Metronidazole

Bluecbs · Jul 19, 2017

Yeah, some go for it like crazy and some just dont. My pearscale went for it only once then ignore them until now. My pakistan bf went for it, then stopped for several mnths, and now eat them again...weird....

bean2986 · Feb 26, 2018

@Humblefish

What is the recommended duration for dosing into water if intestinal worms are suspected? 10 days like the rest? Convict Tang wont eat anything I've tried, so Focus/ Metro won't work.

Humblefish · Feb 26, 2018

bean2986 said:
@Humblefish

What is the recommended duration for dosing into water if intestinal worms are suspected? 10 days like the rest? Convict Tang wont eat anything I've tried, so Focus/ Metro won't work.

2-3 weeks or until only "normal" poop is observed coming out of the fish for 3-4 days, whichever comes first.

Once the fish resumes eating, try switching over to food soaking metro instead.

bean2986 · Feb 26, 2018

Humblefish said:
2-3 weeks or until only "normal" poop is observed coming out of the fish for 3-4 days, whichever comes first.

Once the fish resumes eating, try switching over to food soaking metro instead.

I actually have not observed any stringy poop or symptoms- this is a last resort since it seems completely disinterested in food and is constantly trying to graze clean walls instead. 3 other tangs with it are fine/ healthy with no symptoms either. Metro was recommended by other forum members. Based on that, would you risk unnecessarily treating or just toss into the DT after copper so he will have food and see what happens?

Humblefish · Feb 26, 2018

bean2986 said:
Based on that, would you risk unnecessarily treating or just toss into the DT after copper so he will have food and see what happens?

I wouldn't put any fish not eating directly into my DT. Are you running any other meds in QT or just metro? Are all the fish basically finished with your QT protocol? Except this one fish is being a PITA by not eating.

bean2986 · Feb 27, 2018

Humblefish said:
I wouldn't put any fish not eating directly into my DT. Are you running any other meds in QT or just metro? Are all the fish basically finished with your QT protocol? Except this one fish is being a PITA by not eating.

I have three days left of copper then he's done. This behaviour was before treatment as well. He's been treated with Coppersafe and two rounds of Prazipro. For what it's worth, he is constantly rasping the PVC and glass, and will occasionally nip at Chaeto or other macro/ nori (1-2 nibbles an hour but never enough to make a dent). He just doesn't eat like the others. Overall I'm just having a hard time deciding if the situation is disease based or just a REALLY picky eater. There has been no stringy poop in the tank that I've seen while cleaning. I probably watch them for an hour a day from across the room because this is the most difficulty I've had with a fish.

Based on what I've read the Metro works great on internal parasites but if the fish is not eating, not sure how much more effective than Prazi it will be.

Cflip · Mar 18, 2018

Humblefish said:
I wouldn't put any fish not eating directly into my DT. Are you running any other meds in QT or just metro? Are all the fish basically finished with your QT protocol? Except this one fish is being a PITA by not eating.

Do they sell food already dosed with metro? Can metro be dosed in QT at the same time copper is being used? Just finished prazipro but anthias have some string white going on.

Brew12 · Mar 18, 2018

Cflip said:
Do they sell food already dosed with metro? Can metro be dosed in QT at the same time copper is being used? Just finished prazipro but anthias have some string white going on.

They do. This is the one I am familiar with.
http://www.drgsmarineaquaculture.com/frozen-antibacterial.cfm

Humblefish · Mar 18, 2018

Brew12 said:
They do. This is the one I am familiar with.
http://www.drgsmarineaquaculture.com/frozen-antibacterial.cfm

These pellets contain metro + Epsom salt (to help flush the worms out): https://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=30015

Lasse · Mar 18, 2018

FYI

Metronidazole and its derivates has been used in freshwater aquariums since late 70: ties. It’s an anti-flagellate remedy. It is used in order to treat Malawi and Tanganyika bloat and is also effective against Hole in the Head and related illness caused by flagellates from the genus Hexamita. It has also some effect on anaerobic bacteria. It is fat soluble – it means that it can enter the fish from the water – it does not need to be eaten in order to be effective.

In fresh water – a treatment period of 7 days is recommended.

Sincerely Lasse

Humblefish · Mar 18, 2018

Good info @Lasse

Lasse · Mar 19, 2018

Thank you @Humblefish . In my head - I have something that Metronidazole can be effective in the treatment of Clownfish disease - Brooklynella hostilis. At least WaterLife stress that their Octozin will treat this disease (active substance dimetridazole) in clownfish.

