Kanamycin

[brewmaster15]

Hi all,
Kanamycin is one of our strongest and most useful fish antibiotic. As such I think it would be useful for people to share how they have used it.. dosing, duration,etc. It has a pretty wide range of recommended dosing out there on the net. Unfortunately its also very expensive and the most available forms are not pure like seachems kanacyn. I think theres probably also alot of "bulk" sellers out there that are not 100% honest about the purity of what they are selling.

I havent personally used it in a very long time and when I did there was a commercial brand of medications that I used aqua something or other.. its long out of business.

Given the importance of kanamycin seems a thread discussing it is a good idea.

al

[chelltom]

What do you use it for primarily Al ?

[LizStreithorst]

I have never used it and hope to never have to since I have what I consider a "closed herd". Still, I would like to hear people's experience using it. It'll be good information to keep in my head.

[brewmaster15]

Tom its a broad spectrum antibiotic thsts absorbed well from the water and targets alot of pathogenic gram negative bacterias. Internal infections are really where it shines.. Back in the way back I used to feed live blackworms which can cause gut infections because they tend to travel poorly in hot weather and die off is common.. i think probably anytime I used kanamycin was when I got a bad batch of live blackworms in the summer and ended up with a tank of sick bloated fish as a result. metronidazole works synergistically with it for gut infections.

[chelltom]

Tom its a broad spectrum antibiotic thsts absorbed well from the water and targets alot of pathogenic gram negative bacterias. Internal infections are really where it shines.. Back in the way back I used to feed live blackworms which can cause gut infections because they tend to travel poorly in hot weather and die off is common.. i think probably anytime I used kanamycin was when I got a bad batch of live blackworms in the summer and ended up with a tank of sick bloated fish as a result. metronidazole works synergistically with it for gut infections.

Good information !

[danotaylor]

Al please remind us, is it antibiotics that target gram negative or gram positive pathogens that can kill off beneficial bacteria? Or, in other words, are nitrosomas and nitrobactors gram neg or pos?
Very important info to understand because if right treatment to heal the fish kills the BB colony in ones filtration, one must be organized to mitigate the ensuing ammonia & nitrite challenges of an uncycled or partially cycled system...

[jeep]

IMO, kanamycin is one of the most crucial meds to have on hand for discus. Hopefully it will never be needed, but when it is, timing can be critical. For the most part, internal infections can be avoided through regular water changes and general tank hygiene. But when an internal infection takes hold, kanamycin is the antibiotic of choice even at the risk of losing your biofiltration. And remember, biofiltration isn't all that important (IMO) because the water changes most discus keepers routinely do keeps parameters in check until biofiltration regenerates on its own.

If you haven't already seen it and want to see a Kanamycin success story, read this thread. The continuing kanamycin use begins at page 6, post 87.

https://forum.simplydiscus.com/forum/main-discus-topics/our-tank-journals/110803-spotted-project

[brewmaster15]

Al please remind us, is it antibiotics that target gram negative or gram positive pathogens that can kill off beneficial bacteria? Or, in other words, are nitrosomas and nitrobactors gram neg or pos?
Very important info to understand because if right treatment to heal the fish kills the BB colony in ones filtration, one must be organized to mitigate the ensuing ammonia & nitrite challenges of an uncycled or partially cycled system...

Hi Danny,
Most of the bacterias that can be pathogenic to fresh water fish are gram negative bacterias. Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter bacterias are also gram negative bacterias which is why often when antibiotics are used in a fresh water aquarium you see an impairment in the biofilter. Because of this its always best to use antibiotics in a hospitol tank. In some cases though its not possible and the main tank gets treated the hobbyist absolutely should monitor ammonia and nitrites and be aware of the ways to deal with spikes in these..obviously large water changes daily before dosing helps.. but other things can as well. .. salt will prevent nitrite poisoning for instance and if you are lucky and have an acidic pH for water ammonia is less toxic. Understanding water parameters is important also because some antibiotics only work in acidic waters vs others that are better in basic water.

Personally if I use a medication in a fish tank I assume the biofilter will take a hit.

al

[danotaylor]

Thanks mate. Great answer, and a good reminder for hobbyists to monitor water parameters during antibiotic treatment. Removing the affected fish or fishes to a hospital tank does seem like the best move, but as you said that’s not always possible. Cheers mate

[Charlyc11]

Hi all,
Kanamycin is one of our strongest and most useful fish antibiotic. As such I think it would be useful for people to share how they have used it.. dosing, duration,etc. It has a pretty wide range of recommended dosing out there on the net. Unfortunately its also very expensive and the most available forms are not pure like seachems kanacyn. I think theres probably also alot of "bulk" sellers out there that are not 100% honest about the purity of what they are selling.

I havent personally used it in a very long time and when I did there was a commercial brand of medications that I used aqua something or other.. its long out of business.

Given the importance of kanamycin seems a thread discussing it is a good idea.

al

Aqualife?

[Charlyc11]

I found this great dosin guide post. Some of the links to the meds don't work and I don't know how accurate is the dosing part but I was looking for a reference on Kanamycin

[Charlyc11]

Meds link

https://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/store/c74/AAP_Premium_Medication.html