Antibiotics and fish disease

[Lowell Lemon]

As many of you have witnessed there is a development in fish disease problems that extend to many layers of the pet industry. Many of you have noticed an increase in the disease process in many of the fish we see for sale or purchase on the internet. The attempt to treat these disease organisms with a shot gun approach concerns me for several reasons. The most troubling is the use of Antibiotics as a prophylactic measure without knowing which bacteria we are dealing with.

Of great alarm is this current development in Antibiotic resistant bacteria strains now coming to the forefront in human biology with links to pigs. I have mentioned this as a serious problem for human as well as fish disease. We must take care in both the use and disposal of waste water after treating with Antibiotics. I am not sure what the best method of disposal is currently but this article from MSN and credited to The Washington Post today is more than a warning it is the beginning of a serious problem we may not be able to defeat.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/th...ached-the-us/ar-BBtwrwg?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=edgsp

We in the hobby and industry need to take a serious look at our treatment protocols and disposal of the water after treatment in an effort to prevent more Super Bugs in the future. MERSA and now the E.coli that are drug resistant are already presenting a serious health risk for humans. How long until this passes to aquatic animals if it has not already?

Food for thought and discussion. Is there any current protocol for treating the waste water from our treatment tanks and if so what are they?

 

[4FordFamily]

Unfortunately, most people don't have access to the equipment or funds necessary to properly ID everything that needs treated on these animals. The fish often do not have the time to wait even if money and equipment wasn't a constraint. I am not really sure how on that front, that problem can be addressed. I feel like all I can do is do my best to keep my critters happy and healthy to the best of my ability. :shrug:

 

[melypr1985]

Unfortunately, most people don't have access to the equipment or funds necessary to properly ID everything that needs treated on these animals. The fish often do not have the time to wait even if money and equipment wasn't a constraint. I am not really sure how on that front, that problem can be addressed. I feel like all I can do is do my best to keep my critters happy and healthy to the best of my ability. :shrug:

+1 I can see your concerns @Lowell Lemon but I don't see an easy answer to the problem. I just want to make sure my animals are healthy and if I can save one with antibiotics I surely will as I have them on hand at all times.

 

[Humblefish]

There's no "perfect solution" to any problem. I don't think most SW fish have to worry about exposure to antibiotics until possibly when they reach the end user (in a QT). And so long as you aren't treating your fish with the same antibiotics over & over again, I don't see antibiotic resistant bacteria becoming much of a problem for the aquarium trade. I say the latter with confidence because most collectors/exporters, wholesalers, LFS are not going to "waste" resources on treating "disposable commodities".

As far as antibiotics getting into waste water, that is a legitimate concern. However, overzealous human consumption of antibiotics is much more to blame than the fishies. Our bodies metabolize only a fraction of most drugs we swallow. Most of the remainder is excreted in urine or feces (some is sweated out) and therefore gets into waste water. Next time your kid has a runny nose, tell him to just deal with it like grandpa had to do.