Help! Australian laws on antibiotics and bacterial

JadeM

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Hey reefers,

battled a bacterial infection and uronema that wiped my tank last year and certainly don’t want to lose another battle.
Dealing with medications such as antibiotics for fish in Australia is extremely difficult with strict bands on certain products such as kanaplex etc which leaves me with not many options when it comes to medications, mainly blue planet and other herbal remedies. Below are images of my naso tang with others from the internet that are how the infection started. At first a grey film started spreading on the side of the body and then the flesh started to show over the days. This fish is extremely thick and is probably why it is not dead yet.
Currently in Qt treating with a herbal treatment, and have methylene blue on hand, also is a fresh water bath worth it? Anyone treated this before in Australia? Really don’t want to lose this beautiful fish, Cheers
@Humblefish

412FAE5C-8B30-40A0-AF02-D8773256A3F0.jpeg CA40EAA5-281C-4270-992D-746096102C33.jpeg FA2F8DB1-B50E-464F-BDE6-9E91D9FB8B2D.jpeg 8804CD14-D208-431E-9C04-1E964C430BB9.jpeg
 
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JadeM

JadeM

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Anyone had luck with blue planet and tetracycline antibacterial?
 

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TriggerFinger

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@Jay Hemdal can you advise if tetracycline can be used to help treat this naso tang? OP has trouble getting fish medicine in Australia.
 

Courtney Aldrich

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Tetracycline is a broad spectrum antibiotic, but as Jay said below is ineffective in saltwater (edited). Metronidazole (metro) is only used to treat internal anaerobic and protozoal infections, thus would not be recommended if you believe it's a bacterial infection. The infection is likely caused by a gram-negative bacteria such as Aeromonas spp., consequently ciprofloxacin (or any fluoroquinolone, i.e. antibiotic ending in -oxacin) would be great. Kanamycyin or nitrofurazone (Furan-2) also cover Aeromonas and other gram-negative bacteria. I would not recommend penicillin, amoxicillin, or erythromycin - most Aeromonas are resistant and their coverage of gram-negative organisms is poor.
 
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Jay Hemdal

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Tetracycline is a broad spectrum antibiotic, so a reasonable choice. Metronidazole (metro) is only used to treat internal anaerobic and protozoal infections, thus would not be recommended if you believe it's a bacterial infection. The infection is likely caused by a gram-negative bacteria such as Aeromonas spp., consequently ciprofloxacin (or any fluoroquinolone, i.e. antibiotic ending in -oxacin) would be great. Kanamycyin or nitrofurazone (Furan-2) also cover Aeromonas and other gram-negative bacteria. I would not recommend penicillin, amoxicillin, or erythromycin - most Aeromonas are resistant and their coverage of gram-negative organisms is poor.
Tetracycline is inactivated by calcium and magnesium so should not be used as a bath in seawater.
Jay
 

Malcontent

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I would look for a vet. If you have public aquariums or zoos with fish there are fish vets around.

That being said, pigeon keepers seem to have the most access to drugs. I can find stuff at pigeon stores that I can't find anywhere else (e.g., toltrazuril).
 
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JadeM

JadeM

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I would look for a vet. If you have public aquariums or zoos with fish there are fish vets around.

That being said, pigeon keepers seem to have the most access to drugs. I can find stuff at pigeon stores that I can't find anywhere else (e.g., toltrazuril).
Would a bird antibiotic possibly work?
 
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JadeM

JadeM

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Tetracycline is a broad spectrum antibiotic, but as Jay said below is ineffective in saltwater (edited). Metronidazole (metro) is only used to treat internal anaerobic and protozoal infections, thus would not be recommended if you believe it's a bacterial infection. The infection is likely caused by a gram-negative bacteria such as Aeromonas spp., consequently ciprofloxacin (or any fluoroquinolone, i.e. antibiotic ending in -oxacin) would be great. Kanamycyin or nitrofurazone (Furan-2) also cover Aeromonas and other gram-negative bacteria. I would not recommend penicillin, amoxicillin, or erythromycin - most Aeromonas are resistant and their coverage of gram-negative organisms is poor.
Thanks for the info I will keep digging, do you think my fish is too far gone to heal and make a full recovery?
 

Courtney Aldrich

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Thanks for the info I will keep digging, do you think my fish is too far gone to heal and make a full recovery?
I'm not an expert on fish diseases, but I think an antibiotic would really help recovery. I searched and found triple sulfa tablets are available in Australia (https://www.petstock.com.au/product/fish/bp-tri-sulfa-tablets-15pk/52221). These antibiotics work best against gram-positive bacteria and have some coverage of gram-negatives (we don't know the causative organism anyway and these are used to treat a lot different bacterial infections). Since there are few antibiotics available in Australia, I would definitely give this a shot.

I also found this list of approve antibiotics in AU: https://www.agriculture.gov.au/import/goods/live-animals/importing-live-fish-aus/approved-treatments. Among this list I like Enrofloxacin. A prescription is required (https://www.petceutics.com.au/prescriptions/baytril-25-oral-100ml.html).
 
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JadeM

JadeM

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I'm not an expert on fish diseases, but I think an antibiotic would really help recovery. I searched and found triple sulfa tablets are available in Australia (https://www.petstock.com.au/product/fish/bp-tri-sulfa-tablets-15pk/52221). These antibiotics work best against gram-positive bacteria, but have some coverage of gram-negatives (we don't know the causative organism anyway and these are used to treat a lot different bacterial infections). Since there are few antibiotics available in Australia, I would definitely give this a shot.

I also found this list of approve antibiotics in AU: https://www.agriculture.gov.au/import/goods/live-animals/importing-live-fish-aus/approved-treatments. Among this list I like Enrofloxacin yep I found that all antibiotics ending in oxacin must be prescribed, it’s possible I could go through a vet and get some so I might give that a try
 

Courtney Aldrich

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I found this great post on Enrofloxacin.

 
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JadeM

JadeM

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I'm not an expert on fish diseases, but I think an antibiotic would really help recovery. I searched and found triple sulfa tablets are available in Australia (https://www.petstock.com.au/product/fish/bp-tri-sulfa-tablets-15pk/52221). These antibiotics work best against gram-positive bacteria and have some coverage of gram-negatives (we don't know the causative organism anyway and these are used to treat a lot different bacterial infections). Since there are few antibiotics available in Australia, I would definitely give this a shot.

I also found this list of approve antibiotics in AU: https://www.agriculture.gov.au/import/goods/live-animals/importing-live-fish-aus/approved-treatments. Among this list I like Enrofloxacin. A prescription is required (https://www.petceutics.com.au/prescriptions/baytril-25-oral-100ml.html).
Just rung the vet and with Australian laws I would have to bring the fish in for a prescription, all local vets are booked out and are shut tomorrow so Monday will be the earliest...
 

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