The Most Effective Treatments of Commonly-Posted Diseases

[Colu]

On 9/1/2021 at 3:56 PM, Iris said:

I’m out of ich x and should receive an order by tomorrow. Last & 5th treatment of ich x was 8/30/ I have ParaClense on hand, will this help & How long after use of ich x before starting a new med or should I continue with ich x? Today is day 2 without meds added. All fish are clear but 1 hill stream loach. 

Paracleanse is not as effective against ich one of the active ingredient metronidazole doesn't have any effect on the ich trophont  I would keep treating with ick x when it arrives  these a chance ich could reinfect some of your other fish as it's been a couple of days with out treatment keep a close eye on them

Edited December 1, 2022 by Colu

[Colu]

Edited December 1, 2022 by Colu

[Colu]

Effective treatment are seachems metroplex in food hikari metro+ API general cure and paracleanse if your in the UK and can't get these medications I would treat with water life octozin  or Esha hexamitayou can use this  food recipe with   paracleanse or general cure hikari metro+  

Edited October 4, 2022 by Colu

[Colu]

 most cases of fin rot are caused by gram negative bacterial the most common causes of Fin rot are poor water quality your tanks overstocked fin nipping keeping your fish at to low of a temperature stress poor diet leading to nutritional deficiencies making your fish more susceptible to a bacterial infection and injury to the fins were the flesh is exposed  in mild case of fin rot daily water changes and more frequent gravel vacc and add some indian almond leaves as they have antibacterial and antifungal properties for a couple of week will be enough in most case to reverse mild fin rot                                                                 in major cases of fin rot I would recommend treating with aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 2 gallons the salt will help with gill function and add essential electrolytes to help your fish fight of the infection and a broad spectrum antibiotic such as maracyn2 in food or API fin and body cure active ingredient is Doxycycline is highly effective against external bacterial infections of the skin if you can't get maracyn2 or fin and body cure then I would treat with seachems neoplex aqua-cipro jungal fungus clear fizz tabs containing nitrofurazone   if you in the UK Sera baktopur direct and aquarium salt is what I would treat with  if your using furan2 or maracyn2 they are less effective at a higher  pH                                                                      extreme cases of fin rot where it spreading to the body I would recommend a combined of aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 2 gallons  kanaplex and jungal fungas clear fizz tabs containing nitrofurazone to treat the water column if using this treatment plan your in the uk I would use Sera baktopur direct active ingredient is nifurpirinol a broad spectrum antibiotic and up the level of aquarium salt to 1table spoon for 1 gallon

 

 

 

 

Edited January 26, 2023 by Colu

[Colu]

[Colu]

I would recommend.treating with  aquarium salt the salt will help reduce the fluid buildup  use with Kanaplex in food to treat any possible internal bacterial infection and metroplex to dose the water column as it treats aeromonas bacteria  if your  in the UK I would treat with Sera baktopur direct tables  and  aquarium salt if you can get metronidazole to treat the water column you can also treat with aquatics foods premium flake containing nitrofurazone or oxytetracycline with metroplex to treat the water column and aquarium salt

Edited December 1, 2022 by Colu

[laritheloud]

Hi @Colu, I noticed the start of what I believe to be a bacterial infection in a couple of my rainbowfish (pseudomugil signifer, symptoms are the white lip without cottony fuzz and a bit of dull-colored mucus production on the flanks). They're the first fish in my 55 gallon so I'm treating them directly in there. I have begun to feed them kanaplex-medicated feed, since they're all still active and voracious. How often do you recommend feeding? I fed them twice today in very small amounts, and I'm hoping to get enough into them to help clear up the infection. Planning on a 10 day course.

[Colu]

On 9/16/2021 at 8:16 PM, laritheloud said:

Hi @Colu, I noticed the start of what I believe to be a bacterial infection in a couple of my rainbowfish (pseudomugil signifer, symptoms are the white lip without cottony fuzz and a bit of dull-colored mucus production on the flanks). They're the first fish in my 55 gallon so I'm treating them directly in there. I have begun to feed them kanaplex-medicated feed, since they're all still active and voracious. How often do you recommend feeding? I fed them twice today in very small amounts, and I'm hoping to get enough into them to help clear up the infection. Planning on a 10 day course.

