Quote:
Originally Posted by JPotter
For those who are kind enough to recommend treatments product formulation, dose and duration would be much appreciated.
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The dose and duration was left out due to the scope of the answer
If you are treating a fish in a hospital tank most antibiotics are dosed at 250 MG capsules/powder/gelcaps per 10 gallons, added every second day fro a total of three treatments (one week treatment). If the fish has advanced symptoms then I would double the dose for the first day and use the recommended dose for subsequent days.
Some antibiotics and medications are photodegradable so you may have to keep the tank dimly lit during the treatment. Premium foods like live baby brine shrimp, mussels and scallops may get reluctant fish to eat.
Isoniazid is one of the exceptions to the rule. You should dose it at 40 mg/gallon. It is one of the medications that works best as a catalyst cure in combination with rifampin added to the food at a rate of 6 mg/100g. Sometimes you are better to just go ahead and start medicating the food with rifampin while you establish if it is a disease or injury. If both eyes pop out or if they are cloudy as well as popped, it is definitely bacterial (likely, but not limited to tuberculosis). The other passive cure for pop-eye is 1tsp per 10 gallons magnesium sulphate (epsom salts). Alternatively you could use a test kit and elevate the k (magnesium) level to 1500. This treatment will give you the added side effect of algae die-off.
I recommend doing 25-50% water changes daily in a hospital tank using display tank water. This way water quality can remain good as the sick fish recuperates and acclimation is easy as you return it to the display once it is healed. You can dilute the display water before adding it to the hospital tank, or add more salt if your treatment requires hypo (lowered) or hyper (increased) salinity. A hypo salinity treatment of 1.013 should not extend any longer than 10 days. Hyper salinity treatments should be limited to 1.028 maximum and carried out for the same duration (10 days).
If you are not using a hospital tank to treat the fish you can try medicating the food, but this should be limited to internal infections. One 250mg capsule of Neomycin (bacterial infections) per feeding should be adequate. Allow it to soak for at least 30 minutes. The same dose can be used for isoniazid (tuberculosis), praziquantel (parasitic worms), and metronidazole (protozoans).
Poor water quality and stress are the main causative agents for disease. For this reason, it is sometimes better to treat the fish with a dip (one minute) or bath (one hour) then return it directly to the display tank.
Freshwater dips should be geared to the size of the fish and tolerance to the process. Small or laterally compressed (flat) fish have a lower tolerance to freshwater dips and can go into osmotic shock if you leave them too long. Freshwater baths should not include any medications as they will not penetrate the fish properly. A rule of thumb is one to five minutes in an aerated bucket of freshwater with the same temperature PH, and approximate hardness of the display water. Never use RO/DI water as it is too soft and neutral. You can add baking soda or buffer to raise the PH a bit.
Medication baths are widely varied, and should always be done with water taken from the display tank. For most antibiotics you can dose 10-20 times the standard dose for a 20 minute to one hour bath. I like using a 10X dose (5 x 250 mg capsules per 5 gallon bucket) of nifurpironol (furanace) for 20 minutes with moderate aeration. Another effective bath is oxolinic acid at a 20X dose (10 250 mg tablets per 5 gallon bucket) for 20 minutes. For gill flukes and external parasites, you can use 6 drops per gallon formalin in a 5 gallon bucket, aerated for a few hours in advance to off-gas the methanol. Bath the fish in this mix for one hour, and follow with a freshwater dip (1-5 min).
If the fish has a bacterial lesion or physical wound, you have the option of catching it carefully and painting a solution of potassium permanganate or other oxidizing agent. Follow manufacturers instructions as the stock solution can vary in strength. You don't have to be very scientific with most of these oxidizers. You can test some on your skin if you really love your fish
Copper medications deplete the fishes immune system, but nowhere near to the extent that the ich parasite infection itself will. Recovering fish are stressed from the trauma of treatment, catching & moving, and above all the restricted breathing of mucous laden gills and open sores. These open sores are easily infected by opportunistic, secondary bacterial infections. For this reason, you should treat "cured" fish with antibiotics such as nitrofurazone, nifurpirinol, chloramphenicol, or neomycin for a week at the end of the three week ich treatment (Copper Safe by Mardel according to directions with a light dose of malachite green to clear gills and aid breathing). Do large water changes to the hospital tank using display tank water so when the fish gets returned to his home, there is less stress and water quality is optimal. Top up medications according to the treatment regimen. Don't use a protein skimmer, UV sterilizer, ozone, carbon, or ion exchange resins while dosing medications.
Some manufacturers offer medication cocktails so read their instructions as they may vary from my advice. Certain medications don't mix, so always check with the manufacturer. They know what they are doing and give fast answers.