Problems with Tetracycline

[bahamut1701]

Hi guys and Gals out there. I am new to this site and happy to be part of the community.
Has anyone else had a problem with this API T.C. Tetracycline? I had noticed one of my balas fins turning red yesterday, did some research and found it out to be Hemorrhagic Septicemia. Did some more looking and most places I turned seemed to suggest this Tetracycline to help. I went to pet land and bought some and followed the instructions to the letter. with in an hour of adding this to my tank my water was yellow (which it said it would be), there was a dense layer of foam at the top of my tank, and all of my fish had gone lethargic. After another hour, 3 of my fish looked on deaths door. I then decided to see if the cure was worse then the treatment and came across some startling information. Tetracycline can apparently cause anemia in fish. Anemia is a heart and blood vessel condition which is recognized by the low number of red blood cells found in the animal. Not so good for one suffering from Septicemia. This would most likely worsen that condition, and then cause this breakdown in the rest of the fish. On the front of the box for this product it also states that it treats fin and tail rot? Fin and Tail rot are fungal infections. Anyway after all this I did a 100% water change, placed the carbon back in my filter, slightly raised the temp of my water, and added just a bit more aquarium salt then normal. I woke up this morning not quite knowing what to expect to see in my tank. I was quite overjoyed to see all my fish playing quite happily again, The balas fins are now closer to pink then red and he is swimming and eating again. I know he may still not be out of the woods but at leasts hes fighting.

Has anyone else had such a problem with item?

P.S. Water was tested first when I noticed he was sick. All levels were on par.

Thanks
Jason

 

[Rotaripsnoc]

Welcome to the site, I have a Jellybean Parrot who I put through quite an ordeal between a new tank that wasn't cycled, Nitrite poisoning, and Ich all at the same time, began to develop fin rot.

I don't have any experience with the product you mention, however you might want to pick some Melafix up next time, it helps heal infections and repair damaged fins.

I added the label dosage of Melafix which is a tea tree extract, within a day the fin rot began to reverse, and a week it was gone. I will note that Jack did turn a red color ( he is normally a pearly white, nitrite poisoning turned him brown(ish) he is now white \ yellow. ) with water changes he faded back to a white color.

It smells terrible, but it works, and works well, a big bottle was reasonably cheap at walmart too ( LFS is poorly stocked. )

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Sorry, I have no experience with tetracycline. Good thing you were keeping a close eye and were able to change all of that out for them. Maybe it is something better done as a dip, for an individual fish?

I just wanted to note that I actually quite enjoy the smell of Melafix. And I also recommend it, it's one of those things that won't cause harm to the entire tank.

 

[bahamut1701]

Thanks for the advice. I will def try that next time, well we all hope there isn't a next time with that sort of thing. It seems the Bala is out of the hard part and now recovering. He's swimming and eating much better and a lot of the redness has passed.