Antiobiotic Mix-up Question

[earthworm]

i recently put some new fish in an old tank that a 17" pleco, and 2 little tetras were habitating. i recently shocked my tank with some marycyn before the newbies went in, but a few died over night. i then realized that i had purchased salt-water, not fresh water marycyn..
i have a freshwater tank.
do i need to drain the tank? will the saltwater marycyn kill my fish, or is it benign. as far as i can tell, the saltwater antibiotic only has extra B vitamins in it.
anyone?\
.. more are dying as i type.

 

[Captain Retardo]

Why did you put marycyn in the first place?

 

[earthworm]

i had a danio get bug-eyed, and a tetra get that weird spinal curvature. so i medicated the tank.

 

[Lynden]

i had a danio get bug-eyed, and a tetra get that weird spinal curvature. so i medicated the tank.

I don't think that is ample reason to dump antibiotics in the tank. Medication is supposed to be a last resort, and spinal curvature has nothing to do with bacteria, and in some cases nor does the "bug-eyes".

What size of tank do you have? It must be pretty huge to accomodate a 17'' plec....

Also, what new fish did you put in? What are the other parameters of the tank? We need more information. And although saltwater maracyn is most likely benign to freshwater fish, you should probably check the bottle over before buying it.

The symptoms you describe in your double post sound more to me like ammonia poisoning. It sometimes happens when you add many fish at once, and they overload the biological capacity of the bacteria. The best way to deal with it if it is, is a huge water change. Try testing the water for ammonia and nitrite, and post the results.

-Lynden

 

[earthworm]

i had a danio get bug-eyed, and a tetra get that weird spinal curvature. so i medicated the tank.

I don't think that is ample reason to dump antibiotics in the tank. Medication is supposed to be a last resort, and spinal curvature has nothing to do with bacteria, and in some cases nor does the "bug-eyes".

What size of tank do you have? It must be pretty huge to accomodate a 17'' plec....

Also, what new fish did you put in? What are the other parameters of the tank? We need more information. And although saltwater maracyn is most likely benign to freshwater fish, you should probably check the bottle over before buying it....

-Lynden

i know. completely my fault. i have no one to blame for that screw up except myself.

it's a 45 gal tank (bad purchase idea, i know i should've gotten the 55 gal. for length, as the extra height of the 45 is a waste.) anyway, the pleco has been around since he was 3" and in a 10 gal. tiny tank. basically the tank upgrades were to accomodate his growth.
the other fish are all, little schooling fish... danios tetras little scissor tails, and a pair of angelfish. they didn't seem to be crowded out, and i was hoping that the deaths were tank shock related, but i could just be screwing up.

 

[Captain Retardo]

Yes, Lynden is very correct, medications can be very deadly to fish, must be very careful with them.

Do you have activated carbon? If so put that in your filter cartridge, and do a water change.

 

[Lynden]

i had a danio get bug-eyed, and a tetra get that weird spinal curvature. so i medicated the tank.

I don't think that is ample reason to dump antibiotics in the tank. Medication is supposed to be a last resort, and spinal curvature has nothing to do with bacteria, and in some cases nor does the "bug-eyes".

What size of tank do you have? It must be pretty huge to accomodate a 17'' plec....

Also, what new fish did you put in? What are the other parameters of the tank? We need more information. And although saltwater maracyn is most likely benign to freshwater fish, you should probably check the bottle over before buying it....

-Lynden

i know. completely my fault. i have no one to blame for that screw up except myself.

it's a 45 gal tank (bad purchase idea, i know i should've gotten the 55 gal. for length, as the extra height of the 45 is a waste.) anyway, the pleco has been around since he was 3" and in a 10 gal. tiny tank. basically the tank upgrades were to accomodate his growth.
the other fish are all, little schooling fish... danios tetras little scissor tails, and a pair of angelfish. they didn't seem to be crowded out, and i was hoping that the deaths were tank shock related, but i could just be screwing up.

Sorry for my slightly aggressive post.. I edited a little. But don't beat yourself up, we all make mistakes.

The deaths were probably shock related. Not neccesarily the medication, though.

Test for your water parameters, and start looking for a new home for that big plec!

-Lynden

 

[tttnjfttt]

spinal curvature has nothing to do with bacteria

Actually, one of the most distinctive signs of fish TB, a bacterial infection, is an S shaped or bent spine. Check out these articles on fish tb. http/www.4qd.org/Aqua/disease/tb.html and http/www.4qd.org/Aqua/disease/tb.html#symptoms Spinal deformities is listed as a symptom of both, along with protruding eyes.

As for whether the medicine is toxid or not, you said it was the new fish that died. How did you go about aclimating them? My guess is something went wrong here. However, the general rule is if you have sick fish, don't add new ones for two weeks after the last death. With fish TB, you want to wait longer to make sure none others have the disease but aren't showing symptoms yet.

If you are worried about the med (i couldn't find any info on it), do a partial water change and add some carbon to the filter.

And finally, what are your water stats? This this is always one of the first things you should check when something goes wrong in your tank.

 

[Lynden]

spinal curvature has nothing to do with bacteria

Actually, one of the most distinctive signs of fish TB, a bacterial infection, is an S shaped or bent spine. Check out these articles on fish tb. http/www.4qd.org/Aqua/disease/tb.html and http/www.4qd.org/Aqua/disease/tb.html#symptoms Spinal deformities is listed as a symptom of both, along with protruding eyes.

Yes, but TB is not an acute disease, it would take time to show up.

 

[tttnjfttt]

From how I am reading this, the illnesses were in the tank before the new fish were added... so it did have time to develop.

 

[Lynden]

i had a danio get bug-eyed, and a tetra get that weird spinal curvature. so i medicated the tank.

If the disease was in the tank then the other fish would have it, and the tetras that were in the tank before would at least show symptoms. TB is 100% communicable and 100% fatal. I highly doubt it is TB, though, the symptoms are too acute and too selective of fishes (they are only showing in a few fish, I mean).

-Lynden

 

[tttnjfttt]

i recently shocked my tank with some marycyn before the newbies went in

i had a danio get bug-eyed, and a tetra get that weird spinal curvature. so i medicated the tank.

These two quotes is why i believe the illnesses were in the old fish. The posts aren't clear which fish died, new or old. I can read it and draw both conclusions depending on how I read it.

Plus, why would someone buy a danio wiht a curved spine? (and i have had lots of problems with danios and TB, because they are becoming very inbred)

 

[Lynden]

i recently put some new fish in an old 50 gal tan,k that a 17" pleco, and 2 little tetras were habitating. i recently shocked my tank with some marycyn before some newbies went in (a couple of angelfish, some scissor tails, danios and tetras), but a few died over night. i then realized that i had purchased salt-water, not fresh water marycyn..
i have a freshwater tank.

The symptoms are too acute. If the old fish had the disease, it would have developed in the old fish. But Earthworm says that one of the fish that got the disease was a tetra, and the other was a danio which was a new fish. The tetra had the curved spine, the danio had pop-eye. Earthworm hasn't said which tetra has a curved spine. But still, even if it is TB in the tetra, how does that explain the fish dying overnight? I think it is ammonia/nitrite poisoning, but I'm not quite sure. But mark my words, TB did not kill Earthworm's fish. Read the posts, the answer is right in front of you.

i had a danio get bug-eyed, and a tetra get that weird spinal curvature

-Lynden