Metronidazole

[TCFletch]

Can I treat my DT with Metro? I have feather dusters, snails and a clam. My tangs have pinky sized circles on their skin and fins. Looks like a bacterial infection. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Humblefish]

I know @twilliard and some others have been using metro in a DT to combat dinos. However, metro (by itself) has limited impact on bacterial infections, unless you combine it with kanamycin (Kanaplex) & nitrofurazone (Furan-2). Those two I would only dose into a QT.

 

[TCFletch]

How contagious are bacterial infections? Would doing a big water change help? And possibly changing the carbon, gfo, and sponge filter? Or what about adding medications to food? There's got to be a better way than trying to catch these fish for QT.

 

[Humblefish]

How contagious are bacterial infections? Would doing a big water change help? And possibly changing the carbon, gfo, and sponge filter? Or what about adding medications to food? There's got to be a better way than trying to catch these fish for QT.

Bacterial infections are very tricky. Some can kill faster than velvet, while others are relatively mild. Some can go waterborne, others remain localized. The only way to know for sure what you are dealing with is to ID the offending bacteria by doing a skin scrape of the affected area and then a scope examination.

A UV sterilizer is actually very useful for zapping waterborne bacteria (if you have one.) You can also try food soaking Kanaplex, using Seachem Focus to bind the medication to the food. Not as effective as dosing the water directly (for external infections), but sometimes it works.

 

[TCFletch]

So if this is waterborne, it'll stay in my system indefinitely? Or will it die off on its own? I don't have a UV sterilizer.

 

[Triggreef]

There is also dr. G's antibacterial caviar. Has kanamycen and Metro i believe

 

[TCFletch]

Is this caviar reef safe?

 

[Triggreef]

Yes just try not to let it land in corals. So the directions say. I had some land and get eaten by acans and they are fine.

 

[TCFletch]

I might try it. I have feather dusters and clams and don't really want to lose them. Thanks for your help! [emoji3]

 

[Humblefish]

So if this is waterborne, it'll stay in my system indefinitely? Or will it die off on its own? I don't have a UV sterilizer.

IMHO; harmful bacteria is always present in our tank water. However, a healthy fish's immune system will usually keep it at bay. The exception to this is waterborne gram negative bacteria which will often kill every fish in your tank. That won't die off until all the damage is done.

 

[TCFletch]

I know this is a stoopid question, but can't I put gram positive in the tank to kill off the gram negative? Or something like that? Just wishful thinking on my part. Thanks HF.

 

[Humblefish]

I know this is a stoopid question, but can't I put gram positive in the tank to kill off the gram negative? Or something like that? Just wishful thinking on my part. Thanks HF.

Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. ;) Adding gram positive would just mean you'd have two strains of bacteria trying to eat your fish.

 

[James Johnson]

Remember bacteria is what filters your ammonia out of the water, antibiotics don't discriminate, they will also kill the good bacteria that filters your tank

 

[Humblefish]

Remember bacteria is what filters your ammonia out of the water, antibiotics don't discriminate, they will also kill the good bacteria that filters your tank

Fortunately nitrifying bacteria quickly bounces back following exposure to antibiotics. :)

 

[TCFletch]

I'm sorry for being a pest, but I'm really trying to understand this.

So when I add Stability to my initial QT setup I'm adding gram +|- which are both harmful bacteria to my fish (which may kill them) but it's good for filtering ammonia (which will kill them). Nitrifying bacteria (the good bacteria) is what? I know I have nitrifying bacteria thriving in my deep sand bed and in/on my rocks. But now there's a bacterial infection going on (no thanks to a Kole Tang).

 

[Humblefish]

So when I add Stability to my initial QT setup I'm adding gram +|- which are both harmful bacteria to my fish (which may kill them) but it's good for filtering ammonia (which will kill them). Nitrifying bacteria (the good bacteria) is what? I know I have nitrifying bacteria thriving in my deep sand bed and in/on my rocks. But now there's a bacterial infection going on (no thanks to a Kole Tang).

There are LOTS of different kinds of bacteria found in seawater (more info below). The vast majority are beneficial, only some are harmful. The nitrifying bacteria found in products such as Stability are only going to contain the beneficial kind. Dangerous flesh eating bacteria is almost always brought in on a fish (another reason to QT); harmful bacteria is most likely always present in the water but a healthy fish's immune system is able to deal with that. Like ours is able to cope with germs. In fact, a fish's immune system is much better equipped to handle harmful bacteria than it is worms & parasites. But keeping dangerous bacteria out of your DT is another reason to QT, because symptoms will show and you can treat in there before it ever makes its way into your DT.

The Census found that the average liter of ocean water holds around 38,000 kinds of microbial bacteria. The vast majority of these microbes aren’t gross germs; rather, they support all life.

Source: http://ocean.si.edu/census-marine-life

More info on bacterial infections: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bacterial-infections.191511/

 

[TCFletch]

Thanks so much for these links!! The 2nd link really helped me understand the secret mysteries of bacteria. I've printed it out. My husband thinks I've gone off the deep end! [emoji4]