I usually feed medicated food once a day  that way their always hungry and readily take the medicated food you can feed twice a day with kanaplex I wouldn't feed more than that

Edited September 16, 2021 by Colu

[laritheloud]

On 9/16/2021 at 7:33 PM, Colu said:

I usually feed medicated food once a day  that way their always hungry and readily take the medicated food you can feed twice a day with kanaplex I wouldn't feed more than that

I've just been feeding tiny tiny pinches at a time and making sure they eat all of it up before adding a little bit more. I've got 10 of them in the tank, and it looks like all are feeding, one is skinnier (but still eating) and I'm keeping a close eye on her.  Thanks!

[Colu]

Effective antibiotic treatments  maracyn2 active ingredient is minocycline 10mg is good antibiotic for treating gram negative internal bacterial infection as it absorbed thought the skin of your fish I wouldn't use if suspect your fish has kidney disease you can combine with maracyn for a more broad spectrum treatment I wouldn't use if you tank has a high GH as the calcium can adsorb the medication making it less effective maracyn active ingredient is erythromycin 200mg is a  effective against gram positive bacteria is effective treatment for external bacterial infection and internal bacterial infection when you add it to food you can combine with maracyn2 for a more broad spectrum treatment kanaplex active ingredient is kanamycin sulfate 317mg treats gram negative and some gram positive bacterial an effective  antibiotic as it absorbed thought the skin and gills of your fish when your fish aren't eating so it great antibiotic for treating internal bacterial infection and kidney disease   neoplex active ingredient is neomycin sulfate 425mg is good for treating external bacterial infection

 API fin and body cure active ingredient is Doxycycline hyclate 250mg is a very effective antibiotic for treating gram negative  external Bacterial skin infections API furan2 active ingredient is nitrofurazone 85mg is an effective antibiotic for treating gram negative and some gram positive external  bacterial infection such as Columnaris and dermal fungus effective antibiotic treatment for internal bacterial infection when added to food

Edited December 1, 2022 by Colu

[Colu]

    Sera  baktopur direct tables active ingredient is nifurpirinol 27.6 mg treats gram positive and gram negative bacterial its effective at treating internal bacterial infection as it absorbed thought the skin of your fish so it a great antibiotic treatment for when your fish aren't eating can be used to treat bacterial infections in shrimp        Sera bactopur active ingredient is acriflavin 209.7mg methylene blue 4.95mg treats gram positive and some gram negative bacterial effective treatment for fin rot and and external bacterial infection acriflavin can harm plants not shrimp or snail safe

Edited September 18, 2021 by Colu

[Colu]

 aqua-cipro active ingredient is ciprofloxacin 500mg treats gram negative and some gram positive bacterial it works to stop bacteria from replicating or repairing it's DNA so it may work against pathogens that don't respond to other antibiotic         AAP spectrogram active ingredient is kanamycin and nitrofurazone 150mg treats gram negative and some gram positive bacteria it's a great antibiotic for treating internal and external Bacterial  AAP furacyn active ingredient is nitrofurazone 100mg treats gram negative and some gram positive bacterial good antibiotic treatment for external bacterial infections and dermal fungus effective at treating internal bacteria when added to food can be used in combination with kanaplex for a more broad spectrum antibiotic treatment against Columnaris

Edited September 18, 2021 by Colu

[Colu]

  Esha 2000 active ingredient is ethacridine 6.3mg and copper2 3.2mg methly orange 0.26mg effective treatment for mild external bacterial infection  and fungal infection jungal fungus cure fizz tabs active ingredient is nitrofurazone 18.4mg and potassium dichromate effective against gram negative bacterial infection and some gram positive bacterial and dermal fungus   I would use this as a substitute if you can't get furan2 or AAP furacyn

Edited April 22, 2022 by Colu

[Colu]

If you don't want to make your own medicated food you can buy premade aquatics foods premium  flake  that contain oxytetracycline or nitrofurazone or erythromycin

Edited October 27, 2021 by Colu

[KentFishFanUK]

This thread is a great source of information so thanks! 

Just a quick question, how common are "parasitic crustaceans"? 

I basically now have the eSHa line up (2000, exit, gdex with -ndx on the way) which I think seems like it covers most bases for most illnesses (at least if caught early/mild infections, or for quarantining) was wondering if I was likely to also need alx? 

[Colu]

On 10/27/2021 at 9:27 AM, KentFishFanUK said:

This thread is a great source of information so thanks! 

Just a quick question, how common are "parasitic crustaceans"? 

I basically now have the eSHa line up (2000, exit, gdex with -ndx on the way) which I think seems like it covers most bases for most illnesses (at least if caught early/mild infections, or for quarantining) was wondering if I was likely to also need alx? 

