Medication and apple snails?

[VioletEmber]

So I think some of my fish have a bacterial infection and I'm going to try maracyn -- should I move the apple snails out or are they ok with medication like that? What about meds for parasites or other things? I know that if I add salt I should move the snails, but not sure about other types of medications.

 

[jlk]

What exactly are you trying to treat? Maracyn is not the best choice for most fish bacterial infections because it is a gram-positive antibiotic while most fish infections are gram-negative. I would remove the snails as a safety precaution when treating with any med- some meds are safe for snails but alot are not. Some more info will help!

 

[Fishy Aston]

I would stay well away from chemcials.

They are high in price and is not really needed.

Let nature do its own thing but I would read the instuctions carefully and scaleless fish may need to be moved depending on the medicine you are using.

A lot of hard work ...

Good Luck Though

 

[VioletEmber]

Well here's the thing - I am not keen on meds and chemicals at all but this one particular tank, no matter how clean I keep the water, keeps having fish die. A few guppies have developed dropsy and died -- I just lost a male platy too. He just was swimming in a wobbly way but seemed normal otherwise. Then he died. The water params were perfect at the time but I did an extra water change anyway.

Now a male guppy is looking like he has fin rot (my auto correct just tried to change that to fun Roy). I thought he had just gotten nipped by the other male guppy but it's looking like either fun Roy or (did it again!) a secondary infection from a fin nip.

I am so confused by all this I am willing to try chemicals if I have to! I truly thought the first few incidents were due to the mini cycle it had after changing the substrate but I have to say I am not so sure now.

 

[VioletEmber]

Just tested my water and it's pretty good.



The nitrates are in that murky area of 5-20... I hate the way it's hard to read that test. Otherwise it all checks out.

 

[jlk]

Hmm... you have a couple of issues going on here. Dropsy is a symptom & not a disease itself. It can be caused by an internal infection, parasites, a virus or poor water quality. Which your cause may be, I am not sure but obviously water quality is not one of them.

Is the guppy the only fish with an issue right now (fin rot)? Does anybody else have any symptoms of any kind? Strange poop, odd coloring, sores, spots, flashing, lack of appetite, skinniness, anything? If fin rot is the only issue you are facing right now, I would opt for healthy water along with aq salt & see how he does. If he does not improve/starts to get worse, then you can consider treating with meds. I would opt for Maracyn Plus or Maracyn 2 for a med. Hope this helps!

 

[VioletEmber]

Ok- that's the plan then! I grabbed some maracyn 2 as back up and I'll add the salt. No one else is looking or acting different than usual so we can hope that it is just fin nipping that started it. Mean little guppies. I'll move the snails - they can have a play date with "Waffles" in another tank.

 

[VioletEmber]

How long should I give the salt to start working before trying the meds?

 

[jlk]

Lets see how he does over the next few days. If at any point he seems to be getting worse, its time to add the meds (which are fine with salt). Hopefully, you wont need them!

 

[VioletEmber]

Well the guppy fins aren't getting worse and they may be improving slightly but it's too soon to tell. But one of my female platies just freaked out and swam in tight little circles really fast. I had just switched on the light but considering how light the room is it really wasn't much of a change. And her nose was down as she swam in circles running along the sand. What????

 

[jlk]

Your numbers are all in check, correct? I am honestly not sure what is going on with your platy. Is she back to normal or is she still acting strange?