Yellow Powder/Yellowish Water in Breeders Tanks

[32Bit_Fish]

Hi All,

I've watch many discus breeder videos online. I noticed many of their tanks have greenish or yellowish water. I assume they are using some sort of meds for disease prevention.

Does anyone what type of medications are they?

Can we start using those medications for our tank in lieu of quarantine new arrivals? It would be much easier if that method works.

[brewmaster15]

Hi All,

I've watch many discus breeder videos online. I noticed many of their tanks have greenish or yellowish water. I assume they are using some sort of meds for disease prevention.

Does anyone what type of medications are they?

Can we start using those medications for our tank in lieu of quarantine new arrivals? It would be much easier if that method works.

Those are nitrofurazone and related antibiotics and that very process you are seeing in their tanks is why we have antibiotic resistent strains of bacteria and its why we as hobbyists have less and less access to antibiotics. This practice of using antibiotics indescriminately in our livestock, aquaculture and pets really is short sighted and sadly isnt anything new in the hobby..if anything its gotten worse even though our scientific understanding of the scope of the problem and what it means to humans has never been more clear.

Quarantine isnt half the hassel hobbyists make it out to be..

[brewmaster15]

Ok so reading my post I probably came across as preachy and too strong.. apologies but this topic just really sets me off. I have some seriously strong opinions on some of the mindless bs I see some sellers, breeders and exporters do with their fish and this hobby. Its really hard not to blow a gasket sometimes.
Al

[brady]

I agree totally. I personally don't use any medications. But the same thing is happening with
humans. A person goes to the doctor for a cold, which is viral, and the doctor gives the patient
an antibiotic for a bacteria and then we wonder why germs are becoming resistant.
Jay

[brewmaster15]

Here are interesting articles..read through it if you want to understand more.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...nimal%20health.

Global antibiotics usage in aquaculture is estimated to be 10,259 tons and expect to increase to 13,600 tons per year by 2030. There are four nations with the highest share of antibiotic use in recent years, all in the Asia region and included India, China, Vietnam and Indonesia [13]. A variety of antibiotics and other antimicrobials, including fungicides and antiparasitics, are used in aquaculture, especially in farms and hatcheries [14]. Antibiotics are often used to combat pathogens and diseases and increase the production cycles of livestock and aquatic animals. On the other hand, many of antibiotics are no longer effective against infectious agents due to the occurrence of multiple resistance among the microbes [15].

Screenshot_20240213_195844.jpg



https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8198758/


https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10223227/

[seanyuki]

Good read.

Antibiotics, in and of themselves, do not cure a fish. Antibiotics merely control the population growth of bacteria in a fish long enough for its immune system to eliminate them.


https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/fa084

[jwcarlson]

The greenish or yellowish water you're seeing in discus breeder tanks is not typically the result of medications for disease prevention. Instead, it's often due to the use of tannins or other natural substances that mimic the discus' natural habitat.

It's definitely meds. I'm not even convinced that most of them even know what it is. A lot of videos I've seen at overseas fish breeder tours (not just discus) and the people ask what's in the water and they just say "yellow powder". Which is, I think, nitrofurazone. But perhaps there are others as well.

Edit to add that I think Acriflavine also makes the water greenish/yellow and is one I've heard of being used frequently.

[Iminit]

Breeders don’t use tannins! Keepers use tannins. Unfortunately the yellow powder is an antibiotic of some sort to keep their fish healthy so they can sell more. I remember the pics of Wattley shop with the yellow/green water. Not good inthe long run.

[brewmaster15]

The greenish or yellowish water you're seeing in discus breeder tanks is not typically the result of medications for disease prevention. Instead, it's often due to the use of tannins or other natural substances that mimic the discus' natural habitat. These substances can help to create a more natural and comfortable environment for the fish.

As for using medications in lieu of quarantine for new arrivals, it's generally not recommended. Quarantine serves a different purpose than medications. Quarantine is used to isolate new arrivals from the rest of the fish in the tank to prevent the spread of disease. Medications, on the other hand, are used to treat specific diseases or conditions.

Spammers are getting more and more difficult to spot.

[bluelagoon]

As you can see from this video how many discus are raised in crowded conditions, much like our chickens and pigs, hence all the antibiotics. Around the 10:50 - 11.00 make of the video you can see what they use. Seems there spend their whole life at the hatchery in antibiotics. "No wonder discus have a bad rep. for being difficult." A lot of antibiotics are used in North America. It is not uncommon to have one container ship with at least 7 containers carrying just amoxicillin, not to mention all the other forms of antibiotics coming into our shipping port on that same container ship recently. We cannot buy them over the counter any more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn7cXJu5mG4