I don't think you should be able to get access to those drugs without a prescription from a vet, after the parasite's identity has been confirmed by someone with more expertise than "I think I see some spots". There are a few people who know what they're doing and will welcome this as an additional tool in their arsenal, but they're not the target market for this product. The target market for this product is the thousands of newbies who set up a tank, go to the LFS and buy 15 fish, throw them all in a barely cycled display then come to the forums asking for a magic bullet for the inevitable fall out. Those are the people who spend money both on products like this, and keep the demand for ornamental fish that would otherwise have natural life spans measured in decades so high.
That ugly side of our hobby is something I made peace with a long time ago as I both had my own learning curve and benefit from the market it creates. I also don't normally care about what other people do, but these are serious medications and the consequences of using them improperly affects everyone - from ornamental fish owners to managers and end users of multi-million dollar aquaculture facilities. People have been using chloroquine in reefs for a while, but until these products, you had to be pretty motivated to get it and figure out how to dose it. The kind of people who would put in the effort are a tiny fraction of dedicated reefers and the ones who are more likely to do their homework. Now any flustered mom who's 7 year old just HAS to have a nemo and a Dori can pick up a conveniently packaged bottle of malaria medicine. I bet most of the people who buy it won't even know what's in it, or what actually causes 'ich'.
We need to be globally decreasing the inappropriate and uneducated use of drugs in the chloroquine family, not increasing it.
*sigh* soap box away. At best I hope people think twice before doing this:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nate
I've used it on two transferred regal tangs (that usually seem to get a few spots when moved) in two tanks, and they both fought it off.
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nate
Personally I would use the ich medicated food when signs are present, and maybe for a day or 2 when adding new fish.
The internal medicine one I would do a round when adding new fish and use particularly on anything that you are having trouble putting weight on .
|
That's like prescribing yourself a powerful anti-biotic every time you get a scratchy throat, then only taking a third of the recommended course of pills. You probably didn't need it in the first place, you probably didn't use it long enough to make sure the parasites you'd just exposed to two of the best marine veterinary medicines we have were eradicated, and you never really knew what parasite you were dealing with, or if one was even present in the first place. You couldn't write a better recipe for creating chloroquine and metronidazole resistance in fish parasites.
You're the one saying we need to educate educate educate, and that's the advice you gave. I worry.