I’ve done a couple of posts on what I feed my goldfish, so today I thought I’d talk about some of the other supplies I keep around, namely my medicine cabinet.
First of all, a disclaimer:
Please BE CAREFUL when medicating your aquatic pets. Many of these medications are specialized and can be quite harsh, as well as carrying a risk of pathogen resistance with repeated use or failure to finish a full course. Using them correctly and safely requires research and great care. I’m going to talk about what some of these meds are useful for, but please please read up, think critically, and be sure you’ve diagnosed your pet correctly before dumping in an unhelpful, or potentially harmful, chemical. A large percentage of issues can be improved or even resolved completely with just clean water and supportive care. When in doubt talk to someone more experienced, or even an aquatic vet. If you’re in the US this link can be used to locate the nearest aquatic vet, I believe they have a tool for Canada as well. If you feel in over your head I really encourage you to reach out to a professional.
Ok now we got that done, lets get to it! I’ll be going left to right with what each of these are and a quick rundown of what they’re for.
Furan 2 (Nitrofurazone + Furazolidone) - Antimicrobial organic compounds effective against some gram positive and gram negative bacteria, combines well with kanamycin for treating external infections like columnaris, aeromonas, vibrio, and furunculosis. More effective in lower pH environments and should be used in a quarantine with no plants, inverts, or carbonate based decor (e.g. live rock or limestone).
Clove Oil - Essential oil from the clove plant. Used in low doses for sedation, and in higher doses for humane euthanasia. This is the ONLY method of humane euthanasia for fish, besides use of veterinarian grade anesthetic such as MS-222, or instant destruction of the brain. This is a sad but important one to keep around if you have fish. If the worst happens and an animal is suffering, it’s better to have it to use than to have to run around looking for it.
Fun(?) fact, I recently spoke to an aquatic vet who told me that they’re hoping to approve a type of purified clove oil derivative for veterinary use as a much more easily accessible alternative to MS-222, which I thought was pretty cool.
Seachem Focus - Used to help bind other medications to food and to make them more palatable. Comes in a powder form that you mix in or soak along with the other meds. Might also be a slight antibacterial iirc according to the box? Dunno how effective that is.
Garlic Guard - Mmmmmmm yum yum garlic juice. You can use this any time really, gives a good immune boost and fish love the taste. Add to gel food or for soaking dry food. Good for enticing picky eaters or sickly fish, or just as a treat.
Epsom salt - Different from regular salt, is actually magnesium sulfate. Dosage is much smaller! Anecdotally helpful for bloating and fluid accumulation i.e. dropsy. I realized recently though that I can’t figure out any logical reason for this? Particularly why epsom over AQ salt. Nor have I ever really had good results with it. So I’m not really sure. I’m gonna do some fiddling with it one day maybe see if I can figure it out.
Seachem Metroplex (Metronidazole) - Antibiotic and antiprotozoan medication effective against anaerobic gram positive bacteria and certain parasites. However it is not effective against aerobic bacteria. This means it works best internally, when taken orally in the form of a medicated food (good time to use that Focus!). My first choice for many internal infections, suspected internal parasites, and dropsy. One of the only known treatments for hexamita (believed to cause hole in the head HITH and lateral line erosion HLLE). Fairly gentle as fish meds go and combines well with others including kanamycin, nitrofurazone, and praziquantel. This is another one of my essentials for sure.
Ken’s Oxytetracycline pellets (Oxytetracycline, also sold under the trade name Terramycin) - A fairly broad spectrum antibiotic in the tetracycline family, treats gram positive and some gram negative bacteria. Really shines as a medicated food for treating internal infections, including those caused by streptococcus bacteria, and systemic infections including bacterial hemorrhagic septicemia. However, is often hard to get ahold of. Which is so frustrating cause it's great! Even better than metro for tricky things. I’ve never found it in its pure form as an aquatic medication. This particular medicated pellet appears to be chronically out of stock or potentially discontinued, the only other brand I’m aware of is Peabody’s oxytetracycline flakes.
Aquarium Salt - Regular ol’ NaCl. I use plain 100% sea salt most of the time cause it’s cheaper but thanks to a filter leak, that uhhhhhhh got WET >.< Mildly antimicrobial, eases osmotic stress, can be used for parasite dips, gotta have salt.
