did I kill off my good bacteria ??

[Phoenixphire55]

I recently put some "Gold Care" antibiotic made by Jungle into my 30 gallon tank. It said on the bottle to remove the activated carbon during use, so I did, but I didn't remove the filter sponge thing that the beneficial bacteria live on. So my questions is whether or not the medication is likely to have killed off the beneficial bacteria in my tank. The ingredients in the antibiotic are sodium chloride, nitrofurazone, furazolidone, and potassium dichromate.

 

[Alshain]

No, medications shouldn't kill the bacteria but certain ones (usually containing copper) WILL kill scaleless fish or invertebrates. For medications, you remove the carbon because carbon will remove the medication which you don't want.

If this is the stuff, then it appears to be nothing more than a water conditioner not an antibiotic. You shouldn't have to remove anything, carbon will not affect water conditioner (aka "dechlor"). The instructions there don't match what you describe, are you sure it was Gold Care?

My last question is, what caused you to believe you needed to add an antibiotic?

 

[Purrbox]

Most medications recommend removing the carbon. The reason being is that the activated carbon will remove the medication from the water column thus making the treatment less effective. It can be put back in after treatment to remove the last of the medication. If the medication didn't have a warning about damaging the beneficial bacteria, then you're probably safe. If you want to be absolutely sure, contact the manufacturer and they will be able to tell you whether the medication has the potential to harm the beneficial bacteria.

 

[Zagz]

Agree with Joy, some medications do harm beneficial bacteria but usually contain a warning on the bottle to reflect it. As Joy said contact the manufacturer if in doubt. All I seem to be able to find is Gold care water conditioner.

 

[jsoong]

Nitroflurazone IS an antibiotic .... so it is possible to kill off your good bacteria. Keep an eye on your levels for the next while just to be sure.

I am not so trusting on manufacturer's warnings. Unless the label says it is safe, I assume otherwise .....

 

[pitt420dude]

I've never used an antiobiotic on my fish. THey once had ich so I just used teh ich/salt treatment.

Occasionally there will be sores on my fish or some will die but I don't want to mess with medications and risk causing problems to the rest of the healthy fish.

I guess people use them when all or most of thier fish are having the same problem? I've heard of people removing the sick fish and letting them soak ina bucket w/ the meds but this would cause more stress to the fish than benefit it wouldn't it?

 

[jsoong]

Once you have a well established tank, you would want to treat your fish in a QT tank to minimize problems with your healthy fish & the ecology of your tank (ie the bacteria, plants, other critters.)

A bucket can be used as your QT, as long as it is clean, big enough & filtered. I use a 30 gal rubbermaid tub, and it had worked well. It is even big enough as a temporary home for all my occupants when I have to do major tank overhaul, etc. I tend to use anti-biotic foods to treat my fish. For external stuff, I may use salt or medicated dips. I would do the dips in a smaller container (5 gal) to save on meds, but always return the fish to the bigger QT so they don't get too stressed in cramped quarters.

<Note I am working with goldies, which requires lots of room ... if you have smaller fish, you can use smaller containers!>

 

[confusion]

So many people make the mistake of using antibiotics in their tanks. Things go from bad to worse once the meds kill off the bio filter. Not all meds will. Some brands will identify that they do or do not harm the bio filter (Seachem does). Unfortunately, Jungle does not.