Esha alx active ingredient is Lufenuron treats parasites such as carp lice anchor worms skin and gill lice  the most common one your likely to encounter is anchor worms  skin and gill lice most often affect wild caught and pond fish carp lice  are usually seasonal in pond fish you could have it to hand there's a small chance of getting these unless buying wild caught  fish or have fish in an outdoor pond 

 

Edited November 16, 2021 by Colu

[Luxa]

What a cool guide! It's also important to note that antibiotics should be used responsibly! None of the antibiotics available for aquarium use are "cutting-edge," but everyone still has to do their part to combat antibiotic resistant bacteria.

The two biggest steps to take are: 1) concentration & 2) duration. Enough antibiotics should be used to kill the majority of bacteria in solution! That usually means following the manufacturer's dosing directions. It's also important to maintain that concentration for a sufficient duration. Remember that antibiotics dissolve in tank water. This means a bacterium needs to encounter the antibiotic molecule in the water to die, which doesn't happen instantly. Again, this usually means dosing for as long as the manufacturer instructs.

If you want to be really responsible, any leftover antibiotic solution, powdered antibiotic already dissolved in tank water, should be disposed into sand or cat litter then discarded as solid waste.

There are hundreds of aquarium medications on the market, and many of them contain antibiotics. You're not going to end the world by under-dosing sulfathiazole, but everyone can do their part to use these powerful compounds responsibly.

Happy fishkeeping!

[KittenFishMom]

This is a wonderful thread. I feel a bit like I just finished reading "Dr Spock" when I was 8 month's pregnant.  I will be watching my fish very closely for a long time.

Is there a list of medicines that are good to keep on hand, on the forum some place?  A list of sites that sell the different medicines would also be helpful.  I have the ACO quarantine trio and several medicines that I have never opened, but thought I should have hand. It would be good to know which problems can wait for a medicine to be ordered, and which benefit from having the medicine on hand. 

I am trying very hard to go the "high quality water" and "a wide variety of high quality food" route to avoid medications. But as a newbie, I have made mistakes and know I will make more mistakes. 

Thank you for writing up all this information so that it is at our finger tips 24*7

[Colu]

On 2/3/2022 at 4:30 AM, KittenFishMom said:

This is a wonderful thread. I feel a bit like I just finished reading "Dr Spock" when I was 8 month's pregnant.  I will be watching my fish very closely for a long time.

Is there a list of medicines that are good to keep on hand, on the forum some place?  A list of sites that sell the different medicines would also be helpful.  I have the ACO quarantine trio and several medicines that I have never opened, but thought I should have hand. It would be good to know which problems can wait for a medicine to be ordered, and which benefit from having the medicine on hand. 

I am trying very hard to go the "high quality water" and "a wide variety of high quality food" route to avoid medications. But as a newbie, I have made mistakes and know I will make more mistakes. 

Thank you for writing up all this information so that it is at our finger tips 24*7

I like to have seachems kanaplex metroplex and focus Jungal fungas fizz tabs containing nitrofurazone ick x and  levamisole  that the active ingredient in Expel p and paracleanse and aquarium salt this list of medication will   will treat most of the disease and parasites your likely to encounter

Edited January 26, 2023 by Colu

[Bunninose83]

Hey Colu, I have a very sick beta. He's now gone through almost 2 months of different rounds of meds and we just can't kick this! I will list in order what we have been through and all was dosed per instructions 2 rounds (so if a round was 5 days we did it 10 per instructions and water changes). But first what he has -- started with 1 cloudy eye then the other then a small patch at the front base of dorsal fin then spread to side patches and onto of head. The side patches have disappeared, but still have cloudy eyes and light patch in front of dorsal fin and on top of head. Nothing on the actual fins or gills.  I did initially move him to a quarantine tank, but he went from fish with spots but healthy appetite to depressed fixing to die. I finally put him back in his home because I felt he should get to die in comfort - I mean he already can't see.  When I came home he was back to himself, still patchy and blind but happy and hungry. So we have left him in his home for the rest of his medication.

Now the meds:

Melafix (continued use with all medications)

Aquarium Salt (had to stop when he moved back home due to snails)

Stress Guard (continued use with all medications)

Herbtana

Imagitarium bacterial infection remedy (doesn't say active ingredient)

API General Cure

Maracyn

Paracleanse

Ich-X (used with Maracyn round and API Fin & Body)

API Fin & Body

Kanaplex

He's not getting worse just not kicking it completely. I'm am trying to get another tank cycled to move everyone to do a deep clean on this one, not easy as its heavily planted and small.  Just not sure what else to do. I do have 2 Cory's that have been through all this with no issues whatsoever, but I know they are tremendously hardy little guys.

