Medication

[starsplitter7]

I have been reading many posts in relation to medicating fish. I read the post it about treating ich. I have had fish about two years, and I haven't medicated them. I keep new fish in quarantine, and then add them to the main tanks when they do not show signs of illness. So far I have been lucky. My fish have looked good.

What I need to know is: what 3-5 medications should I have on hand for my fish? If they are difficult to get, where can I acquire them? (This is very complicated for a new person like me. I go to the store with a list of products mentioned on this forum and I haven't found any of them.) Could you give me brand names, active ingredients, . . .

What should I automatically treat my new quarantines with?

I would like a concise list. I have read all the posts and post its since I joined.

Maybe a list of medication and what it treats. And any major warning (eg. Malechite green treats ich: this kills snails and shrimp and can harm loaches). Maybe something like this could be a post it, or if you have link, could you please send it to me?

About a year ago I had a small case of ich, and I raised the temperature, did water changes, and moved the fish between two tanks so that the ich did not have a chance to reinfect when they were in their free swimming stage. I was halfway successful. I have had no other problems with ich.

If my fish make it through the first three weeks, they have a good survival rate. If the fish look ill, I do a water change, check my chemicals and sometimes add a small amount of salt. I have learned that salt is not well tolerated by loaches and Cory cats, so I reduced adding salt.

I have 7 tanks and in those tanks I have: snails, shrimp, loaches (clowns, yoyos, zebras, tigers, skunks, Kulhies, Dojos, horse faced loaches), catfish (Cories, whiptail, bristle nose, bumblebee, Rubberlip, Pleco, farlowella), mollies, guppies, eels, elephant nose, tetras, . . . most of these fish are juveniles.

Thank you, Tanja.

[Mark in Vancouver]

Wait for Martin to chime in on this one. He's one of the long-time aquarists who has never had to medicate his fish - AFAIK.

[clownloachfan]

As far as ich goes, i use a product called quickcure. It really works great. If you put it in right when you see the first symptoms, it will get rid of it in a few days. It is also cheap and will not harm bacteria or snails or anything like that. You can use the full dosage for loaches too.

[shari2]

Here's what I try to keep around:

Kanamycin--good gram negative and some gram positive antibiotic. Seems to be less harsh on the bacterial filter.

Nitrofurazone--good for columnaris in combo with Kanacyn, light sensitive.

Melafix--for mild bacterial fin rot or aid in injured fish recovery.

Ich med--too many to mention. pick one you like.

Praziquantel--internal/external parasites

Metronidazole--for treatment of anaerobic infections/protozoal infections, intestinal anti-inflammatory

Levamisole--powder stores for a long time. make up solution when qtanking new fish.

Kosher salt--safe for aquarium use and dissolves better than the aquarium salt which I've found full of detritus and hard to dissolve.

A couple of links on diseases, treatments and medications:

http://aquarium-medictions.blogspot.com/
http://www.aquariumlife.net/articles/aq ... re/104.asp
http://www.fishyfarmacy.com/newproducts.html

Interesting dosing issues and recommendations. They are also a manufacturer, I believe:
http://aquascienceresearch.com/APInfo/DrugDose.htm

Aquatic House--information on aquarium drug manufacturer products like Seachem, Jungle Labs, etc.
http://www.aquatichouse.com/Medications ... ations.asp

I don't always have these available. But these are the meds I will commonly find effective for the majority of aquarium issues I have run across. If you have had little need for meds, don't worry about stocking up now. Just know what you will need should the occasion arise.

The levamisole I would order since if you are adding fish it is a good prophylactic treatment for any wild caught fish.

[cybermeez]

Great question! You'll get many different answers though depending on where a person lives and the types of loaches they keep. For example, I keep Kuhlis and would NEVER use MelaFix or PimFix on them because of fatal consequences. However I would use MelaFix on Botias.

Here's what I normally keep on hand and generally only have to use during initial quarantine (with only the noted exceptions):

• * ParaGuard by Seachem - Great for Ich and most minor external infections.
  * Maracyn and Maracyn 2 by Mardel - Solid broad spectrum antibiotics. One treats primarily for negative gram and the other for positive gram bacterial infections. I don't generally use this during quarantine unless a bacterial infection develops.
  * Levamisole made by a few pharmaceutical companies - It comes in a couple of forms but I use the sheep bolus from Schering-Plough crushed into a powder to treat Chronic Wasting Syndrome (AKA Skinny Disease) and internal parasites. In the US you don't need a prescription if you buy it from a farm/feed supply retailer (pbsanimalhealth.com is one of the ones online).
  * Kosher Salt - I actually run this at low levels all the time, 1 tablespoon per 10 gallons of water. I find it tends to keep other more serious problems from potentially developing without being detrimental to the fish. My fish just seem to do better when I've used it. Other people only use it occasionally to treat ich or in the event of a minor external injury.

[mistergreen]

get a uv sterilizer for your quarantine tank. It'll eliminate any water born parasites & pathogens. Half of the risk is gone with no meds.

[starsplitter7]

Shari2

Kosher salt--safe for aquarium use and dissolves better than the aquarium salt which I've found full of detritus and hard to dissolve.

