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Ok, the last couple of forum topics concerning the use of meds gave rise to a couple of issues.

1) The first that a lot of people are against the use of meds when dealing with diseases that are more often terminal than not. (yes it confused me too!)

2) That the reason a lot of people are hesitant to use meds are particularly because of filter affecting issues, like bacterial death and its resultant water toxicity issues or any side effects the drug may have.

So having taken that on board perhaps it might be useful to address some of the fears that people have by means of a quick survey of keepers experiences with drugs. Ok , not wishing to be sued by drug companies for libel, I would state that anyone expressing a personal opinion on a drug or group of drugs is entirely a personal experience and may be subject to issues like incorrect application and usage of drugs, freak water qualities, and the meds use on untested fish. I also dont think this would be a suitable sounding board for defamatory claims against a drug or companies, but having said that I would very much appreciate if people would contribute their experiences and knowledge of using drugs in specific circumstances , how you got on with them , and if they went wrong, what went wrong , and why you think that was. Lets keep it casual but accurate.

As per the subject headline was there anything you could have done to support your fish better during their period of treatment/illness and if things went well what were the existing conditions of your tank at the time and what if anything did you do as precautionary measures that worked?




Last edited by longhairedgit at 03-Dec-2005 03:28

Is this specifically in relation to damage done to the tank, tank environment and inhabitants?

Could you please define "drug" <-- important as some naturally derived remedies are often left out of discussions like this

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Suppose I get the ball rolling. Again , I clearly state these are personal accounts, not anecdotal accounts from other peoples fish or situations.

Tetracycline suspension was effective as cure in about 40% of cases and caused massive filter die off in all cases. It was particularly lethal when used on a koi and goldfish pond, and killed 17 fish. Possible reasons for this were high bacterial levels in the pond and less than spotless tanks back in the 80's. The drug was complicitious but not directly at fault in the situation, Shall from now on only use tetracycline in sterile quarantine situation. Fish will have to risk the cycle.

Enrofloaxin- effective as curative treatment in all intended cases, complications limited by using qt tanks and in injectable form on large fish.Results excellent. Probably would cause at least partial filter die off when treating community tanks. Also treated 6 tiger barbs for aeromonic dropsy. 3 out of 6 survived , late treatment made renal load too high. Probably would have worked if used earlier.

Metronidazole - for hexamita in discus. Saved 5 fish out of 6 in 3 weeks. No appreciable effect on filter, death of 1 fish due to delay while trying other cures ,. Reinfestation occured 1 month later , presumably my failure to sterilise equipment caused this. Metronidazole readministered by injection and introduced into water. Successfully retreated animals and infection was beaten.
Successfully used in treating mycobacterium in community of boesmans and kutubu rainbows, added to water, all 23 fish survived.No water quality issues.

Interpet anti fungus and finrot. Used to treat 14 boesmans and 15 new guinea reds, 5 west australian reds for minor but contagious lip fungus (not cottonmouth). Bacterial die off rapid (6 hours) water quality lethal. Tank had to be stripped down, fish redistributed to other tanks. Did not cure problem, water quality issue made exposure too short.Correct dosages were used.

Interpet antiwhitespot. Slight misting of water, filters held up, no serious damage. Fish recovered but at double strength dose and period of treatment needed to be double that recommended. Repeated experience at least 3 times with different batches of fish.

Melafix and pimafix ( cal suggestion - thanx cal!)used to treat lip fungus in rainbows once resettled. Used daily .No filter issues, all rainbows finished symptoms one month later.All survived.

So thats the kind of thing I had in mind, when people unused to using meds see that sort of info it might help them to make up their minds.Personally id be very interested to see peoples opinions on methyl blue and malachite green, as well as protozin , since i havent really had to use them, but doubtless will have to at some point.


To me a med is a treatment, melafix is technically a natural sourced med but i consider it to be a med nonetheless. Garlic is a treatment too technically, i make no distiction between synthesised chemicals or natural sources as treatments. Garlic is one of those things that I would like to discover as effective or not. Im being literal here, ANY treatment you use is worthy of mention.

Some may dispute this, but if it works its a treatment, and if it doesnt, then its crap. Thats the way I work.Digitalis is a natural med, its also lethal if not used appropriately, metronidazole is a synthetic but its fairly safe, I do not believe there is a major difference between natural and holistic remedies or synthetic drugs. The degree of processing of a material (all of which ultimately comes from stuff on planet earth -lets face it)is none of my concern. I am only concerned with what works, and if it has conditions of use, and if it has side effects.All contributions irrelevant of the nature of a used material are valuable. The only time there is ever an issue with drugs or natural remedies is when side effects occur or possibly there are knock -on effects like bacterial advancement or genetic change and damage, and this frankly, can occur in treatments from both camps. None present on this site have that degree of knowledge, unless we happen to be biochemists, and we are not.Most people advocating natural remedies dont know the complete chemical and enzymic effect of those remedies any more than they do the effect of suspension compounds in synthetic drugs.

Many of us will have an interest in various treatments and cures and will have done some investigation into it, but let us not pretend we are authorities on any given subject. Unless we have constant access to medical research and files usually kept private from the public we will be unable to be authoratative. What im looking for here is literal personal experience of treatment usage recounted truthfully and accurately, not based on theory or supposition, and certainly not using secondary evidence.

So for now lets leave that, the what you consider to be a med convo is one we could have in a another thread, to which I would be quite happy to contribute. For this one, lets go for what we do know, whether a given drug or med/treatment worked for you, and if there were problems.

I suggest we actually see what people contribute, and if that information does lead to the differences between natural and synthetic meds effect being an issue then we can carry it forward to another threat. In fact cal, why dont you start that thread now, and we can see opinions change as peoples experiences come to light. That would be cool


Last edited by longhairedgit at 03-Dec-2005 04:26

Last edited by longhairedgit at 03-Dec-2005 04:29

Before buying any meds make sure (read instructions extremly careful) they are designed to do the job you intend to be done.

If mixing Meds again check to see if they are compatable.
Are the suitable for all the fish in your tank.

Will they kill all the good bacteria in your tank and if so what has to be done.

Will they damage your plants.

Know what you are treating and what else has to be done to help recovery. Heating, lighting, and does it require a hosiptal tank. Remembering the problem could still be in the origional tank and might also have to be treated.

In other words do a lot of research very quickly.

Also dont keep old medications as some can be very nasty if around children.

If there is a used by date check that as well.

Have a look in [link=My Profile]http://
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