Aquarium Medications and Treatments Part 1 | How They Work

[Carl]

I've updated the popular article:
"Aquarium Medications and Treatments Part 1 | How They Work & Use"

"Initial steps that MUST be followed for best results :

Know and Correct your Water Parameters!
WITHOUT maintaining these parameters, your treatment is unlikely to succeed:
* A stable pH

* An established and maintained KH (usually 50 ppm or higher depending upon fish kept)

* 0 (or near 0) ammonia and nitrites

* 50 ppm nitrate or less (30 or less is better)

* Positive mineral ions (Cal/Mag) in CONSTANT supply, which can only be present if some level of GH is maintained (although a GH reading does not guarantee positive mineral ions/electrolytes any more than have a battery means it is charged)

* Similar to above; a Balance Redox which includes adequate Redox oxidation (including dissolved oxygen) but also Redox reduction provided by mineral Cations and possibly level one or higher UV Sterilization

* As well a healthy bio filter is a must to provide a stable environment (such as an AAP Hydro Sponge Filter)

* Similar to above; Good Circulation including adequate dissolved oxygen. Even adding an air stone can make a large difference in effectiveness of the treatment.

* Make sure there is no decomposing organic matter/mulm in the substrate, under rocks in filters (this is common in canister and wet/dry filters). This can harbor pathogens including Saprolegnia or Aeromonas."



Carl

[Carl]

More updates to Aquarium Medications Part 1
www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Medication.html

EXCERPT:
For many internal infections soaking medications in food or the use of prepared medicated food is the best coarse of action in freshwater, however marine fish do not usually require delivery of medication via food due to their constant drinking of water around them.
I find frozen foods often absorb medications better; such as Blood worms or Brine Shrimp (sometimes FD Brine Shrimp), I soak these foods in a few tablespoons of water with the medication for about 15-30 minutes then add everything to the aquarium or pond. Prepared frozen foods (such as by Ocean Nutrition can be used too.
Pellets tend to be worse at absorbing medications, but this can be overcome by longer soaks.

If your fish food falls apart with the soak (flakes and especially high fiber dehydrated crumbles have more issues here), this can be overcome by than pouring "feeding rations" into custom foil pouches and frozen for easy feeding later. I did this for many of my professional aquarium maintenance clients who did not have time or were not willing to prepare medicated fish foods.
Even for external infections such as sores, injuries, etc, this may be the more simple coarse of action for very large aquariums or ponds over 500 gallons as "in tank" or fish removal is cost prohibitive or nearly impossible.

These are the medications I find work well for internal infections/infestations when soaked in a fish food "slurry";
Metronidazole, Neomycin, Kanamycin, Oxytetracycline, Piperazine, Praziquantel, and Levamisol.
Be careful of over use of Kanamycin in a fish food delivery; do not use for more than 7 days or kidney damage could result, otherwise up to 10 days for the other suggested medications.

For internal gut infections that often result in bloating or swim bladder infections, I have found the combination of Metronidazole with Neomycin to be most effective since one is effective against aerobic while the other is effective against anaerobic bacterium (this combination also addresses mild intestinal parasitic infections).
Please be aware that often swim bladder infections have an osmoregulation factor involved too so failure to address this such as poor mineral Cation levels can make successful treatment often impossible.
Reference: Do Fish Drink; Osmoregulation in Fish

For suspected intestinal worms, the combination of Metronidazole & Praziquantel can be useful. For more serious intestinal parasite infections Piperazine/Pipzine is a better choice and safer than Levamisol.

The use of Medicated Wonder Shells may be helpful to address the above issues in tank as well as supply important mineral Cations often necessary during any treatment and often missing if RO water is used.
Product Resource: Medicated Wonder Shells (patent pending from AAP only)

Generally a dose intended for 2-5 gallons of water treatment will work for a 15-30 minute fish food soak
For instance with Neomycin, this would mean .10 grams (or one measure) of the brand "SeaChem Neoplex" per each fish food soak twice per day (usually for 7-10 days)
Please see: "SeaChem Neomycin Aquarium Treatment"

For a pond or very large aquarium, I would suggest a dose intended for 10 gallons, then pour the food, water, & medication mix all directly into the pond.

A 20% water change every other day (48 hours) is also suggested