Terramycin treatment

[rsteagall]

I think I got confused when talking to the LFS today. I went to TSC and bought some Terramycin. Will this work for bacterial infections on fish? How much should I put in per gallon or per 10 gallons (the size of my qt tank)?

I know it can be used per http://www.pets-warehouse.com/Fishmed2.htm and some other sites I found. Please let me know asap. I've had a chromis in qt for a couple days now and he hasn't eaten. It was suggested for an antibotic.

Thanks!

[rsteagall]

oxytetracycline is the active stuff.

help me do the math and figure how much to add for 10 gallons.

I have a packet of Terramycin. its total weight is 181g. there is 10g of oxytetracycline HCL in it. How much should I use?

Problem is that I have no reference of what dose fish should get.

[rsteagall]

I put 1/4 tsp in the tank. bhwhahahaha Dr. Frankenstein lives!

lmfao, I'm using Tractor Supply Co. to get Saltwater Fish Medicine from. :P

[Rondelet]

First, just because your fish has gone off feed, doesn’t' necessarily mean it has a bacterial infection. Disinterest in food is one sign of bacterial infections - but it is also the first sign of most disease and/or stress, which can be brought on by all kinds of other things.

Do you see any other symptoms that would lead you to believe that you have a bacterial infection? And, are you water parameters in line and the other fish in your main display behaving normally? May sound like a silly question, but you may find treating with OTC to no avail if you haven't diagnosed the problem correctly. However, even if you have diagnosed the problem, adding it to the water is probably the least effective way to use OTC (oxytetracycline).

Not sure about the 10g active OTC per 181 g packet - I always thought Terramycin was 44% active OTC. Regardless, if the packet explicitly says it contains 10g of active OTC than you should go with this. You could try it at 10-12.5 mg/L daily, or at 50-100 mg/L for a 2-3 hour bath. Keep in mind that it will crash your filter if you use it for a prolonged duration. You are much better off to try and incorporate it into feed and giving it orally. The standard dose rate is 7.5 mg/100 g of fish body weight per day for 10 days. While you would have to guesstimate your fishes' weight and how much it would eat in a day and prepare food accordingly, it would be much more efficient and effective. Alternatively, you could try something like Seachem's "Focus", which is a liquid compound with a "binding" agent that also has contains an antibiotic (nitrofurantoin) and can be used to bind OTC, which is then added to some food. However, doing this is tricky, as you have to be able to measure very small amounts. Unfortunately, teaspoons and tablespoons just aren't going to cut it for measurements of mass (volume yes - but mass no).

Not sure if this helps, but should be food for thought.

[rsteagall]

My threads are kind of scattered. The thread below is why I believe I have a bacterial infection.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=756932

The problem happened with 2 of my 5 chromis. I suspect either a fight, or a problematic emerald crab. All other fish including 3 other chromsis, 2 clowns, 2 grammas, 1 blenny, 1 wrasse, and 1 goby are fine. My parameters are also ok Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, and Nitrates are little to none (last test was 0).

You might be right on the 44% active OTC. The information I gave was all the information that was present on the package. Since the fish is not feeding, I think I'll have to just administer it into the water of the QT.

Your reccomendation is ~11mg/L daily which equals ~423mg per day in a 10 gallon tank.

The LFS recommendation was 200mg of erythromycin for 10 gallons. I don't know if it was daily or not.

What is the basic difference between erythromycin and terramycin?

This is what I got from TSC:
http://www.mytscstore.com/detail.asp?pcID=6&paID=1046&sonID=170&productID=1131
http://www.mytscstore.com/images/productImages/prod_600_by_600/22_06050_grayscale_f.jpg

Thanks again,
Ryan

[Pandora]

Ryan, this is one of the reasons it's good to stick to just one thread on one issue. I know you're kind of stressed and anxious to get answers right away, but it keeps things less confusing, so I will answer in the other thread.

[Rondelet]

I will check out the other thread.

Looking at the package - I would go with 10 mg active. I was thinking of a different formulation which has a higher concentration of active (Terramycin Aqua).

Oxytetracycline (the active in Terramycin) is a different type (class) of antibiotic from erythromcyin. In general erythromycin tends to have a higher efficacy against positive bacteria in fish. However, to be sure which would be best to use, you would need to get a bacterial culture from your fish, id and run sensitivity test.

Note if your fish aren't feeding and you see no improvement - you could consider administration by injection, which is very a very effective way to give OTC to fish.