Odd Duck

Sorry to take so long to answer but it’s been crazy busy at work. I don’t have an answer regarding snails or shrimp specifically but I will answer an “in general” way. I have very mixed feelings about garlic because there just aren’t enough studies on what is, or isn’t, an appropriate dosage. Garlic is proven to have anti-oxidant, some very mild anti-parasitic effects (not enough to be worth using), and some appetite stimulant effects among others. The biggest problem is that it can also have some hemolytic effects that can cause anemia. At high enough doses it causes the hemoglobin (the oxygen carrying molecule in red blood cells) to denature (clump) and become non-functional. It can clump so much it distorts the shape of the red blood cell and trigger the immune system to destroy and remove the non-functional, defective red blood cell. How much does it take for this to happen in fish? I don’t know and neither does anybody else because the studies haven’t been done. Not on any fish let alone on all the different species in our tanks. Is there a completely safe dose? I don’t know that either, again, because the studies just haven’t been done. I can find doses that cause this in dogs and cats, but not in fish. There was one study where garlic caused liver failure in one species. Again, it’s been too long since I did that lit search so I don’t remember the species or dose that caused the problem. There are studies on doses of garlic that are enough to stimulate the appetite in 3-4 different species of food fish - tilapia, I think a couple species in the trout family, and was there one on flounder? I can’t remember, it’s been a bit since I did the literature search. There was at least 1 study I found on apparent immune stimulus from garlic in fish but I don’t remember the species and certainly don’t remember the dose. The other problem is the variability of the “active ingredients” in garlic. We don’t even know for certain what all ingredients are active, we presume it’s the allicin but there could be other ingredients coming into play. Again, we don’t have the studies to support or deny this. I typically say “Use with caution” because we simply don’t know enough to make a blanket statement across all species, or even across groups of species. It might help, but overuse could definitely hurt. Because of the potential bad effects in some species, it’s not typically something I recommend. It isn’t something I use in my own tanks. I won’t tell you to never use it, but use it very carefully and judiciously if you chose to do so.

How is the eye looking?

I can’t promise but there’s a good chance he will heal from a wound like this as long as it doesn’t get infected.

Sometimes I keep them just to mark the day the eggs were laid. I can’t actually see the eggs in the pic but I’ve got the laying date saved in the phone! 😂

ORD, but this is funny! 🤣

It’s a fairly significant wound, but if you can prevent it getting infected, he should survive. He will almost certainly have a scar and may never grow back all of that pectoral fin, but he can adapt to that, usually just fine. Fish do have fairly significant regenerative capacity, so it’s impossible to say how this will look once it heals. If the wound gets infected, then all bets are off on whether he will heal or survive. I’ve certainly seen fish survive worse, but I’ve also seen them pass from less. It’s too soon to say.

I have no idea what you might be able to get in Bosnia. For now, use the iodine and check to see what you can get - kanamycin, minocycline, and erythromycin ate all good options for something like this. Use the aquarium salt as @nabokovfan87 recommended. You may be able to get by with the salt and the iodine.

Yes, but need to be very accurate dividing small amounts of powder plus need to store very dry and dark.

What country are you in (this can help us figure out options, sometimes) and can you order in any medications? If you can’t get any antibiotics that you can put into food or water, do you have any topical medications you can use? Something like povidone iodine solution often used for people? Netting the fish, laying it on a bed of cotton balls or gauze soaked with tank water, then gently swabbing a wound like this with the povidone iodine can be very helpful. If you can get the supplies for this, have everything completely ready so you only have the fish out of water for a few seconds. Have cotton-tipped swabs already saturated with a few drops of the iodine solution, have the cotton or gauze “bed” already soaked with tank water in a clean, flat dish or lid. Then catch, swab, and release. Best if you can release the fish into a hospital tank for further care and close monitoring. The real question is: How did your fish get injured? Usually it’s another fish has done this, either directly or by driving / chasing this fish into something that caused the wound.

You can add 1 packet to 10 mls distilled water, then add 2 mls of this stock solution into the tank. Ideally, you would mix up new solution each day since erythromycin is only stable for about 24 hours once mixed up. This is the main reason I like Maracyn 2 a bit better sometimes, it’s more stable in solution. Erythromycin does have certain advantages because it is taken up by white blood cells and gets transported right to the infection and gets released there during phagocytosis - when the white blood cells are “eating” the bacteria. So it’s in higher concentrations within the white blood cells and at the site of the infection itself - a double whammy against any susceptible bacteria in the area. Because you have a small tank, you’ll have to waste some of each packet unless you can divide it up very accurately into 5 parts and use one part each day. Store the medication in the dark in tightly sealed containers. It’s also probably a good idea to black out the tank when using erythromycin (the Maracyn) since it’s degraded by light. It is degraded easily anyway, but darkening the tank will help keep it active as long as possible.