Sincerely Lasse

DanielJameS · Apr 21, 2018

I managed to acquire some pure metro from a vet (in broken pill form.) It appears it’s in 250mg doses. I have a Kole Tang that has developed a pretty bad case of what I assume is HLLE though it’s only effecting the area around the face and eyes not the lateral line. The fish have just made it through a 30 day copper treatment and have been velvet/ich free for the last several weeks.

Being that metro has been noted to do good things for variations on Hexamita, I’m wondering if it would be safe to give this a try in order to see if it has any effect on the tang in a positive way. I can’t find much on fish sensitive to metro.

I’m currently in the state of getting all remaining copper out of the water for an extended observation period where I’ll also treat with prazipro at some point before the fish are returned to the display. This is a Fallow period so I do have the time to experiment (about 35-40 days left.)

Any thoughts on using the metro in pill form (pulverized I guess) or is the powder the only way to go?

Humblefish · Apr 21, 2018

@DanielJameS Hexamita is a genus of internal parasite, which migrates from the intestines into the sensory pores on the head where they cause the surrounding tissue to decay. However, Hexamita worms are still present in the gut even once some have reached the head, so white stringy poop will be observed if your fish has Hexamita.

It sounds like your tang probably has HLLE, which is more of a condition than an actual disease.

More info: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/hlle-head-lateral-line-erosion.259916/

DanielJameS · Apr 21, 2018

Humblefish said:
It sounds like your tang probably has HLLE, which is more of a condition than an actual disease [ /QUOTE]

That’s sort of what I figured. Totally fine otherwise, hopefully going Into the 125 will help, being QT’d in a 40B probably isn’t helping.

What say you on the metro though in pill form? Still curious for future reference.

Humblefish · Apr 21, 2018

DanielJameS said:
What say you on the metro though in pill form? Still curious for future reference.

Assuming it is 100% metronidazole, dosage would be 250-500 mg per 20 gallons. (Metro has a wide therapeutic & tolerance range.) Treat every 48 hours (24 hours for severe problems) with a 25% water change before each treatment. Treat for 10 days.

DanielJameS · Apr 22, 2018

Humblefish said:
Assuming it is 100% metronidazole, dosage would be 250-500 mg per 20 gallons. (Metro has a wide therapeutic & tolerance range.) Treat every 48 hours (24 hours for severe problems) with a 25% water change before each treatment. Treat for 10 days.

Is metro effective on flukes?

Humblefish · Apr 22, 2018

DanielJameS said:
Is metro effective on flukes?

No; Metro treats intestinal worms (white stringy poo), Brooklynella, Uronema marinum.

For external worms (like flukes) you'd want to use Prazipro, hypo or formalin. In order of preference.

infinite0180 · Jun 19, 2018

@Humblefish

I want to feed metro and focus to my clowns. I have observed white stringy poop. Unfortunitely i didnt see any of this during the month i had them in QT. They have now been in DT for 3 weeks, i wanted to see if the poop continued to stay white and stringy and it has. I have metro and focus should arive this week. My question is if feeding metro has any effect on bio filter? My DT is only a few months old. Should i be concerned with ammonia spikes from the metro food? I run a small bag of carbon...

Thanks!

Tft12 · Jun 20, 2018

Thanks a lot for this writeup on Metronidazole @Humblefish. I have a question, or perhaps correction, about this antibiotic. Whenever I chime in on these things my frame of reference is human use and disease so I certainly may not be aware of something that is effective in the hobby but isn't used or effective in humans. When I think of Metronidazole, I think of Giardia, Entomoeba, Trichomonas, Gardnerella vaginalis, Anerobes, and H. pylori. Metronidazole is used for/effective in treating certain intestinal parasitic infections, but not ones caused by worms as far as I know. As I've been reading R2R I've seen Metro suggested for internal worm infections many times by many people...but I've never known this drug to be used for killing or treating intestinal worm diseases. I've known it to be used for parasites that are protozoan. I REALLY enjoy reading and learning from all the posts that you and others make regarding fish disease, so thank you very much for this thread and all the others.

As an aside, from a practical standpoint, I can imagine it not making a big difference when treating fish because, as hobbyists, we don't have the luxury of knowing exactly what our sick fish is infected with...we just see its belly, poop, perhaps some wasting, and decide there could be an internal parasitic infection, then begin treating it with whatever options we have, so in that sense it might not exactly matter if the drug we're reaching for treats parasitic intestinal worms or parasitic protozoans...but if you had some reason to confidently suspect worms, then metro would not be an effective choice (again, as far as I know).