Is Mardel Antibacterial Safe For Snails?

[LicianDragon]

I noticed this morning that one of my tiger platies has a bacterial infection on his side. I bought some mardel to treat him but I don't want to treat my whole tank if it'll kill my snails. I have malaysian trumpets, ramshorns, and pond snails.
 
If I need to treat him outside the tank, what's the best way to do so? 

 

[snazy]

I don't know if mardel affects inverts or if it's bad for the filter but any type of medication isn't good to be used in a tank unless it's a really bad situation where all your fish are on the edge of dying.
Do you maybe have any type of bigger container where you can put him for the duration of the treatment?
You can get an airstone or even if you have a spare filter with some mature filter media in it to avoid ammonia. Or possibly just an air pump with daily huge water changes and remedicate the removed amount of water?
 
The other option is just to use "dips" at higher strenght medication, once a day for a few minutes depending on medication, then place him back in the tank. I am not sure how it would work with mardel, or what the dosage should be though, and for how long....

 

[LicianDragon]

I don't know if mardel affects inverts or if it's bad for the filter but any type of medication isn't good to be used in a tank unless it's a really bad situation where all your fish are on the edge of dying.
Do you maybe have any type of bigger container where you can put him for the duration of the treatment?
You can get an airstone or even if you have a spare filter with some mature filter media in it to avoid ammonia. Or possibly just an air pump with daily huge water changes and remedicate the removed amount of water?
 
The other option is just to use "dips" at higher strenght medication, once a day for a few minutes depending on medication, then place him back in the tank. I am not sure how it would work with mardel, or what the dosage should be though, and for how long....

I have a container I can move him too, I don't have an airstone though. I diluted the treatment for the container size and I'm going to see how he does in here for about an hour or so.

 

[snazy]

The airstone is for oxygen if there's no filter, so don't keep him for too long. Just observe and if he starts showing stress, scoop him in and back to the tank. You can try a stronger dose for shorter period with observation.
Another dip that you can try tomorrow or another day is with aquarium salt(or one that doesn't have any additives), at a strenght of 1tbsp per gallon, fully dissolved first. Use water from the tank itself for any dips though.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I am going to have to disagree with the above, to some extent.
 
There are many instances where treating an entire tank with fish not all in eminent danger of dying is a good idea. I can list a number of instances where it is not only not a bad idea, but where it is needed and advisable. Ich right off the top of my head.
 
But what determines where to treat a fish isn't so much determined by the medication being used as it is with the diseases/problem being treated. If it is something contagious, you pretty much always have to treat the whole tank, and the sooner the better.
 
However, when this is not the case it is almost always cheaper, easier and most effective to treat a fish in a a hospital tank or container. It is also rarely a good idea to medicate until one is pretty sure of what the problem is.
 
Mardel's antibiotics fall into several categories (I use them or the generic version).
 
Maracyn is basically erythromycin- I buy whichever is cheapest at the time.
Maracyn Two is basically minocycline which is a broad spectrum form of tetracycline.
Maracyn Plus is a mix of Sulfadimidine and Trimethoprim but in an unusual formulation. The meds are in tiny "bio-spheres" which attach to a fish. They are time release and this med is particularly effective against external bacterial issues. It is popular with people who get in wild caught altums which is how I came to it.
 
Most meds that will harm inverts will say so on the directions. More often its is the anti-parasite meds that are an an issue- stuff with copper etc. Their labels normally warn about this.
 
I have used all 3 of the above meds and have them in my medication kit. I have used them in tanks with pest snails that I only wish such meds would harm, but they did not. How they might affect shrimp I can't say. And while some meds can harm bacteria in a newly set up tank, once the bacteria get established in their protective bio-film this tends to change. Just as it provides a measure of protection against chlorine, it can also do so for antibiotics. But one should always monitor ammonia levels in a tank being treated with antibiotics just to be on the safe side. Every tank is different, so there are no hard and fast guarantees.
 

 

 

[snazy]

I agree TTA, for cases where the disease is highly contagious which one would notice normally, the entire tank should be treated.
The problem with medication is not only ammonia. It doesn't magically kill just the bad bacteria/parasites but good ones too and  there's an entire diversity in a tank that make a balance right and can lead to additional problems.
Some people aren't cautious and put anything in their tanks because of the smallest of problems so I just think one should be cautious.
It would have been great if we could always find out what the disease is, so we can have the right plan of action.

 

[LicianDragon]

I am going to have to disagree with the above, to some extent.
 
There are many instances where treating an entire tank with fish not all in eminent danger of dying is a good idea. I can list a number of instances where it is not only not a bad idea, but where it is needed and advisable. Ich right off the top of my head.
 
But what determines where to treat a fish isn't so much determined by the medication being used as it is with the diseases/problem being treated. If it is something contagious, you pretty much always have to treat the whole tank, and the sooner the better.
 
However, when this is not the case it is almost always cheaper, easier and most effective to treat a fish in a a hospital tank or container. It is also rarely a good idea to medicate until one is pretty sure of what the problem is.
 
Mardel's antibiotics fall into several categories (I use them or the generic version).
 
Maracyn is basically erythromycin- I buy whichever is cheapest at the time.
Maracyn Two is basically minocycline which is a broad spectrum form of tetracycline.
Maracyn Plus is a mix of Sulfadimidine and Trimethoprim but in an unusual formulation. The meds are in tiny "bio-spheres" which attach to a fish. They are time release and this med is particularly effective against external bacterial issues. It is popular with people who get in wild caught altums which is how I came to it.
 
Most meds that will harm inverts will say so on the directions. More often its is the anti-parasite meds that are an an issue- stuff with copper etc. Their labels normally warn about this.
 
I have used all 3 of the above meds and have them in my medication kit. I have used them in tanks with pest snails that I only wish such meds would harm, but they did not. How they might affect shrimp I can't say. And while some meds can harm bacteria in a newly set up tank, once the bacteria get established in their protective bio-film this tends to change. Just as it provides a measure of protection against chlorine, it can also do so for antibiotics. But one should always monitor ammonia levels in a tank being treated with antibiotics just to be on the safe side. Every tank is different, so there are no hard and fast guarantees.
 

 

There's nothing on the label about harming inverts. I believe what my platy has is contagious but I'm not sure. He has an ulcer on his side, near his tail. It's red and inflamed with the scales being white around the edges. 
 
I just took my weather loach out as well. His fins are clamped. He's lethargic and I don't think he's been eating(now that I got him out of the tank I can see he's dropped weight).  Now that he's in his own isolation container I can see he's bleeding a bit from his gills. 
 
I already dose aquarium salt in my tank and I added extra salt to the isolation containers I put my platy and loach in. 

 

[LicianDragon]

My weather loach just died. On closer inspection, his the area around his gills was red and inflamed. The base of his caudal fins were also red. He'd been acting funny for a long while now. It started when he got stuck behind a tank decoration. I don't think it was for very long and there were never any visible injuries but ever since I got him out, he was acting very odd. His condition deteriorated since then. Stress maybe?
 
The platy has been doing fine so far. I'm keeping him isolated until his sore clears up.

 

[snazy]

Sorry to hear that. Also, maybe it's a good idea to remove that decoration as it's possible that even the platy injured itself first before the infection happened.
Also, check the water stats. If the water quality is unstable and there are traces of ammonia it doesn't help, or it can be the trigger.
Have you added any fish recently or anything else that may have brought a contagious disease?
If not, then it's more likely enviromental and you need to find out the cause the fish are getting sick. I'd start doing larger and more water changes. You can try doing a row of daily 50% water changes which often improves the situation if you don't know what they are sick from.