Loaches Online Forum

I am getting ready to head off to the LFS to get meds for my tank. I read on a site that I have to treat with Nitroflorazone for the columnaris, Marcyn II for a secondary infection and they also have ich as Emma mentioned they might.

This is a lot of med to have in there all at once but my QT tank is not up and with ich and the columnaris both being spread so easily I believe all the fish are in need of treatment.

Was wondering if anyone knew if the nitroflorazone was safe? Also, do you 1/2 the marcyn II dosage? I have never had to medicate loaches before. Oh and do I need to take my African Frog out to medicate? Will he get ich too? Wow, my head is spinning.

If anyone has any idea about any of this please let me know.

Thank you,
Krista

Nitrofurazone?

Here's a page that might help you sort out medicine interactions:

A Description of Common Medications and Their Use

Got to run to work, but I'll check back in later.
hth

Kris, you'll need to check with the manufacturer of the medication/s you are planning on using, but I'd be very careful as African dwarf frogs have very porous skin and as such are very sensitive to chemical treatments which they absorb easily. It'd probably be best to move the frog to a quarantine tank.

Emma

Hi Kris,

nitroflorazone per se seems to be safe to fish and often very effective. IME it is also largely safe for the biofilter; the only time I've had a problem with it was during a higher-than-recommended dosage on the day 8 of treatment (usual treatment is 4 days), and that was a very minor nitrite spike. It is also more effective in combinations, like Furan-2, which is still biofilter-safe.

Your problem is that you cannot treat with all of these drugs at once.

If you intend to put Malachite Green (Ich), Minocycline, nitroflorazone, and probably other meds as well (as part of your Ich medicine, or packaged with nitroflorazone), you have a good chance of seriously depressing or totally wiping out the biofilter.

it is quite possible to keep the fish going without biofilter, but it is not going to be fun....I had to do this in January (intentionally wiping out the biofilter was the only option available), and between Prime and 90% water changes twice a day, things worked out fine, but this was not enjoyable.

IMO, you need to prioritize and treat the most dangerous problem first. If you are certain that you have Ich, it is probably the one.

as for

Also, do you 1/2 the marcyn II dosage?

No, you don't half-dose antibiotics. In general, doing this makes them ineffective and occasionally creates resistant bacteria.

hth