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Medicating Your Fish - Tips and Dosages
by Doug Sweet, Curator of Fishes, Belle Isle Aquarium
This information was requested by after Doug spoke at
a Michigan Cichlid Association meeting. Thanks, Doug for passing it
on. This
was printed in the May-June 2001 issue of Fincinnati.
Oral Medications for
Fish (Taken from Stoskopf’s Fish Medicine)
Metronidazole - 50 mg/kg OID for 5 days
- 1 gram/100 grams food OID for 5 days
Thiabendazole - 66 mg/kg OID, twice 10 days apart
Mebendazole - 20 mg/kg weekly for three treatments (for
Nematodes)
Fenbendazole - 11mg/kg OID twice
Praziquantel - 400 mg/100 grams OID for 7 days (trematodes)
- 500 mg/kg once (cestodes)
Nitrofurazone - 50 mg/kg OID for bacterial enteritis
- 75 - 100 mg/kg OID 5 - 15 days for microsporidial
infections
Potassium permanganate
Stock Solution:
- 1.52 grams KMnO4 in 100 ml water
- Use 10 ml of the above solution per 20 gallons of water to achieve 2 ppm.
Malachite Green Stock
Solution
- 3.7 grams of zinc-free malachite green added to 1 liter of water or
formalin
(use .6 to 1.0 ml of this stock per 10 gallons of water)
Citric Copper Sulfate
Stock Solution
- 21 grams crystal Copper sulfate pentahydrate (CuSO4-5 H2O)
- 21 grams citric acid crystals
- 473 ml water
- one drop of this solution per gallon gives .15 ppm
- 1ml per 20 to 25 gallons should give .15 ppm
Drug Dosages for Fish
Disease Treatments at Belle Isle Aquarium
Formalin and Formalin/Malachite
Stock - 15 - 25 ppm (.6 - 1.0 ml per 10 gallons)
Solutions
Copper sulfate - freshwater - .5 -
1.0 ppm
saltwater - .15 - .20 ppm maintained
at constant level by daily test and re-dosing
Potassium permanganate - 1.0 - 2.0
ppm (which can be
reversed by .38 ml per gallon Hydrogen
peroxide)
Dylox (Masoten, Trichlorfon) - .25
ppm
Malachite Green - .1 ppm
Metronidazole - 6 ppm
Praziquantel (Droncit) - .25 - 3.5
ppm (3 X 34 mg tablets per 10 gallons)
Levamisole (13.65% injectable) - 2
ppm (1.1 ml per 20 gallons)
1 Discomed capsule per 8 gallons
Nitrofurazone - 10 ppm
Precalculated Treatments
Size of Tank
Formalin/Malachite
CuSO4 KMnO4
Nitro.
Praziquantel
(Gallons)
Green/ Stock Soln.
Stock
Stock
20
1.2 - 2.0 ml
1 ml
10 ml
.8 grams .2
grams
35
2.1 - 3.5 ml
1.75 ml
18 ml
1.3 g
.4 g
45
2.7 - 4.5 ml
2.25 ml
23 ml
1.7 g
.5 g
100
6 - 10 ml
5 ml
50 ml
3.8 g
1.3 g
165
10 - 16 ml
8 ml
83 ml
6.2 g
2.2 g
325
20 - 32 ml
16 ml
162 ml
12 g 4.3 g
650
39 - 65 ml
32 ml
325 ml
24 g
8.6 g
1400 (#41) 84 - 140 ml
70 ml
700 ml
53 g
15 g
1600 (cold water) 96 - 160 ml
80 ml
800 ml
61 g 18 g
2800
168 - 280 ml
140 ml
1400 ml
106 g 32 g
(cool water & #11)
4000 (GLT, B-3)
240 - 400 ml
200 ml
2000 ml
151 g 45 g
Salt
Quantities (Volume & Weight) used at Belle Isle Aquarium for
Treating Fish Diseases
Size of Tank (gallons)
1/4 Isotonic
1/2 Isotonic
20
.63 cups (170 grams)
1.25 cups (340g)
35
1.1 cups (297.5 g)
2.2 cups (595 g)
45
1.4 cups (383 g)
2.8 cups (765 g)
100
3 cups (850 g)
6 cups (1.7 kg)
165
5 cups (1.4 kg) 10 cups (2.8 kg)
325
10 cups (2.8 kg)
20
cups (5.6 kg)
650
20 cups (5.6 kg)
11.2 kg
1400
12 kg
24 kg
1600
14 kg
27 kg
2800
24 kg
48 kg
4000
34 kg
68 kg
Protozoan parasites like ich, trichodina, costia,
chilodonella, epistylus, scyphidia, trichophrya, etc. can all be
treated with formalin. Formalin
malachite green stock mixture can also be used, especially for ich.
I like to use formalin/malachite green mixture plus 1/4 to 1/2
isotonic salt solution for persistent ich.
Copper sulfate is also a preferred treatment for protozoan
parasites, especially in salt water.
But repeated monitoring of copper is necessary to make sure
adequate amounts are available around the clock to effect a cure.
Skin and gill flukes can be removed by a formalin
"dip", at ten times the indefinite treatment dosage of 1ml
per ten gallons. So at
1ml per 1 gallon for about 20 minutes as a dip, you must remove the
fish after 20 minutes or when stress occurs.
Likewise, potassium permanganate dip will also knock flukes
off but wont necessarily kill them. Dylox can also be used for
flukes at .25 ppm. Repeat
treatments are necessary about every week for three or four
treatments to catch unhatched eggs. The best treatment for flukes is
praziquantel (Droncit) at 3.5 ppm.
Tapeworms - praziquantel at above treatment dosage.
Parasitic copepods like gill lice, fish lice, and anchor
worms can be treated with dylox.
Dimulin can also be used but I have never used it and don't
have the dosage handy.
Internal protozoan parasites like Hexamita are treated with
Metronidazole
Roundworms can be treated with the Levamisole.
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