Using erythromycin/minocycline with BNs?

[Mir]

Hey guys. Charlie looks like he's starting to get sick and I don't have a quarantine tank running that I can put him in. I wanted to just try salt at first, but I know that won't be good for the plecos that are in with him. I have some Maracyn (erythromycin) and Maracyn Two (minocycline) that I wanted to use for Char since I can leave the filter on while I treat him, but will that be safe for the plecos? The instructions say it is safe for inverts, but it says nothing about sensitive fish like catfish/plecos etc, and I don't want to hurt them while I treat Charlie! Any ideas?



Also, here is a pic of Charlie from today. Does this look like dropsy?
He's still pretty active, just getting really fat (and his scales look raised up to me).

[Mugwump]

Haven't you got a gallon pickle jar?..or big bowl??....plastic tote?

[Mir]

Haven't you got a gallon pickle jar?..or big bowl??....plastic tote?

Yes, I have his old 5 gallon tank, but I don't have any running filter to put on it and I'm afraid not having a filter will just stress him even more and make him more sick.

[Mugwump]

Use his present tank water and run an air stone, you can easily do small water changes to keep it fresh....

[Mir]

Yeah, maybe. But that still might not help if there are any stray bacteria in the main tank or on the plecos. They aren't showing any symptoms though. I could still try moving Charlie though, if I can find an air pump. But has anyone ever tried those meds with plecos before?

[Mugwump]

Here's a discussion on using med's with bn's

http://flippersnfins.yuku.com/topic/10271#.UggSTH_vstA

[Mir]

Thanks for the link!

[b125killer]

Do you have any ideal of what Charlie might have. It could be bad to treat with meds if your not sure what your treating. I think I would put Charlie in his own tank for now with lots of water changes. I have keep guppies in a small tank without a filter. I did a 75% water change on it twice a day. I didn't keep them like that for long.

[Mir]

Do you have any ideal of what Charlie might have. It could be bad to treat with meds if your not sure what your treating.

I think it looks kind of like dropsy. I posted a link to a pic above - what do you think? He has gotten really fat the past two days even though I was fasting him, and he is still active and shows no other behavioral symptoms of being sick in any other way: no clamped fins or rubbing or anything. His scales look kind of like they're starting to "pinecone". His pectoral fins look a bit rough-edged and thinning somehow, but none of his fins are showing fuzzy white edges like finrot or anything. No other physical symptoms.

I have no idea how he could have gotten sick, as I haven't changed anything about the tank recently. I took him out and gave him a salt bath earlier and it appeared to take down some swelling...not sure if that's a good or bad thing. :/ Anyway, I hope he gets better. Please send healing thoughts and prayers for him, everyone! <3

[b125killer]

I hope it's not dropsy. it's hard to tell in the pic. the ones i have seen online look bad. It also said that it's almost impossible to cure.
http://nippyfish.net/sick-betta/dropsy/
I'll send healing thoughts and prayers for Charlie.

[Mugwump]

Get better Charlie, ya hear?.....

[Mir]

Yes, I also hope it's not dropsy. He looks a bit more pineconed today, but he's still happy and active so hopefully whatever it is, it'll go away. I gave him another salt bath today and did another large wc, and I also gave him a food pellet soaked with Maracyn. Do you think he'll get better if I just feed him medicated food alone, or should I treat the water as well? I read some more about using the meds with plecos and I've seen a few people say they've used it with them safely, but I'm still considering putting him in a smaller tank too, just so I don't risk it and don't waste medicine.

Thanks for your kind thoughts, guys! <3

[BillT]

Possible drawbacks to using antibiotics in an established tank include:
1) Killing the bacteria in your filter and thus doing away with biological filtration. I have seen people do this and end up killing their fish do to ammonia increases.
2) Charcoal in the (if present could remove the antibiotics before they can have much affect.
3) Possibly disrupting your ecology of bacteria in your tank which could let opportunistic pathogens bloom and become more problematic.

Medicated food rather than treating the water might avoid most of these problems.

Dropsy is a syndrome not a disease. It is a set of related symptoms with out a single clearly defined cause.
There are many ways this situation could arise. That and its apparent internal location make treatment difficult.

[ilroost]

Is it dropsey or just over ate? Try a few mashed peas to clean him out, might not be the problem but worth a try

[Mir]

Hey guys! Sorry I've been gone! Charlie has been doing a lot better! I decided to just treat the whole tank. According to the packaging, Maracyn does not harm nitrifying bacteria, and I also don't have active carbon in the filter. After some more research I also found the company says it is safe to use with catfish, so I went ahead and started, and now he's got two days left of the five-day treatment. I'm watching the plecs carefully to make sure they show no bad signs. I also have been fasting Char and then feeding him one medicated pellet afterwards. Before that he started showing some other signs of constipation so I fed him a few pieces of a pea too. His pineconing has gone down and he's barely bloated anymore! I'm so happy! After the recommended 5 days of the meds are up, I think he'll be all back to normal! So I'm not sure if it actually was dropsy, or--if it was true dropsy--what caused it, but what I've been doing seems to be working!