Can I use human Amoxicillin for Popeye

patincanada · Mar 17, 2022

Can I treat my 350 gram shubunkin with my amoxicillin I have on Hand? He had popeye for at least a month. Im doing water changes every third day, using aquarium salt regularly. He's in a tank with his friend. 450 gram goldfish who has no sign of Popeye so it doesn't seem contagious. I'm afraid to use the human Amoxicillin until I know it's safe to do so. I have 500mg capsules on hand.

vetteguy53081 · Mar 17, 2022

patincanada said:
Can I treat my 350 gram shubunkin with my amoxicillin I have on Hand? He had popeye for at least a month. Im doing water changes every third day, using aquarium salt regularly. He's in a tank with his friend. 450 gram goldfish who has no sign of Popeye so it doesn't seem contagious. I'm afraid to use the human Amoxicillin until I know it's safe to do so. I have 500mg capsules on hand.

I would not
Ethromyacin ( Maracyn 1) is proper treatment as would be seachem neoplex
In many cases popeye can subside on its own

MnFish1 · Mar 17, 2022

This is a general answer - about using antibiotics for humans - the others have covered the Popeye. You CAN use them - BUT - Many bacteria are resistant to plain amoxicillin - and its used more for gram positive infections. Thus - if any antibiotic is used - it should be more 'broad spectrum'. I would suggest Maracyn 2 - which is broader spectrum than Maracyn. While continuing the salt and vigorous water cleaning/changes

Jay Hemdal · Mar 17, 2022

patincanada said:
Can I treat my 350 gram shubunkin with my amoxicillin I have on Hand? He had popeye for at least a month. Im doing water changes every third day, using aquarium salt regularly. He's in a tank with his friend. 450 gram goldfish who has no sign of Popeye so it doesn't seem contagious. I'm afraid to use the human Amoxicillin until I know it's safe to do so. I have 500mg capsules on hand.

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

I generally use Erythromycin to treat popeye in marine fish, haven't used it for that on goldfish though.

If you have 100% amoxicillin, and you dose it correctly, it would be no different than aquarium medications. The trouble is many human forms of drugs contain excipients and binders, and those, such as sugars, may not be safe. Not knowing if your pills have those, I don't think I would risk it.

My formularies only show amox as an oral or injectable med, as it can be unstable when dissolved in water. I know it is sold by some companies for dissolving in aquarium water, but my vet references don't show that as being effective.

Jay