Non-emergency, No Sick Fish - What's In Your Pharmacy?

[Antlers]

HI everyone! As I'm cycling my tank and getting back into the hobby after moving to college, I'm trying to stock up on anything I may need in case of emergency, including making a little fish pharmacy. What meds do you keep on-hand at all times? Do you have any specific must-haves, or just the more common things like kanaplex and meth blue? Thanks so much! I'd appreciate plant- and invert-safe formulas if possible.

 

[nikm128]

Kordon rapid cure for ich is a good thing to have around. That and a de wormer at least

 

[abarb]

I don’t keep any because they expire and my lfs and amazon have them available so I can buy them. But if they are not usually available then I would do something like general cure or polyguard.

 

[Ramsey]

HI everyone! As I'm cycling my tank and getting back into the hobby after moving to college, I'm trying to stock up on anything I may need in case of emergency, including making a little fish pharmacy. What meds do you keep on-hand at all times? Do you have any specific must-haves, or just the more common things like kanaplex and meth blue? Thanks so much! I'd appreciate plant- and invert-safe formulas if possible.

I like aquarium salt because it’s pretty cheap and you can use it for a few things like ich and funguses

 

[Rtessy]

Kanaplex, methylene blue, prazipro, and aquarium salt

 

[stella1979]

Indeed, Kanaplex and Meth Blue. I keep Paraguard on hand for parasitic issues on more sensitive fish... but for those that can take it, I prefer Kordon's Rid Ich Plus. Strong stuff. Paraguard contains malachite green, as does Rid Ich, but Rid Ich also contains formalin, which is strong but effective against some of the harder to fight parasites, like Brooklynella, something we deal with in salty fish.

Meds do expire, but not for a couple of years, and I had a terrible experience once with a community tank, which I was totally unprepared for. Thus, I do keep medicines around. Here's what's in my war chest.

Kanaplex (as far as I know, this is very strong and difficult on the liver. A trusted advisor told me once that a fish should not be treated with this more often than once a year. I've used it once and prefer others if they'll work against whatever the issue is.)
Sulfaplex (a gentler antibiotic than Kana and very effective against septicemia in my experience)
Focus (a binder used for making medicated fish food)
Metroplex (this is what I use for medicating food to target internal/gut parasites)
PraziPro
Jungle Fungus Cure (Nitrofurazone)
Paraguard
Rid Ich Plus
Copper + a copper test kit (For salty parasites)
Clove Oil (sadly, this is for euthanasia, which is one of the hardest things I've had to do... but when my oldest, favorite fish was suffering terribly, it felt like a kindness even as I cried while administering it.)

 

[coralbandit]

Potassium permanganate .

 

[AvalancheDave]

I don’t keep any because they expire and my lfs and amazon have them available so I can buy them. But if they are not usually available then I would do something like general cure or polyguard.

When dealing with something like Columnaris, a delay of even a few hours can be fatal. Dry medications don't really expire.

Clove Oil (sadly, this is for euthanasia, which is one of the hardest things I've had to do... but when my oldest, favorite fish was suffering terribly, it felt like a kindness even as I cried while administering it.)

Add some alcohol (Everclear) to make the clove oil soluble in water.

 

[abarb]

When dealing with something like Columnaris, a delay of even a few hours can be fatal. Dry medications don't really expire.

I haven’t had any columnaris or any disease that is hard to treat so I am just saying what I do

 

[AvalancheDave]

I haven’t had any columnaris or any disease that is hard to treat so I am just saying what I do

There's still no downside to having medications on hand. You can wait for sales, buy in bulk, and not have to pay for expedited shipping. There's also a small chance that a drug may be changed to prescription-only.

 

[ItsLadyJadey]

I currently have methylene blue, API general cure, microbe-lift artemiss and herbtana (these are just some herbal preventatives like pimafix and melafix), freshwater salt, and tetra lifeguard.
It's not the best as I do need to get a few other things just in case but for now this is what I've kept up on. I've come across too many problems since I started to not keep a stock of these things. (I equate it to bad luck, really I do.)

 

[Ravynn]

What would be the most important to have? Canada has discontinued a lot of meds so I want to make sure I get the most required...

I have Prazipro which I use as a preventative and I have Kanaplex in storage.