[Pwilly07]

Hi All,
Ive tried kanaplex on my Angel with fin rot and it did not help at all. I am going to now use erythromycin. logic being kanaplex is for gram negative and erythromycin gram positive bacteria. At any rate, does anyone know how long I should wait before starting the erythromycin treatment? I just finished a 3 dose over 6 days of kanaplex. Do I need to give the fish a break before starting treatment again? Time is of the essence as the infection is just getting worse by the day.
thanks,
Barry

I have always had luck with fin rot using ciprofloxacin. Any fish I have brought in that had fin rot or one batch had fin rot from columnaris recovered using the cipro. Thankfully they were quarantined and didn't wipe out other tanks.

 

[DallasFishGuy]

I have always had luck with fin rot using ciprofloxacin. Any fish I have brought in that had fin rot or one batch had fin rot from columnaris recovered using the cipro. Thankfully they were quarantined and didn't wipe out other tanks.

Thanks. I just looked it up. It treats gram negative And gram positive bacteria so it's a broad based medication and would have worked but I already dosed kanaplex and just bought the erythromycin so I really was just curious if I needed to give my fish a break between the 2 meds. Next time I would heed your advice. I did not realize when I started that fin rot is caused by more than one type of bacteria and when the kanaplex did nothing I started researching it a bit further. The cipro makes sense

 

[Plinkploop]

Be careful with erythromycin and your filtration. Follow instructions carefully. I'd at least change out the water so you're starting relatively "fresh". Are you treating in a display tank or are treating in a qt?

 

[DallasFishGuy]

It's my 10 gallon QT with a sponge filter. I did a water change 50% last night. Thank you.

 

[Plinkploop]

I'd do another 50% change out before starting treatment and you're in a qt so my other comment doesn't apply. After your 2nd day of treatment I'd test ammonia parameters daily in case the ery destroys your sponges bioload. Good luck!!

 

[DallasFishGuy]

Thanks. I will follow that advice!

 

[allexx46]

In my experience fin rots are caused by lack of vitamins in the tank. People can argue but when I do a big water change and add Boyd's Vita Chem to the water the fin rots goes away. I have been down the medication road and the killing of natural flora in the tank in and on the fish is worse than the disease and can cause horrible water chemical imbalances and aeration problems which often kill more than just the one fish with the disease.

 

[DallasFishGuy]

I will look into the Boyd's vita chem. I've the fish in QT tank for treatment but want to understand the root cause of why he/she got fin rot to begin with as info weekly water changes of 30%.

thought i would give an update. the erythromicin seems to be working. At dose 3 and fins are clearing. Fingers crossed!