Like this? 😂 🤣

Only during water changes. The salt stays behind as the water evaporates. If you add salt with top,off water your water would get more and more concentrated and saltier. I’ve not tested stability or seen results of decently done testing with it so I can attest to how well it functions. I can attest to FritzZyme 7 function and capabilities.

Yep, that would not be ideal if your coir is falling apart. Have you trimmed ends? That can trigger some rooting.

I think this is appropriate but I would lean towards the Maracyn 2 in food unless the clouding seems to be on the surface of the eye. Either in water would be better if the clouding is a surface lesion.

What’s your tank temp? If your temp is low they could be slow to develop. If your temp is at least 76, they’re very likely not fertile

I have some tall tanks. 😃 😉

Are you moistening / spraying the coir fiber with anything? If not, I would try that but very judiciously. Don’t keep it too wet or it will rot and eventually collapse (ask me how I know). You only need it to grow just enough roots to hang on. My pothos have grown into the corner of the wall if left too long, so they can easily grow into the coir, but might need a touch of motivation to trigger it.

There’s plenty of punctuation, just not many capital letters to mark the beginning of sentences and it wasn’t really hard for me to read. It still conveys lots of important and accurate information. Does your post do that? I back what @Colu posted 100%.

Definitely don’t use the Melafix. I consider it contraindicated for labyrinth species like bettas. Honestly, it isn’t really anything I would ever use for any fish. The Maracyn should be fine. Just watch close at the fin margins, especially where they scoop in more towards the body. They should start to regrow in just a few days if it’s working. I think the gill margin issue is secondary to whatever has affected him. I’m concerned he may be self-mutilating, then might be getting infection of the fins and in general if his immune system isn’t up to par from the stress. I think the heavier the fins, the more likely we see self-mutilation where they nip their own fins. The weight causes some downward curvature of their lower spines and I suspect it might cause some pins and needles sensation that triggers them toward the fin nipping. They are more likely to nip tails but they will nip anal fins, too. Replace only the salt for replacement water when doing water changes and be aware that any antibiotic can hammer your biofiltration. I’d recommend you don’t scrub the wood again unless it’s getting excessive biofilm on it as that biofilm has some of your beneficial bacteria that you need right now. You might even consider getting some bottled bacteria like FritzZyme 7 to booster your biofiltration while under, and especially after, treatment with antibiotics.

They’re a brackish water shrimp that live in tide pools in Hawaii. They are nearly always shades of red to pink but sometimes will be blue. The blue is far less common and very rarely seen in the hobby. They aren’t super picky on temp or salinity as long as you’re reasonably steady on your parameters but I’ve never heard of anyone successfully converting them to fresh. They are small enough to have a very light bio load and can be raised in no filter tanks with only infrequent water changes according to everything I’ve read but I suspect nearly anything would benefit from a bit of filtration and water circulation. A sponge filter or undergravel would probably be ideal but the undergravel would risk them getting trapped under it unless you did a homemade out of tubing.

Yes, the levamisole degrades with light. And you don’t need a wait time to treat with kanamycin since it is not absorbed into the tissues and acts more like a topical. It’s great for surface stuff and fin rot as long as it isn’t going too deep. As much as I like kanamycin for its antimicrobial spectrum it has somewhat limited use for fish if it isn’t injected. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I’ve begun to much more toward Maracyn 2 for anything that I think might be a systemic, internal, or deep tissue infection.

You don’t have to completely starve them to get red growth. You will get better color with lower nitrates, but you don’t have to completely starve them of nitrates. The definitely get more red with high light, but moderate to low nitrates. This pic wasn’t absent of nitrates. The tank was running about 10-ish most of the time between liquid ferts dosing. I had mostly root feeders so I used mostly root tabs in the tank at that point when I was getting the best color.

I would love having a tutorial! I’d buy you a jug just to get access to a tutorial from you! I can gift via Amazon, you know! 😆

No, definitely don’t wait that long. If he isn’t starting to improve and eat within a week I would start Maracyn-2 or kanamycin in the water. If he improves but isn’t quite there after, say, 3 weeks (2 deworming with Praziquantal and 3 with levamisole (of fenbendazole or flubendazole), then time to do antibiotics. I truly hope he’s eating well before 5 weeks. I should have been more clear. That’s what I get for posting late, late after a long shift.

I’ve never seen them in any of my local stores and I’ve got a lot of local stores. I’ve seen pics on line before - had to google them to remind me what they looked like. So saying they’re common in the hobby may be a local thing to those writers but certainly isn’t to my location in the biggest metro area (7.76 million people) in Texas (population 29.53 million) which is full of big metro areas. 🤷🏻‍♀️