Bacterial infection, two antibiotics?

[Ilovemyloach]

I don't know if this is the right forum because I have a freshwater tank, so if someone knows another resource, please let me know!

My dojo loach has a very large red lump that appeared on his back overnight and seems to be growing quickly. His tankmates, a pleco and cory catfish, are unaffected. I'm treating him with antibiotics but was a little overzealous and used two at once- Erythromyacin and Furan-2. I did a WC, scrubbed the gravel, and left the carbon filter in while the sediment settled, then added the meds and removed the carbon filter. I also added a little bit of aquarium salt. I've been watching him for three days and the lump seems to be getting bigger, but less bright red (see pics for days 1, 2, and today). He is still active and eating, but I wonder if he is suffering. He is hiding, digging, and swimming a little erratically more often.

Is it ok for me to be using two antibiotics at once? I give half a dose in the morning and another at night.

Is this even a bacterial infection? No pictures I've found look similar to the growth on him, and I worry it may be a tumor or something else.

Please help! Any advice is appreciated!

 

[dbl]

I won't promise you'll get much assistance as this is primarily saltwater, but I moved this over to the fish disease forum for a better chance. Maybe some of our fish disease experts can offer some input.

 

[Ilovemyloach]

I won't promise you'll get much assistance as this is primarily saltwater, but I moved this over to the fish disease forum for a better chance. Maybe some of our fish disease experts can offer some input.

Thank you! I hope so. I found fishlore.com (which has a freshwater community) and posted there too, but these forums at reef2reef also seems to have very knowledgeable folk!

 

[needbiggertanks]

Wow that looks brutal. Good luck! Wish i could help.

 

[Humblefish]

I'm honestly not sure what that is - a bacterial infection or growth of some kind.

Anybody on #reefsquad have experience with FW diseases?

 

[4FordFamily]

That looks like a severe injury with infection to me...

 

[Humblefish]

FWIW; many counterparts of mine in the FW world swear by Melafix & Pimafix for treating bacterial diseases. Might be worth a shot.

 

[Maritimer]

You could also use the combination of Maracyn and Maracyn-II, which would provide pretty broad-spectrum anti-bacterial coverage. It's been a while since I had to, but I do seem to recall something about that combination having some effect on your bio-filter; see if you can do a bit of research to clear that obstacle.

~Bruce

 

[eatbreakfast]

I've never had much success with melafix.

I like Bruce's suggestion for broad range treatment.

For a dojo loach I would recommend a finer substrate, such as sand, otherwise it will continue to develop injuries and infections, because they do like to dig and bury.

 

[Humblefish]

I've never had much success with melafix.

With SW fish, I've had success using it to treat mild infections. But not for serious, gram negative bacteria.

 

[Ilovemyloach]

Thanks for everyone's input! (Sorry for the delayed response, notifications weren't going to my inbox.)

I ended up using a combination of erythromycin/maracyn and nitrofurazone. After 3 full rounds (2 erythromycin and 1 nitrofurazone), my loach stopped getting worse, and started to slowly get better! The erythromycin did have an effect on my biofilter so I used Tetra Safe Start Plus and got my ammonia and nitrite levels down to 0. However, for the last few days the wound has been getting redder and possibly larger, so I'm dosing with more nitrofurazone. I hope this works and doesn't affect my biofilter (I'm getting some mixed answers about it online). If not, I'm going to try melafix (consensus online is that it does not affect the biofilter). My loach has been injury free for 4 years in this gravel but to be safe I'm setting up a bigger tank with playsand instead of gravel to prevent further injuries.

 

[Humblefish]

Happy to hear this!