Antibiotics I won't use These hit mainly gram positive bacteria (most bacteria that mess with fish are gram negative) -penicillin -erythromycin -ampicillan
These antibiotics have resistance issues -sulfa (with no trimethoprim in it) -triple sulfa -nitrofurazone (plus is light sensitive and carcinogenic)
My preference for fish antibiotics are -Baytril (enrofloxacin) injectable or bath, prescription only. -kanamycin (food preferably or bath) tho you don't want to use this with fish with compromised kidneys (e.g. dropsy). -tetracycline (food preferably or bath) -maracyn plus (potentiated sulfa for bath) -metronidazole (food preferably or bath) this hits anaerobic bacteria and some protozoans (e.g. hexamita). indications: gill huffing, food spitting, emaciation, floaty/gassy poop. -Both metromeds and medigold/medikoi are great medicated foods that could be crushed up for livebearers or crushed and incorporated in a gel food.
Flukes (and some intestinal worms) -Praziquantel
Other intestional parasites -jungle antiparasite food
You can get a quick knockdown of most external single celled critters by using a potassium permanganate bath. I bypass the biomedia, add plenty of surface agitation, and dose 3ppm in a high flow area... if that goes brown prior to 6 hours you may add up to 2 more doses at 2ppm. After the treatment, decolor with peroxide, then do a partial water change. PP is a strong oxydizer so make sure you calculate the doses correctly.
Betty,i would like to do an article on prevention.I think its almost impossible to do an article on controling all tropical fish diseases,for a couple of reasons.Some bacterial diseases and some infectious viral diseases do not respond to medications.I have a couple of textbooks on fish diseases and they are still not complete,and the most important one is when your fish show signs of a disease it's probaly too late to treat it.Thats why I think prevention is more effective against disease.
Yea, I agree that prevention and good husbandry is the key to keeping fish healthy.
With goldies, we recommend quarantine for at least 2 weeks and treating all newbies with praziquantel for flukes. while keeping a close eye on them and being armed with the other meds you need to deal with common parasitic and bacterial infections.
I've had pretty good luck treating fish to include my tropicals. You're right that not everything can be cured, but most common external parasites and bacterial infections can be successfully treated if caught early.
Betty,I think the references that you listed are great.When I had my LFS I had a 40 gal.Terrarium right behind the front glass door.It was beautiful ,really something to see.As people walked by the store they would be able to see it behind the front glass door,it would actually draw them in to take a closer look.I started selling a lot of plants.I found that some people can be totally uninformed on the care of potted plants yet they can maintain a healthy looking plant for years.Not many people can "luck out"the same way with Tropical fish.I found their are two types of aquarists. The first group are more concerned with the appearance of the tank and whether or not the color of the gravel or fish match the decor of the room.They are reluctant to learn anything about the hobby.Don't get me wrong!! I'm not saying there is anything wrong with wanting a beautiful aquarium,but if pure decoration is what you want ,stick to house plants. The second group are genuinely interested in their hobby.They enjoy keeping and breeding Tropical fish and realize that they are also responsible for the health of their fish.I assume that the members of this club fall into the second group.You are obviously interested in the health of your fish or you would not be reading this. You must realize you are subjecting your fish to a unatural habitat.That habitat must be managed carefully and knowledgably.Disease can be environmentally induced ,through high ammonia,low dissolved oxygen levels,or poor nutrition.It also can come from living organisms,worms,crustaceans,protozoans,fungi,bacteria,and viruses.It can be non-ifectious or infectious.However!I have found that the success rate of keeping Tropical fish in captivity has improved.Below is a picture with some of the medications I have on hand all the time.
Cool. I dunno if I could ever do the fish store thing. Too many moral dilemmas from clueless ppl wanting to take animals home and who will likely end up killing them. One of our better stores here keeps cycled biowheels in the back. They'll sell a newby a new tank, have them go home and set it up, then when they come back to get fish, they also get a cycled biowheel.
Yea, I'm on the extreme end of preferring to understand how things work. There is always something to learn. That's part of why I like this hobby.
So why do you need the fluke tabs (trichlorfon and mebendazole) given you have prazi? I haven't used any organiphosphate pesticides and doubt I ever will. People with large ponds use fluke tabs because it's much cheaper than prazi.
I personally won't use either of the 'fixes. They may speed healing IF the underlying cause is fixed either by husbandry changes or meds. Part of why I don't use them, is putting meds in the water is different from rubbing them on your arm. Fish gotta breath through the water (not to mention the other essential functions their gills do.. e.g. osmoregulation, acid/base balance, excretion of ammonia, etc), so I tend to not put anything in the water that adds unnecessary organics (e.g. tea tree oil, aloe, etc).
I see I missed mentioned anchors away earlier (dimilin).
Betty,you would love a LFS,take my word for it.You are a good person ,that would make a world of difference to your costumers.When I opened my store everbody said I was crazy because I was opening a store in a location where there were 4 other successful pet shops.To Me!I figured if this area could support 4 other stores,then I knew I could make a difference.Like you I like helping people.You have to be a positive thinker.I believe in mind over matter.Every morning I get up and say:"I'm feeling great!!!I'm feeling wonderful!!"It's called snow thyself!LOL
Congrats on keeping a hobby sensitive LFS Copper. I wish that I had the patience it would take to run something like that. It would make a great "retirement" job. As I look to my future, I can see the possibility of becoming a breeder to supply one of the better, more responsible, LFS but there is no way I would try to become a LFS owner. My medication list is very simple, I do not keep medications on hand because I operate on the concept that prevention is 99% of the battle and medications would make that effort a bit sloppy. So far my approach has served me well but I am equally sure that some day I will bring in something that needs treatment. I don't kid myself into thinking that controlling disease at the source is 100% effective. That is why I will continue to read threads like this one looking for clues on what might work when my approach breaks down. Thanks again for the input of those who have actually had to deal with disease and parasites in their tanks. My only personal experience is with ich.
I have a fish I really want to save. I just want to know for sure from more experts than myself. She is swimming with her head pointed down and tail up all the time. Whatt is the best thing to use to get her to recover. She was like this first thing this morning so it is early. I immediately did a partial water change. What els should I do for my beautiful molly. gerard94114@yahoo.com
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