Seachem Kanaplex (Kanamycin) - Broad spectrum antibiotic that treats many gram negative and some gram positive bacteria. Very effective externally for infections such as columnaris, open sores and blisters caused by aeromonas, pseudomonas, and vibrio, certain types of fish TB, and many others. Kana absorbs very well through the skin, and this makes it very effective for many internal bacterial causes of dropsy and even kidney disease as well. However, this excellent kidney absorption is a double edged sword and can easily cause damage and organ failure if used excessively or if on a fish with already weakened kidneys (e.g. in advanced dropsy, or one who has already been heavily medicated).
Methylene Blue - A dye and medication used for a range of conditions. The most important IMO being the treatment of methemoglobinemia. This occurs in ammonia and/or nitrite poisoning and prevents blood cells from properly transporting oxygen to tissue. MB can reverse this condition and restore the blood back to its normal state, which can be life saving for the fish. Also very effective for fungal infections (true fungus only, not all fuzz is fungus!) and as a fungal preventative on eggs. MB also has some antibacterial and antiprotozoan properties which makes it a good choice for an all purpose bath for new arrivals, mild external infections, and injuries. This stuff STAINS like the dickens though so don’t put it in your main tank. (Note, if you get it on floors or counters or measuring spoons or other things that don’t go in the tank, rubbing alcohol helps even dried MB come off!)
Hikari PraziPro (Praziquantel) - A deworming medication effective in fish mainly against trematodes, or flukes. Another essential, given that just about all fish in the commercial trade come into contact with flukes at some point, this is one of the most gentle medications on the market, harmless even to plants and inverts. Although the toll of a heavy fluke load dying off all at once can be rough or even dangerous if the fish is already weak or ill.
Seachem Sulfaplex (Sulfathiazole) - Sulfas are a group of synthetic antimicrobial drugs, of which several are used in aquatic medicine. As far as I know they’re pretty interchangeable? Other brands combine them in various formulas but they basically work the same. They are effective mainly against aerobic and occasionally some anaerobic gram negative bacteria, and work better at higher pH levels. In particular this medication does well with the bacteria that most commonly cause fin rot. However it’s a good broad spectrum option for infected wounds, mild septicemia, and other cases when something less intense than kanaplex is wanted.
Seachem Nourish - Geez I should get a sponsor gig with seachem at this point. It’s vitamin goop! Like that’s what it is: “a comprehensive vitamin, amino acid, and trace element supplement” in the form of a goopy liquid you can soak pellets in or add to food and it smells sorta weird? But it’s good on a day to day basis like Garlic Guard, or for sick stressy fish who need a boost.
Not pictured
API E.M. Erythromycin (Erythromycin) - This is a very recent addition to my supply, and not one that I’d normally recommend. Erythromycin treats only gram positive bacteria, while nearly all major aquatic bacterial infections are gram negative. It’s going to be useless for columnaris, most common causes of ulcers and fin rot, fungus (that’s another common myth iirc), etc. It’s also very harsh on filter bacteria and will nuke the cycle on weakly established tanks. I prefer to use it in an unfiltered, aerated quarantine to avoid that whole debacle. The best uses for erythromycin are for infections like streptococcus or other cocci bacteria, some eye infections, or when multiple other treatments haven’t worked. I chose this medication based on test results from my vet; overall this is one that I believe is very misused and overused.
Also not pictured are various supplies like QT tubs, spare heaters and filters, vinyl gloves, sterile syringes for measuring and occasionally hand feeding, lots of bleaching and hand washing so much hand washing.
Your personal fishy medicine cabinet might vary depending on what’s appropriate for your animals. If you have soft water tanks you’ll want meds that work better in those conditions. Plenty of betta owners will swear by indian almond leaves as a basic remedy. If you have scaleless fish, you’ll want to pick only more gentle things and use them sparingly and at low doses. If you have tons of goldfish arriving in various states of health who like to pick up weird diseases at inopportune times, maybe it’ll look more like mine :P
If I was going with the basics I would probably say
Metroplex
Kanaplex (or other broad spectrum antibiotic like sulfa)
Praziquantel
Methylene Blue
Aquarium/Sea Salt
Possibly Clove Oil, esp if you have an older or ill fish
Further reading and resources:
Merck’s online vet manual - Fish Disease articles
Practical Fishkeeping - A-Z of Fish Health
AmericanAquariumProducts - Aquarium Medications (links to pages 2-4 at the top have detailed info on each medication)
Use of Antibiotics in Ornamental Fish Aquaculture - University of Florida (Here is their full catalogue of online veterinary information related to fish)
