Pyramid With an infected wound.

maroun.c · May 31, 2018

Hi, got this Pyramid and it developed a small ulcer post shipping that kept progressing to this as picture shows (sorry screen capture from a video as my wife couldn't get a good pic) been treating with tetracycline mixed with food but it keeps getting worse. Any suggestions on what this is and what antibiotic and what dosage I should treat whole q tank with? Don't have access to many fish specific antibiotics so ones used for humans might be easier to get. Thanks.

reef lover · May 31, 2018

#reefsquad

HotRocks · May 31, 2018

I would recommend the trifecta. It covers a wide range of infections. Since is sounds you may not have access to metroplex, Kanaplex, and furan-2 let's see what @Humblefish can recommend.

Can you get NFG?

foxt · May 31, 2018

That looks bad, sorry to see it. I had a small bellus angel with something similar, and nothing worked on it - the fish ultimately perished. Not meant to be discouraging, just relaying my experience. I tried a range of therapies, including the triple threat treatment of kanaplex, metroplex, and furan-2 combined, as well as nitrofuracin green (the NFG that HotRocks mentioned above). The triple threat treatment had no affect at all, because this was less bacterial and more of a wound. I think the NFG was more effective because it acts as both an antibiotic to keep the wound from being infected, and also as a healing agent, which is really the help that the fish needed. I did manage to stop the progression of the wound with NFG, and it kept the fish alive for about two months, but the fish eventually stopped eating and died. I don't know if you can get NFG, but I would try that first, because I think in my case, I lost time by trying the triple threat first ...

HotRocks · May 31, 2018

foxt said:
That looks bad, sorry to see it. I had a small bellus angel with something similar, and nothing worked on it - the fish ultimately perished. Not meant to be discouraging, just relaying my experience. I tried a range of therapies, including the triple threat treatment of kanaplex, metroplex, and furan-2 combined, as well as nitrofuracin green (the NFG that HotRocks mentioned above). The triple threat treatment had no affect at all, because this was less bacterial and more of a wound. I think the NFG was more effective because it acts as both an antibiotic to keep the wound from being infected, and also as a healing agent, which is really the help that the fish needed. I did manage to stop the progression of the wound with NFG, and it kept the fish alive for about two months, but the fish eventually stopped eating and died. I don't know if you can get NFG, but I would try that first, because I think in my case, I lost time by trying the triple threat first ...

A bath in acriflavine and or methalyne blue may also be helpful in this situation.

Big G · May 31, 2018

+1 on NFG. Works great, especially on butterflies. And of course high quality foods with vitamins added too.

foxt · May 31, 2018

HotRocks said:
A bath in acriflavine and or methalyne blue may also be helpful in this situation.

Also a good suggestion ... if you can get either of those.

Humblefish · May 31, 2018

That looks really bad. Take a look through here and see if you can get any of the generics he recommends for a gram negative bacterial infection: http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumMedication2.html

maroun.c · May 31, 2018

Thanks for all the replies managed to find Kanaplex in dubai and working on getting anything better. Will have my wife start with bactrim forte (has anti gram positive and negative coverage) while waiting as it'll take a few days to get the antibiotics and send them to her.
Fish is still eating well but started loosing weight.
What dosage should I use with bactrim forte?
Thanks

Humblefish · May 31, 2018

Bactrim is Trimethoprim + Sulfamethoxazole. Is this the fish med you have? https://www.thomaslabs.com/product/fish-sulfa-forte/fish-antibiotics

If so, that contains (per tablet):
Sulfamethoxazole…………...800 mg
Trimethoprim…………………..160 mg

Given those concentrations, I would dose 1 tablet for every 40 gallons of water to be treated. Repeat every 24 hours for up to 10 days. You'll probably want to do a 25% water change every other day.