Bumblebee Catfish and Meds

Sasquatch · Post by **Sasquatch** » 06 Feb 2007, 12:54

Hi all.

I have a catfish in a quarantine tank right now and because the quarantine cycled, nitrites rose pretty high. While I don't think that the nitrites cause any problems directly, he seems to have a little problem with fungus on his body.

It doesn't seem to be getting any worse, but if it does I'd like to know if our fungus med is compatible with catfish.

It's "Fungus Clear Tank Buddies" by Jungle Laboratories and the active ingredients are:
- Nitrofurazone
- Furazolidone
- Potassium dichromate

Are these safe for my catfish? I'd like to get him into the main tank, but don't want to transfer him while he's got a potential fungal infection.

Thanks.

QuotheRaven · Post by **QuotheRaven** » 07 Feb 2007, 02:28

Usually with catfish it's best to if medication is needed to add a half dosage. I own a bumblebee catfish and it is fine Im not sure on their hardiness to medication however.

apistomaster · Post by **apistomaster** » 07 Feb 2007, 05:09

When I was young and had a fish shop I used to treat all my new fish for Ich except the loaches with malachite green and got away with it.
Recently a Banjo Cat received a very bad heater burn then developed the classic moldy apearance of fungus in the wound. I dipped it in a strong methylene blue solution for a couple of minutes then put it in a 4.5 gallon tank with 4 tbs of rock salt in it for 3 days and then changed all the water. The fungus was gone and the wound had begun to heal. Old fashioned but it worked well enough.
The med you are using is probably a good choice and I would just follow the directions. Most meds that need to be used at a reduced dose for cetain fish say so.
I also suspect that this is more of a whitish slime than fuzz balls, sound right? The meds you are using sound appropriate.

Sasquatch · Post by **Sasquatch** » 07 Feb 2007, 14:07

Thanks for the replies.

For the moment we aren't treating with anything, the disease (if it is a disease) isn't getting any worse and seems to be getting better.

They're small white spots, kinda fuzzy. It's definatly not ich and it's not a slimy coating. It seems to be clearing up on it's own, so we'll leave him as is for the rest of the week.

I'd thought of using methylene blue when transfering him to the main tank, but I'll see at the end of the week.

apistomaster · Post by **apistomaster** » 07 Feb 2007, 19:41

Sasquatch,
If you decide to use any methylene blue please do it anywhere but your display tank. I think that was what you mean but just in case...

Sasquatch · Post by **Sasquatch** » 08 Feb 2007, 00:44

apistomaster wrote:Sasquatch,
If you decide to use any methylene blue please do it anywhere but your display tank. I think that was what you mean but just in case...

Yeah, I was planning on giving him a quick bath in an small container and then transfering him to the display tank.

An suggestions about what concentration to use? I don't have a bottle at the moment, so I'm not sure what concentrations to use to treat fungal infections.

apistomaster · Post by **apistomaster** » 08 Feb 2007, 02:09

I would by the concentrated form(drops/gal) and use about 20 drops/cup/5 minutes.
If only the diluted stuff(Kordon) then about 1 tsp/2 cups/5 minutes.
Make up a gallon of treated water and run an airstone in it about a 1/2 hour prior to and during the 5 minute soak. Consider the addition of rock salt @ 1 tbs/gal.
It often seems to promote healing. This treatment is intended to use on Saprolignia true fuzzy fungus.
As I mentioned before the possibility of a different organism is very real. The Methylene blue/saltwater is a general purpose tonic type medication and can work on other problems and should at least do no harm.
It is always best to have a very good diagnosis then choose the method of treatment. This is a difficult thing to do as a practical matter. Not many of us are fish pathalogists and often just muddle through and cross our fingers. I do have a good microscope but it only helps a lttle. There are more fish medicines than there are diseases we can successfully treat.
Much like over the counter pain meds for people. There are actually only 4 drugs FDA allows which are the primary active ingredients in OTC pain relievers yet clearly there are far more brands of pain relievers out there than just 4.
Whether OTC meds are for our fish or humans the companies spend their money on packaging and advertising. The drugs themselves have almost no intrinsic value financially.
The relatively recent availability of antihelmenthic(de-worming) drugs for use on/in fish are one of the most recent additions of great value made in the treatment of fish diseases in the past 40-50 years.

Sasquatch · Post by **Sasquatch** » 14 Feb 2007, 14:23

Thanks for the replies and the information. In the end, we decided not to take the chance with meds and just kept him in the quarantine tank for an extra week and kept up with the 20% daily water changes.

We transfered him to the display tank on Saturday night and he's doing fine. No apparent problems, he's swimming fine and eating like a pig.

Thanks again.