Does anyone do precautionary meds?

[hineigger]

This seems like a stupid thing to do, yet at the same time it seems to make sense to stop a disease/parasite before it even happens...

Does anyone dose their tanks with meds randomly to keep the tank clean of unwanted visitors? Or will this just hurt the fish?

Just wondering...

[OrionGirl]

Nope, and I don't add 'preventative' salt either.

Just as you wouldn't just take antibiotics without a bacterial infection, random pointless medicating of your tank is not needed, and can cause problems. Many antibiotics will kill your bio-filter. Drug resistant strains develop when they are exposed to low levels of a specific medication. Many medications irritate the mucus lining on fish, stressing them.

You are much better off quarantining new arrivals for 4-6 weeks, keeping the tank in good shape, and performing maintenance routinely. In quarantine, a fish can be treated for specific, known possible pathogens such as parasites quite easily, without subjecting your other, 'clean' fish to the treatment. Any stress is minimized, and confined.

Keep in mind that 'unwanted visitors' don't knock on the tank door--they are introduced with new fish, plants etc. You can limit the odds of introduction by using a quarantine tank, cleaning your supplies, and verifying sources prior to introduction.

[hineigger]

Interesting.

Whats wrong with aquarium salt?

[Karlsbad]

I killed my bio filter with Maracyn despite Mardel's claim that it wouldn't :(

[anonapersona]

I have used a salt dip on fish prior to releaseing them in my Q tank. Details at PureGold Puregold (http://users.megapathdsl.net/~solo/puregold/home.html)

[Cearbhaill]

There are a couple of prophylactic treatments that are considered standard usage in some Fancy Goldfish circles- but Goldfish are a world all to themselves when it comes to parasites and other health problems.

We generally treat for gill flukes with Praziquantel, as well as feeding metronidazole and antiboiotic foods while in quarantine.
Whether it is right or wrong is a personal choice, but I feel a lot better adding new fish to an existing display if I know they are free of the most likely bugs.

[sumoschro]

Yeah all i do is add stress coat after every water change (once a week) just to keep their slime coating at its best, and regenerate any fin damage, etc.

[yashinfan]

I use melafix even after the problem is gone just to make sure everything is healed properly. It doesn't do any harm.

[JSchmidt]

I think it's a good idea to quarantine all fish for at least a month before introducing them to an existing tank. Treat new fish, or fish that develop symptoms, is not a bad idea if you have some idea what you're treating for. In fish that are susceptible to certain problems or that commonly have certain problems upon purchase, targeted treatment is probably also a good idea.

Is it a good idea to just randomly treat a tank to prevent some sort of infection? Absolutely not. This sort of prophylactic treatment is likely to create more problems than it could ever solve. For example, these treatments might kill the biofilter or some of the other beneficial, normal flora found in our tanks. It's also likley to create strains of bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics or create fish with weak immune systems. Overuse of antibiotics is problematic in humans and I suspect it's just a much of a problem with fish.

I also am not a fan of additives that 'promote a healthy slime coat' or similar malarkey. Healthy fish will produce a sufficient slime coat. If you think you have to add salt or products that contain aloe vera, you might want to consider your fishkeeping practices (e.g., stocking levels, maintenance).

Just my two cents....

Jim

[OrionGirl]

There is nothing wrong with aquarium salt, but there is very little right with it either. Think about it--these are freshwater fish. Native environment, no salt. So why would they need salt in an aquarium? And, with the packaged aquarium salt (not marine mix), there is no list of ingredients, so who knows what you're dumping into your tank? Salt can be used as a medication, but adding it to FW tropicals 'just in case' indicates a lack of understanding--of what salt can do, of what fish need, and of what your job as a caretaker should be, IMO.

And, of course, treating new fish for common potential pathogens is part of the quarantine process. Puffers, for instance, are pretty well gauranteed to have ich and internal parasites. Goldfish and koi are also frequently infectious when purchased. Treating them prior to introducing them to the tank protects other occupants.

[RTR]

Agree strongly with both JSchmidt and OrionGirl.

[beviking]

Maybe its just me, but I consider every fish purchased a likely ich host and treat them (in quarantine of course) accordingly.
Otherwise, I agree with RTR.

[Lukara]

I strongly agree with Beviking. I have seen it happen where fish where carefully quarantined and observed for approx. six weeks in a seperate tank, no visible signs of anything, then when they were placed in the main tank some of the fish from the main tank which were healthy for months (not the quarantined fish) broke out with a case of ick a couple of days later.

[NJ Devils Fan]

Cearbhaill, what kind of food do you feed?

[fishfood]

The only time I have done this is when I have moved. It seems like I move aparments about every 12 - 18 months and I have had trouble with deseise imediately following a move. I normally does with Melafix for about 10 days after a move. Seems to work well.

Other than that, no prevenattive medicine.

[Cearbhaill]

Originally posted by NJ Devils Fan
Cearbhaill, what kind of food do you feed?
You mean the goldfish in quarantine?
Metro-Med (http://www.goldfishconnection.com/shop/details.php?productId=9&catId=5) (I used this on my Discus also) and Medi-Gold (http://www.goldfishconnection.com/shop/details.php?productId=8&catId=5).

[wetmanNY]

I've been using Praziquantel in the past year for gill flukes, as Cearbhaill is doing. My fish suffered with chronic low-grade gill fluke infestations for years, but now they're clean. They have to stay that way...

I'm a quarantiner too. A month is only just long enough. Besides, I have them right here where I can watch them.

[Tim Bo]

I never treat tanks without a reason, mostly due to the reason of resistent strains of bacteria. I was recently at an LFS where the owner (who has had fish for many many years) proudly told me that he treats all his tanks regularly with his own concoction of meds...I brought up the arguments previously stated in this thread by JS but this didn't 'apply to his tanks' since he 'knew what he was doing.' I left it at that...

[RTR]

fishfood - you have my deepest sympathy. I have moved twice in the last 35 years and still consider those two major traumas.

Lukara - my suspicion there would be that the display was maintaining a subclincal Ich infection.

[Lukara]

RTR, could you please elaborate on that?

Edit: Okay I just did a search on this forum and saw some of your previous posts regarding subclinical ich. So, here is where I'm undecided on preventative meds... Seeing as how subclinical ich is a possibility, wouldn't it be safer to assume your fish has ich and treat your quarantine tank before placing the fish in the main aquarium? I'd hate to have to treat a planted tank for instance (which I've done and it is not an experience I want to have again) with ich meds if there is a possibility of preventing the occurence of ich by treating the q-tank.

Many people say to wait and see if the fish have visible signs of ich or any other illnesses while in quarantine before treating so as not to subject the fish to any unnecessary stress from the meds. I'm more inclined to think that it would be safer to assume they are sick and treat them for the most common illnesses while in quarantine to reduce the chances of introducing harmful pathogens into the main tank.