Going shopping- need suggestions.

S

Sumpin'fishy

Humble Disciple of Jesus Christ
Oct 16, 2002
673
0
0
50
Savannah, GA
I'm going to order some items online tonight and would like some ideas and personal opinions about a few things.

First I'm going to pick up some food. I'm thinking of trying the New Life Spectrum brand (since I hear good things about it) and see if the results are what they say they will be. I think I feed my fish healthy now, but would like to optimize. I'm sure we all like to do that! Any input about Spectrum? Please see my tank specs for info on fish load and tanks. I'm mainly shooting for my 55 gal tank (Blackbelt and Silver Dollars). I will still use frozen and freeze-dried foods, but want the best possible staple I can get.

I have a few sick fish in my 20 planted tank also and I'm looking for some good all around meds. I am currently about to finish off my Coppersafe and I'm not sure that that has even done the job I need it to. Is Clout any good? It sure is expensive! Any other meds? What about a general antibiotic. My cory seems to have pop-eye (maybe secondary infection?) since his eye seems bit distended and has a bloody looking ring around it. He's an albino cory and his head is pretty pink-looking. He doesn't move often and I have not seen him directly eating food either! I also have two Neons (same tank) which seem to have white cysts (look like localized zits on their tail region. They appear to be otherwise healthy and vigorous with plenty of color. I have been dosing Coppersafe for almost two weeks now. Is there something else I should use? I had another cory die after I moved him to quarantine from some large zit looking things on his body in random places (too large and infrequent for ich). I believe I need a quality parasitic med and an antibiotic ( can I dose both at same time safely?) Remember I have a heavily planted tank (20 gal) that I need to treat! I need to treat the whole tank to make sure I got everything. I just don't want to kill my plants too!

I will pick up a few other things but want to get quality products for food and general medications. Any other suggestions are welcome.

Thanks for input.
 
Oh, forgot to ask.....I have seen that Spectrum also has a "Thera-A Anti-parasitic Formula" food in their lineup......any input on this? Should I try it with meds?
 
While I can't offer brand names, I will say a couple of things. First, getting too much food or medicine for short term/immediate use isn't going to work. Most foods and all meds have a shelf life, and if you don't use them up soon enough, you have problems. The nutrients in the food slowly lose potency, until it becomes little more than fiber--not a good choice. Buying small containers more often is a better alternative. Most medications begin to lose potency once opened, so buying to have small amounts (ie, one standard course of treatment) is good, but pay attention to storing directions and expiration dates. Once you open the package, the posted expiration date is out the window--it should either be used completely, or discarded within about 3 months of opening.

Internal parasites are not touched with water column treatments until the exit the fish. In some cases, this means never, since the worm lives it's entire life cycle, including creating the next generation, within the fish. Medicated foods are much better treatments for internal parasites.
 
What about a bottle of Formalin (37% formaldehyde solution)? Would this last longer once opened? I'm not looking for years, just maybe last a year. I already practice the idea of buying food in smaller containers for max freshness.....but thanks for input.

Also, I don't want several medications, just one for paracites/protozoans, and one general antibiotic. The antibiotics usually come as separately wrapped tablets, anyways. The Coppersafe I'm using now isn't probably very affective anymore, since it's almost a year old now.

UPDATE:
I just disposed of my three visually sick fish because I did some more research today and the three diseases that sounded most like what they had were all infectious and NOT TREATABLE! They suggested disposing of the infected fish. One of the names of the diseases that closely resembled the symptoms was Glugea. I figured I'd better get rid of these fish before they cost me the whole tank! It was seeming to get worse. Please help me pray for my remaining fish!
 
List of Supplies

I try to keep the following medication in stock:

1) Paragon (wide-spectrum antiparasitic, antifungal, and antibacterial). Some fish do not tolerate this very well, but for cichlids it is terrific.

2) Paragon II (indicated for the same conditions as Paragon, but may not be effective against your bigger parasites like worms, leeches, and flukes). Contains metronidazole.

