what are some good medications so have on hand?

[john82, posts: 69]

Cool I won't run off on a tangent then de worming all the time.
Cheers for your help

[apistomaster, posts: 4570]

I specialize in keeping and breeding wild type Discus and plecos.
I normally treat them for about 3 weeks simultaneously with flubendazole, Praziquantel and metroniadozle.
This is my way of establishing a known baseline as most exporters and importers begin a similar regime it is not usually long enough to treat latent hatching eggs or cysts.
I usually change 50% of of the quarantine tank's water every 4th day and I replace only the amount of the medication I have removed with the water changes.
These three medications do not seem to cause any undue stress on wild Discus and Plecos.
Here is a pair of Nhamunda Blues guarding their first spawn a week ago. Eggs are on the end glass.
An out of focus Hypancistrus debilittera edging in to eat discus eggs.

[apistomaster, posts: 4570]

Cool I won't run off on a tangent then de worming all the time.
Cheers for your help

Other than when you first receive wild Discus or Plecos should you treat them only
if they show symptoms later on, say a year later, then go ahead and repeat the initial treatment regime.
I have lined up a dozen F1 Tefe Green Discus which should be ready within two months and am really excited.
I will eventually be raising wild type Discus of two different species and a few pleco species. Something I have been working towards for years.

[bunnyrabbit, posts: 20]

I just read the article briefly and the test of the water and it said that the "store" added 1/2 to 3/4 cups per 5 gallons of water. Seems a little high. I think it is recommended that the dose is 1 rounded tablespoon for every 5 gallon as a "stress reducer".

If you actually read the whole area where that was mentioned you'll realize it was considered BAD!

I think the author of that articely would recommend (for true freshwater fish) zero sodium & chloride additives. Which I agree with as a general "normal situation" setup.

--
Mats

Thanks. I'll read the area again. I just thought that at 1/2 to 3/4 cups / 5 gallons was a tad high. It was recommended to me when my plecos got velvet that I use salt for treatment. Alas , I never got to try on this aquarium and case as my colony was wiped out over a week or two.

[apistomaster, posts: 4570]

I just read the article briefly and the test of the water and it said that the "store" added 1/2 to 3/4 cups per 5 gallons of water. Seems a little high. I think it is recommended that the dose is 1 rounded tablespoon for every 5 gallon as a "stress reducer".

If you actually read the whole area where that was mentioned you'll realize it was considered BAD!

I think the author of that articely would recommend (for true freshwater fish) zero sodium & chloride additives. Which I agree with as a general "normal situation" setup.

--
Mats

Thanks. I'll read the area again. I just thought that at 1/2 to 3/4 cups / 5 gallons was a tad high. It was recommended to me when my plecos got velvet that I use salt for treatment. Alas , I never got to try on this aquarium and case as my colony was wiped out over a week or two.

It was because of reasons like this that I adopted a preemptive treatment to begin immediately after I receive wild fish that I use a cocktail of medications except salt.

[dconnors, posts: 234]

Does anyone on this thread have any opinions on UV sterilizers? Are they useful in disease prevention or treatment at all? Thanks for any input!
Dave

[apistomaster, posts: 4570]

My opinion is that they should never be used in conjunction with any drugs used to treat fish diseases or parasites because of the photochemical reactions that occur can degrade some meds and turn others toxic. I would only use UV when treatments have been completed and most of the medication has been removed by water changes and filtration through activated carbon.
They are most useful when incorporated into a shared filter system serving many interconnected tanks.
Use 4 or 6 time more than the general manufacturer's recommendations for truly effective sterilizing effects. This is because many organisms are resistant to UV and the UV lamps' output diminishes fairly quickly and therefore to get reasonable working life from a given wattage of bulbs they should remain at an effective level when they are approaching 50% of of their new output. This varies with the type of source lamps used. T-5 fluorescent UV irradiation lamps should be good for 6 to 12 months depending on how large the system design fudge factor is allowed.
I am making recommendations based more on professional aquaculture requirements.
If all you want is better algae bloom control then much less intensity is needed from the UV lights.
Opinions are likely to vary greatly on this question.

[dconnors, posts: 234]

Thanks Larry!

[lukan, posts: 17]

I specialize in keeping and breeding wild type Discus and plecos.
I normally treat them for about 3 weeks simultaneously with flubendazole, Praziquantel and metroniadozle.
This is my way of establishing a known baseline as most exporters and importers begin a similar regime it is not usually long enough to treat latent hatching eggs or cysts.
I usually change 50% of of the quarantine tank's water every 4th day and I replace only the amount of the medication I have removed with the water changes.
These three medications do not seem to cause any undue stress on wild Discus and Plecos.
Here is a pair of Nhamunda Blues guarding their first spawn a week ago. Eggs are on the end glass.
An out of focus Hypancistrus debilittera edging in to eat discus eggs.

"Flubendazole, Praziquantel and Metronidale" will always be my first line of defence. They are good for eradicating internal, external, eggs/cyst for parasites and worms. If you have kept discus in the past or present you would know the pain. I have used that formula for hypans and discus and it does not cause any stress on the fish. Keep in mind that procedure was done as a precautionary measure. I treat my pleco's (lower xingu hypans, L66, L260, L201, L46's, L450, L134, L333 and BN's )as soon as i received them from a local hobbyist and importer.

Thanks Larry!

NICE DISCUS! Makes me want to keep wild discus.

A few reputable company sell the "FPM" as an anti-parasite combo.

Cheers,

[apistomaster, posts: 4570]

My F1 Nhamunda Blues have finally formed a breeding pair which has spawned twice and it looks like a couple more pairs are getting close.
It will be a challenge to juggle my pleco breeding set ups enough to make room for these Blue Discus pairs plus I will be getting some F1 Tefe Green juveniles from another Discus breeding friend.
I am a bit burnt out with my fish breeding projects and would love to take this season off to do nothing but fly fish for Trout.
It would go a long ways towards recharging my fish breeding batteries to be able to take a break but once you have a "fish farm" it is exceedingly difficult to put it on the shelf for long.

[Taratron, posts: 742]

What are the commonly 'sold as' medical names for Flubendazole, Praziquantel and Metronidale? IE, is there a powder that contains all three, etc? Sometimes the worst place to be is a fish store, trying to read up the bag of every medicine box, while trying to spell out one of those names to a frazzled partner at home.

[apistomaster, posts: 4570]

Metronidazole is usually sold as is. One product is FishVet Metro MS which petsolutions.com sells but all well stocked LFS will have an equivalent which may be cheaper.
I use Hikari PraziPro.
I buy 10% flubendazole powder from Charles Harrison, www.inkmkr.com/fish.

[sidguppy, posts: 3827]

just a question for the mods (and Jools)

why isn't this topic in "tank talk"?

it's surely no offtopic easy speako, but this is fish tank keeping to the serious limit

just my 2 euro's