medication to have in hand

[lazyreefer]

Hi guys,

I in about 2 weeks i will be buying 6 small discus for a 55 gallon tank (barebottom). I was wondering what medications I should have on hand in case of sickness.

Thanks for the info!

[Harriett]

What I would be most likely to use, when absolutely necessary, is kanamycin, furan II [bulk powder form], flubenol, metro, and prazi pro depending on the culprit; there are all sorts of other meds gathering dust. I do keep the antibiotics in the frig--rarely use them and they DO have a shorter lifespan, so this preserves them longer. Larry, Squiggy, and I also made up some beefheart a good while ago and we made some medicated food I keep in the deep freeze in the basement, in case. I always keep a few boxes of kosher salt on hand--at the first sign of something, I up the water changes even more, check the temp, throw in salt...and watch them; usually works. Everybody's got their faves.
Best regards
Harriett

[MostlyDiscus]

Salt. the more kosher the better. That and raising the temp a few degrees will help bring in your new fish. Sometimes fish come in and they are stressed by the moving, thus more likely to contract something. Salt is a good cheap way to bring them through it.

[RickMay1]

Salt. the more kosher the better. That and raising the temp a few degrees will help bring in your new fish. Sometimes fish come in and they are stressed by the moving, thus more likely to contract something. Salt is a good cheap way to bring them through it.


Ditto, and nothing else.. Meds will go bad, and Salt will treat almost everything long enough the order in what you need.

[Graham]

Sorry but salt doesn't treat much of anything and will have very little if any affect on bacterial infections.

What it will do is help with osmoregulation allowing the fish's immune system to do it's job.

Also the type of salt doesn't have to be kosher or any other ethnic group :) for that matter as long as it doesn't have the anti caking agent YPS in it. Plain old table salt will work every bit as well....and before someone mentions it, the iodine /salt thing is the oldest myth in the hobby...salt has iodide in it

Most antibiotics have a shelf life of several years and even then they generally don't go bad but slowly loose their initial punch. The don't instantly go bad on the expiry date.

Harriet check with a pharmacist about which drugs that you have need the fridge...some are harmed by being chilled and others don't need it at all, it makes no difference to them.

G

[MostlyDiscus]

hehe ya kosher is just a joke aside. some salts will have minerals listed and electrolytes are added to the water. For serious infections that you can identify(bactieria are small so you look more at whats happening to your diski and how they are affected) use the the proper meds. Always use antibiotics per their instructions for the duration. I h8 using meds and try to get my water stable first. Honestly Grayham.... sometimes you go over my head, but you know your stuff eh... :)

[lazyreefer]

Thanks! How much salt should I use per gallon?

[Apistomaster]

I keep the following meds on hand and they seem to cure the majority of treatable conditions:
1. Internal/external nematode and flukes
a. PraziPro
b. flubendazole %% powder
c. Levimazole
2.Internal flagellates
a. metroniadazole
3.External protozoan parasites: Ich, Velvet Chilodonella etc.
a. Malachite Green. I don't use anything containing formalin.
4. External bacterial infections: fin rot, Chondrococcus columnaris
a. Erythromycin. Antibiotics have lost much of the efficacy they once had from 50 years of heavy use of them in the industry. The only antibiotic I feel I can count on is Chloramphenicol but this drug is extremely difficult to obtain. It must be the water soluble form. It might be necessary to make a friendly Mexican connection to get it. If chloramphenicol doesn't work, then that disease is untouchable. It is highly restricted in the USA and Canada. 1:40,000 patients develop fatal aplastic aenemia. $5.00 worth of chloramphenicol capsules can cure bacterial meningitis because of its almost unique abiltiy to pass through the blood/brain barrier.It is this drugs ease of perfusing the body that helps make it so useful for treating bacterial diseases of fish, both external and internal.

5. Bad shipping injuries like scrapes and torn fins
a. Methylene Blue+ plain rock salt. I use up to one tbs of salt/gal but start with less and increase it over the first two days. I also raise the temperature to 88 to 90*F for about five days.
Methylene Blue is a mild antibacterial and antifungal dye. It also darkens the water in which sick discus act more secure, perhaps feeling like they are less visible to predators. No light on tank.

[RyanH]

I keep metronidazole, praziquantel, formalin, levamisole, and potassium permanganate in the house. That's pretty much it.

It's so tough to properly diagnose most bacterial issues that I don't try to speculate on what antibiotics I should try to keep around.

[ShinShin]

Good post Graham. Salt is the most misused and misunderstood chemical used on this forum. Other than a short term bath or dip, it has no use in a discus fishroom. I believe Jack Wattley said that ;) .

Mat