3) Kanacyn, Kanaflex, or Spectogram. Basically, the main ingredient is Kanamycin, a very wide spectrum antibiotic.

4) Methylene Blue

5) Hexamit - metronidazole is good to have if you keep cichlids like I do.

I really need to keep a bottle of Pepso Food for internal parasites.

Unfortunately for you, the Petsmart in Savannah does not seem to stock a wide variety of medications. Try Exotic Tropicals. They carry some of the Aquatronics line.

It seems to me like you've got problems with your tanks.
 
additionally

If you cannot find what you need in those two places, do not hesitate to mail order. I usually go to Petsmart on Abercorn for things like fish food, dechlor, brine shrimp, etc. It's better to have medication on hand when you need it. Yeah, they can be expensive but that's part of the hobby. Paragon II is about $9 to $10 a bottle, but it will last a long time. Its worth it. I guess because I keep cichlids, they are more like pets.
 
I decided to get some Pepso Food for the remaining fish. I didn't buy any meds from Foster+Smith yet, so I'm gonna save up for the expensive Praziquantel from PondRX. It's obviously the best thing to keep stocked if you can afford the up front cost. It's supposed to last years also (shelf-life).

I don't know exactly where Reidsville is, but I know I've heard of it! I go by Exotic Underworlds (Montgomery Crossroads) quite a bit and haven't seen any of the Prazi. I usually get food and stuff from that Petsmart also, but can't find the Spectrum Foods there, and really wanted to give them a try! Anyways, I bought some of that and the Pepso Food, as well as some minor knick-knacks I needed. My tank has been doing fine until last week. Don't know what happened, since I haven't added any new fish for months. I'm assuming something was lying dormant in there. I have just gotten the CO2/Ferts/Light thing the way my plants like it, and they have really responded the last two weeks! Now my fish want to act up!:rolleyes:

Anyways, the fish that I could visually see affected are now disposed of. I will try to finish off the small bit of Coppersafe I have over the next two weeks or so (to be safe) and feed the Pepso Food to the tank inhabitants. Wish me the best!
 
Savannah

Good luck with treating your fish.

Reidsville is about 65 miles west of Savannah, it's the home of the maximum security prison GSP. I go to your city for pet supplies as well other less important things.

Where did you find Pepso Food? I would like to have a bottle in hand.

I'm not familiar with spectrum foods. I only have 4 fish. I've been feeding the same stuff for quite some time. Cichlid foods come in big packages so it takes a while to finish off a pack.

I bought my Red Snook from Exotic Underworlds. I love the fish, but it is quite picky in its diet. It eats frozen brine shrimp and very rarely, flakes. Hikari is supposed to send me a sample of their Cichlid Complete, which contains salmon sperm (milt). Have you seen Cichlid Complete anywhere in Savannah?
 
I ordered the Pepso Food from Dr Foster+Smith (online....great store). I have seen Cichlid complete at Petsmart several times, but who knows if they currently have any...:rolleyes:

I am currently finishing up my bag of Hikari Cichlid staple. I also have used the Cichlid Gold. My fish liked both pretty well. The cichlid complete is just too small of a pellet for my liking. My larger fish will probably have a hard time getting enough to eat with that food. The Food I ordered, "New Life Spectrum" comes with a 10 day money back guarantee to better looking fish!!! I've read a good review on it in Tropical Fish Hobbyist, and I became interested then. I'm gonna find out for myself now!

Oh, just for info, I plan to start breeding fish (probably Apistogramma Cacatuoides, and Microgeophagus Ramirezi) some time this year and I will be "trading" for credit at Exotic Underworlds. If you keep in touch and are interested, maybe I can hook you up with some good fry!
 
Savannah

Sumpin' Fishy,

Are those what are known as Dwarf Cichlids? I would love to try my hand at those if I had a tank to house them in. The only empty tank I have is a 5.5 gallon. What size tank do they need?
 
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