If you have any other ideas to make Blu-Ray feel better, we're all for it! Those are the best pictures I can get.

[Colu]

He not looking good what I would do is add Indian almond leaves 1 leaf per gallon as they have antibacterial and antifungal properties and I would would add kanaplex to his food it's more effective cloudy eyes are usually caused by poor water quality or an injury I would test your water parameters just in case something off if you don't solve the root cause he won't get any better what are you feeding him what temperature is his tank as to low a temperature will effect Bettas immune system they do best at 80-82F long term @Bunninose83

Edited December 1, 2022 by Colu

[Bunninose83]

Forgot to mention the almond leaves, yes already have those.  His tank is usually around 78 so I'm going to try slowly raising the temperature.  I did try bumping the temperature up to 82, but I think I did it just way too fast thr first time. I found him back on the bottom of the tank breathing really hard after bumping the temperature up so I bumped it back down. I am going to do 1 degree over 4 hour increments this time to see.  Since the last water change out from the end of the med cycle water checks look good little low on the nitrates than normal,  but everything else looks good.

[Colu]

On 3/14/2022 at 12:25 AM, Bunninose83 said:

Forgot to mention the almond leaves, yes already have those.  His tank is usually around 78 so I'm going to try slowly raising the temperature.  I did try bumping the temperature up to 82, but I think I did it just way too fast thr first time. I found him back on the bottom of the tank breathing really hard after bumping the temperature up so I bumped it back down. I am going to do 1 degree over 4 hour increments this time to see.  Since the last water change out from the end of the med cycle water checks look good little low on the nitrates than normal,  but everything else looks good.

 

I would add an extra air stone as higher temperatures will mean theirs less desolved oxygen in the tank and higher levels of desolved oxygen have been proven to aid in a  fish's recovery

[jasper5150]

On 9/1/2021 at 6:12 AM, Colu said:

Fungal infections are among the most common diseases seen in  fish because fungal spores are found in all aquariums they can quickly colonize and create problems in stressed and injured or diseased fish poor water quality can exacerbate the situation and lead to an increase in fungal infections in a seemingly healthy fish population most fungal infections have the characteristics white fluffy appearance and are commonly known as cotton wool disease as fungal infection worsen they may take on a Gray or even red appearance most fungal infections only attack the external tissue of fish most infections are usually associated with a preexisting infection or injury fungi are present though out most aquarium but certain conditions increase out breaks of fungal infection such as poor water quality poor hygiene large amounts of decomposing organic Matter Sick or injuryed fish another fungus is Gill rot is an uncommon fungal infection but if it does occur it can be deadly if not treated quickly an infected fish usually gasps for air and has gills that are covered with mucus and mottled in appearance infection usually occur in stressed fish that are living in tanks with high levels of ammonia or nitrates effective treatments ich x treats saprolegniasis one of the most opportunistic types of fungus found on wounds API fungus cure active ingredient is Victoria green and acriflavine it can harm plants not safe to use with invertebrates epsom salt has excellent antifungal properties I would use in a bath depending on how bad the fungal infection is I would treat with 1 table spoon for 1-3 gallons for no more than 15 minutes 2-3times a day or you could add aquarium salt directly to the tank 1 table spoon for 1-3 gallons depending on the severity of the fungal infection  malachite green is another good treatment for some types of fungal infection you can also use methylene blue I would only use in a bath as it can damage plants and can severely affect your benefial bacterial API primafix and aquarium salt together make an effective combination for some fungal infection    API furan2 or jungal fungus clear the active ingredient are nitrofurazone which is affective against against dermal fungus and potassium dichromate jungal fungus only has 18.4mg of nitrofurazone while furan2  has 85mg if it's a choice between the two I would treat furan2 if your in the UK you can treat with Esha 2000  or tetra fungi stop plus suggest treatment for gill rot is a prolonged bath in malachite green or cooper sulfate 

Would you recommend dosing the tank with Ich-x and Maracyn even after the infected fish has died? Did a 30% water change after I removed the infected fish. 

[Colu]

On 3/16/2022 at 4:35 PM, jasper5150 said:

Would you recommend dosing the tank with Ich-x and Maracyn even after the infected fish has died? Did a 30% water change after I removed the infected fish. 

I would only treat the tank if other fish are showing symptoms