Adding Metro to frozen food / Beefheart

[DISCUS STU]

Can anyone give me a heads up about adding metronidazole to frozen foods like a beefheart mix? Is it useful or useless and can it be fed in conjunction with a standard metro treatment of .5 - .75 grams in the water column every day or every other day for 10-Days?

[seanyuki]

To mix in food for internal hexamita: Use 2 teaspoons per pound of food. Use frozen food. Thaw food, mix in powder. Then put food in a zip lock back and lay flat in the freezer until frozen. Feed once a day for 10 days.

https://store.nationalfishpharm.com/...items%2Fsearch

[ri3eboi]

Posting the learnings from SD FB posting:

I believe I have found the definitive answer (thanks to David Lai)to whether metronidazole losses it’s effectiveness in water and the answer is NO. Here is the NIH article the provides the scientific proof: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26714365/

The effect of freezing isn’t conclusive (no scientific findings), but it is safe to say we should not be freezing metronidazole given the anecdotal evidence provided by some of the most experienced discus hobbyists like Cary Strong

Please keep sharing your experiences feeding discus with metronidazole mixed food that’s frozen!

[brady]

Are your fish sick? If not why add the metro?
I have kept fish of all types for 70 years and I never had to use a medication.
W/c as needed depending on no of fish, gals ,tank size.
Feeding less then you think they need.
Simple.
Jay

[Iminit]

Got to say I’m with Jay on this. Seems every discus that stops eating on Facebook needs metro. I don’t get it. Like Jay I don’t use meds. Clean water is allways the answer.

[brady]

Got to say I’m with Jay on this. Seems every discus that stops eating on Facebook needs metro. I don’t get it. Like Jay I don’t use meds. Clean water is allways the answer.

Amen brother. Water changes, good food is all you need.
Now that said, there are some times that you do have to use meds, an infection, ect. But most of these can be avoided
with good husbandry, as stated above w/c, good food and CLEAN TANKS,
.
I think some of this is propagated by the animal pharmaceutical cos. New comers get carried away with meds, additives ect.
I think the folks on this forum should really start to educate the new folks that it's not necessary tocjump to meds every time
they see a perceived problem.
Just my opinion.
JAY

[Willie]

I've had discus get sick in my tanks, despite daily 100% water changes and heavy feeding, so I'm not in the 'non-medicine' school. If a fish gets sick, it goes into quarantine and medicated as needed.

Having said that, I don't understand though why there's a need to incorporate metro into beefheart. This medication works fine as a bath as long as directions are followed. In my experience, it's extremely effective when added to water - as long as the dosage and duration are exactly as prescribed. Mixing it into beefheart would make it impossible to control dosage.

[LizStreithorst]

I'm with you, Willie.

[smsimcik]

The reason for giving metro in food instead of a bath is because metro is much more effective in clearing Hexamita orally than from solution. If the fish are eating, it only takes a day or two to clear out most Hexamita from the gut. Metronidazole in solution is not well absorbed but will work eventually if you use high enough doses for a long enough time. If the fish aren't eating, adding metro to the water is the only option.

A study was done in 1991 at the University of Florida by the aquaculture vet comparing the two treatments routes of metronidazole for Hexamita in angelfish. The results showed the oral route is much more effective than adding metronidazole to the water.

https://www.vin.com/apputil/content/...=11108&print=1

[Willie]

I don't disagree with your comment that oral consumption is more effective than a bath, Steve My point is that a bath has always worked and is extremely manageable.

I do 3 treatments: 1 dose every 48 hours with a water change in between. It always works, so adding it into beefheart seems to be an unnecessary step. Also, we do not control dosage nearly as well in the aquarium as professionals managing aquaculture systems.