
*points to bits in last message*

"I regularly do in cases where an fish/other animal has had a scrape/nip/etc "

"can damage your filter's bacteria, so go steady"

However, I do agree with you on the long term use.
As I noted, I use it in situations as a preventative, in low dosage, rather than every week/month.
Again, Spyyk and I stand to testify that aloe works rather well - but it is also a potential toxin.
Teatree also kills various bacteria, again possibly damaging your bacterial cycle - so caution is needed.
 
Well, with respect to the tea tree oil, my reference was on the long term health is because like turpentine, tea tree oil is liver toxic. This means that depending on the amount of damage it can take a long time for the damage to appear. Small doses intermittantly of a toxic substance that does accumulating damage (in this case damage to the live can result in scarring which over time interferes with the liver's ability to function)....


Ed
 
Ok, so right now i have one person saying its ok to put the odd drop of tea tree into the water and one that says not!

I wasn't talking about longterm every day use, i was talking about one/two drops into a 200gl+ tank of water when i do a 10% water change once a week - now don't know what is right or wrong!
 
I tried the tea tree stuff years ago as recommended by the people that make it. It does not work and is hard on the amphibians. Most experts (Like Ed ) don't recommend it's use. If you look at profiles of posters you will notice that Ed is some kind of an expert. The best thing to do is add as few things as possible when doing water changes. If the water has chlorine or chloramine add something to get rid of that. If the water is soft it is a good idea to some how make it harder for axolotls. That, good biological filtration, and some mechanical filtration is all that's needed. The people at the aquatic places and pet stores have all kinds of additives they like to sell.
 
I would strongly suggest reviewing the following article to start off with... As tea tree oil become more popular, more and more cases of toxicity are being reported.

Knight, M.J. & Villar, David. Toxicity of melaleuca oil and related essential oils
applied topically on dogs and cats. Vet Human Toxicol 36(2): April 1994, p139-142.
Florida Veterinary Scene Newsletter, 4(5), May/June 1995.

Tea tree oil is considered to toxicologically to be the same as turpentine (it even has a number of the same chemicals in it) which also has anti-microbial activity. Turpentine is no longer recommended/legal to use to treat people or animals (although if you look at home remedies about 50-100 years ago, it was commonly used). So why would you use something that is basically the same as turpentine other than it is part of the current getting back to nature fad??

Tea tree oil is a irritant to mammalian skin (and mucosal membranes) and is a potent activator for allergic reactions for it. If it irritates mammalian skin, why would you expect it to not irritate the eyes, gills and skin of the axolotls?

Ed
 
<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>Quoting Tracey Turner on Friday 24 November 2006 - 15:34 (#POST112240):</font>

I wasn't talking about longterm every day use, i was talking about one/two drops into a 200gl+ tank of water when i do a 10% water change once a week - now don't know what is right or wrong!<!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote> If you were adding it every week, I would call that long-term use. It probably stays around, so it would be there every day.

I would say such additives are unnecessary. The best prevention against fungus is good water quality and low temperature.
 
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