Cyanobacteria (BGA), antibiotics, and cherry shrimp

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Oqsy
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Cyanobacteria (BGA), antibiotics, and cherry shrimp

Post by Oqsy »

the consensus so far (forums and websites)is that maracyn and similar antibiotics are shrimp safe if dosed appropriately. i have some cyanobacteria that is getting out of control, and i will probably try this method as long as no one knows or has read of side effects on shrimp.

Oqsy
Acsuth
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Post by Acsuth »

the only meds I would get near my shrimp, snail or crayfish tanks would be Melafix....I would suggest isolating just one or two shrimp and testing your planned dosage on just them before exposing all of them to it...at least this way, if it is a failure -- you won't lose all your shrimp.
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Post by Bradimus »

Maracyn = Erythromycin? I would expect it to be safe. However, it may be unnecessary: Red Cherries love BGA. See this thread.
Oqsy
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Post by Oqsy »

if that's the case, my shrimp must be on a hunger strike. they haven't touched the stuff, and seem to be preferring a fungus that is growing on my driftwood. the only reason i'm interested in using a med. to get rid of it is that it's smothering my christmas moss, which i'm quite fond of. i guess i could take the moss out and soak it in a small container with the full dose, but if the bga is still in the tank, it'll just jump right back on the moss after a few days. suggestions welcome...

Oqsy
scrimp

Post by scrimp »

Oqsy wrote:it's smothering my christmas moss, which i'm quite fond of.
AH-HA I caught you! holding out on me witht he x mas moss LOL do you shrimps seem to love it as much as I do?
Oqsy
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Post by Oqsy »

scrimp wrote:AH-HA I caught you! holding out on me witht he x mas moss LOL do you shrimps seem to love it as much as I do?
say what? holding out on you? i suppose i was :roll:
Acsuth wrote:the only meds I would get near my shrimp, snail or crayfish tanks would be Melafix....
any elaboration on that? i'm looking for personal experiences with maracyn or EM, not blanket statements, paranoia, and wives tales. I appreciate the input, but a statement like that without any real data behind it is not very helpful. the suggestion for a test is a good idea, but not really necessary if someone has already done so with success or failure.

Oqsy
Acsuth
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Post by Acsuth »

Oqsy wrote: any elaboration on that? i'm looking for personal experiences with maracyn or EM, not blanket statements, paranoia, and wives tales. I appreciate the input, but a statement like that without any real data behind it is not very helpful. the suggestion for a test is a good idea, but not really necessary if someone has already done so with success or failure.

Oqsy
Personally, I have lost inverts to trace amounts of tetracyclene and/or copper in the water....and I might add you need to lighten up, dude. I just gave my opinion...if you want cold hard evidence as opposed to hearsay you're going to have to do some testing yourself -- or pay someone to do the testing for you... :-D
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Post by Oqsy »

i'm lightened... after i read that back i realized that it sounded more confrontational than i intended... i don't really know why i put it quite like that, but it wasn't quite the way i meant it. hmm.. i guess i just meant to say, first had experience is appreciated. i'd just spent the morning searching old messages on other boards saying "my friend had a tank that..." or "so and so on this board says..." but no real answers. I took far too much of that into this thread, which has been quite helpful. I sincerely apologize for my tone.

Oqsy
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Post by scrimp »

Do what I do when it comes to meds, contact the company and email them directly. The will tell you exactly what it is you wish to know. After all the do all that research for some reason hehehe....It also ould be helpful to kno your tanks set up and water peramitors. If you are too scard tosacrafise one of your babies you could always go and buy a ghost shrimp and give it a try. If it lives you justrescued a shrimp and know what you wanted/needed to know. Let us all know how it turned out with the dose etc and product name so we all will know for future reference.
Oqsy
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Post by Oqsy »

replied to wrong post... doh!
scrimp

Post by scrimp »

You never updated us to the situation did it work was it safe?
Bradimus
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Post by Bradimus »

I am running a little test now with some ghost shrimp. I will post the result when it is done.
Aphyosemion
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Antibiotics and shrimp

Post by Aphyosemion »

I have just finished treating all of my tanks that had BGA with Maracyn. Three of my tanks have ghost shrimp and I was a little worried about if it would affect them, but I read that it wouldn't, so I tried. It didn't have any affect on them and I consider ghost shrimp to be some of the most fragile shrimp that I have seen, although some of it may be due to the handling they get at pet stores when they are stocked as "feeder" shrimp. I would say the only thing to keep a check on is water parameters, because when a lot of BGA dies, it may cause an ammonia spike as the bacteria try to keep up with the sudden influx of nutrients into the water column.
Conversely, I would be VERY careful about using other treatments in a tank with shrimp, because most treatments will do a better job at killing them than the disease you are treating. I don't even use Flourish fertilizer in my planted tanks because of the trace amounts of copper.
-Aphyosemion
Bradimus
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Re: Antibiotics and shrimp

Post by Bradimus »

Aphyosemion wrote: I don't even use Flourish fertilizer in my planted tanks because of the trace amounts of copper.
The amount of copper in Flourish is minimal. I have used it planted shrimp tanks with no adverse effects. As long as your plants are growing at a rate that requires Flourish, they will absorb the copper quickly. It does not pose a threat to shrimp.
Oqsy
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Post by Oqsy »

success! just finished my 5 day maracyn treatment with no shrimp loss. in fact, i've got a female holding eggs now! everyone has colored out now and i officially have 4 females and 1 male. that lucky little dude. only problem is if something happens to him, breeding halts. :)

Oqsy
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