Thanks for the quick responses guys!
Antibiotics don't "cure" fish, but rather keep bacteria populations in check until the fishes immune system can recover and handle the infection on its own.
As with humans, improper antibiotic usage can result in resistant bacteria. If a fish becomes sick or injured down the line and develops an infection, the antibiotics might no longer work.
I feel these two statements contradict each other. Now, I may be way off base here; but my understanding was that antibiotic resistance develops due to the bacteria changing in some way to be come resistant. For example, this could occur if the antibiotic course was cut short (i.e. ended early); thus there are still some bacteria present which can mutate and become resistant.
This would mean the antibiotic needs to remain present until the fish is cured, and not just used to keep bacteria populations in check...
IMO no; antibiotics are too harsh to be used on fish prophylactically. Best to wait until visible symptoms (cuts/injury, white patches, red streaks)
first present themselves. The reason most people lose fish to a bacterial infection is because:
- The infection is "secondary" to a preexisting parasitic or worm infestation. Many times it's the infection which kills the fish, not the parasite/worm. Having to fight both simultaneously puts the fish's natural immune system and the hobbyist trying to treat at a serious disadvantage (more on that here). The odds of successfully treating a bacterial infection are far greater IF a parasite/worm is not also in play. Proper QT helps ensure that the fish only encounters a "simple" gram positive infection in the DT; which is sometimes curable just by soaking vitamins in fish food.
This is how I have used these medications in the past, although I stock all three, but have not used them all at once (with minimal success I might add). So, from my own anecdotal observations, I either used the wrong meds, waited too long or there was another underlying problem. I should also add that I am not a fan of any prophylactic treatment, however I am coming around to it being needed in some cases (*cough* depending on where I buy the fish)...
I am trying to understand what actual advice is being given in this thread. It seems logical to stock all the six main products mentioned in this thread and treat accordingly. But then again, I suppose the problem we encounter as hobbyists is being able to accurately identify the disease in a timely fashion; hence needing to use "the trifecta" as a blanket.
Now, going back to NFG as an alternative for "the trifecta" (sorry, I just like saying that in my head, lol), is it also effective against some fungal and parasitical infections, or is it used strictly for bacterial infections? (I am thinking about Metroplex's claims here, however legitimate they may or may not be)...