Thanks to everyone for your replies. I just want to double check. The kosher salt is safe for my Cories, eels, elephant nose and loaches? If not, how about at half strength?

My last quarantine wasn't successful, and I discovered an ick outbreak in my favorite tank. I changed 20% of the water, took the carbon out of the filters, added half-strength Jungle anti ick and tomorrow I will raise the temp slightly. It is 78 degrees now, and I will raise it to 80-82. I will do another water change tomorrow, and start removing extra decorations and bake them in the sun outside. It is still in the high 80's - low 90's here.

I see ick on my eels, but I also see other fish flashing. My other six tanks seem to be unaffected, so I will take care not to cross contaminate. I will also read the ick post-it carefully again.

Thanks again, Tanja.

[shari2]

Used responsibly Kosher salt is fine for aquarium use. Dissolve it first in whatever water you are adding with a water change.

Good luck with the ich treatment.

[starsplitter7]

Used responsibly Kosher salt is fine for aquarium use. Dissolve it first in whatever water you are adding with a water change.

Good luck with the ich treatment.

Thank you so much, and I really appreciate the time and the help everyone has given to my questions. My fish will be getting a little kosher salt soon. I know the salt helps boost their slime coat, and I am sure everyone could use that right now. Thanks, Tanja.

[Tinman]

cybermeez stated

Great question! You'll get many different answers though depending on where a person lives and the types of loaches they keep. For example, I keep Kuhlis and would NEVER use MelaFix or PimFix on them because of fatal consequences. However I would use MelaFix on Botias.

I have used Pimafix with excellent results . Is this stated on the bottles or from experiance? I have a large number of fish in my system that I have treated with no problems but I do not have any Kuhlis.I am going to the fish room to read my bottles again now

[starsplitter7]

cybermeez stated

Great question! You'll get many different answers though depending on where a person lives and the types of loaches they keep. For example, I keep Kuhlis and would NEVER use MelaFix or PimFix on them because of fatal consequences. However I would use MelaFix on Botias.

I have used Pimafix with excellent results . Is this stated on the bottles or from experiance? I have a large number of fish in my system that I have treated with no problems but I do not have any Kuhlis.I am going to the fish room to read my bottles again now

What are you using the MelaFix and PimaFix for? I think the Pimafix was suggested for Ick. I don't have any Kuhlis in this tank: I have Darios, Yoyos, catfish, danios, mollies. eels and an elephant nose. Right now my eels seem to have the worst case of Ick. I will change out more water today, and I will remove any unnecessary decorations.

The water from my filter is dropping about 2 inches, so there's good water flow and hopefully extra oxygen.

[Tinman]

The Pimafix reduces/helps the injury caused by the parisite eating on the fish and overall acts as a stress reducer as it is 2.5% oil and works like aloe does for your skin upon a burn or itch. The Melafix is for open wounds to help stop infection. Fish in water are very susceptable to infection because the open wound is in all the by product contained in your tank. A human wound heals very fast in open air as it can dry but a fish can not so the infection and bacteria must be treated or infection becomes a larger issue than the wound. As most of us are not in perfect conditions no matter how hard we try so this help is needed. The coating added by Pimafix is natural and helps in the natural healing process.

[starsplitter7]

Thanks again to everyone. I am reading every post carefully and making sure that I am keeping got notes. I want to do what is best for my fish.

Thanks so much, Tanja.

[shari2]

Personally, I will not use Pimafix at all. Melafix, yes, Pimafix, NO. I had read that the two are safe to use in conjunction, had used Melafix many times, and treated my loach tank with both once. Then I left for work.

Bad idea. NEVER add medications to your tank (even ones you've used repeatedly) and leave.

All of the loaches were frantic when i got home after adding the Pimafix. One had jumped out of the tank. The bristlenose was dead. Several cardinals were struggling near the surface. My gravid yoyo died that night, and I lost two modesta's as well.

Was it just the Pimafix? I can't say for sure, but that was the only thing different I had done to the tank. The melafix was for the angelfish that had been fighting and had ragged fins. Because of what the label on the Pimafix said, I thought using them in conjunction was in order.

I know there are others who have had no issues with Pimafix. Personally? I won't use it again.

Just a personal tale of woe, here. Your mileage may vary.

[cybermeez]

cybermeez stated

Great question! You'll get many different answers though depending on where a person lives and the types of loaches they keep. For example, I keep Kuhlis and would NEVER use MelaFix or PimFix on them because of fatal consequences. However I would use MelaFix on Botias.

I have used Pimafix with excellent results . Is this stated on the bottles or from experiance? I have a large number of fish in my system that I have treated with no problems but I do not have any Kuhlis.I am going to the fish room to read my bottles again now

My comments re: MelaFix and PimaFix are from personal experience. Both seem to be particularly dangerous for Kuhlis, though as I mentioned, I'd use MelFix on most any other fish. I had an identical experience to Shari's with PimaFix.....only I didn't dose and leave the house. As soon as the fish began to react badly (within a matter of minutes) I did a massive water change and put new carbon in the filter.