Where do I find these Antibiotics?

J

jazz

Guest
I have noticed an exponential increase in larvae death with my T karelinii babies. I have non-painkilling neosporin here in front of me that contains neomycin, polymyxin B sulfates, and bacitracin Zinc. Will that work? if so how do I administer it?

Please let me know ASAP where to find any of the meds listed on the articles page (also below) and how to administer them!!! Thanks! I'm really worried!

Methylene Blue – used to treat fungus on eggs

Kanamycin – broad-spectrum antibiotic

Nitrofurazone – broad-spectrum antibiotic

Furan-2 – broad-spectrum antibiotic (combination of nitrofurazone, furazolidone, and methylene blue)
 
Why do you think antibiotics would help? I seriously doubt it. Water quality, food, and oxygen are probably more to blame. What is your nitrate/nitrite/ammonia levels? when was the last water change and how much? did you change food sources? is there dead brine shrimp fouling the water?

if you have ruled all that out, then by all means start dumping antibiotics in there in a last ditch effort, but I would not reccomend it. A fish store is your best bet for this, but I have no suggestions as to what to actually buy as there is really no telling what is going on. And even with the right antibiotic it coudl take days for it to start to help and it may be to late by then. So I would just change out 2/3 of the water and hope for the best.
 
Hello Jazz
Could you give us more detail on how you are keeping your larvas please. That may help us
in giving you advice.

(Message edited by alberto_hernandez on October 14, 2006)
 
Ok, I just changed tanks and water for the little guys. It probably was dead brine shrimp fouling the water. I will keep it cleaner from now on. I'll check the amonia level right now. Thanks.
 
If any more are dead tomorrow, based on my experience with karelinii, I do recommend putting at least some of them into antiobiotic solution. I have been forced to treat karelinii, as well as M. alpestris, in order to stop massive larval die-offs. I do try to rule out all other causes of death before I resort to this.

Get to your local pet shop ASAP. Get any wide-spectrum antibiotic made for fish, and use it at the recommended dose. The one I have used is called Spectrogram (nitrofurazone + kanamycin).

The products usually come in tablets/capsules that treat 10 gallons. You can mix the tablet into 1 gallon of water in a jug, then use this "concentrate" to make the correct dilution. If this doesn't make sense, tell me and I'll explain in a more step by step manner.

If you are hesitant about using these products, try administering it only to one small group of larvae.

(Message edited by jennewt on October 15, 2006)
 
Hello Jennifer
How well do the antibiotic's that are sold at the Pet stores work and could you name a few more that you would recommend?
I look forward to your reply.
Best wishes to you always!
happy.gif


(Message edited by alberto_hernandez on October 15, 2006)
 
Hi Alberto, the meds listed by Jazz above are the ones I mentioned in this article:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/why_larvae_die.shtml
I really don't have much experience in this department, and hate trying to give recommendations, which is really beyond the scope of my knowledge. Basically, the only thing I would tell you with confidence is... get a wide-spectrum antibiotic (one that combats both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria).

The only antibiotic I have used personally is the Spectrogram. Others that I have "heard of" are what I listed in the article. Additional treatments listed as safe/unsafe can be found in John's axolotl health page:
http://www.axolotl.org/health.htm
 
Hi Jennifer
Thank you for your helpful reply. All of my newts are nice and healthy, but some day I may need to try a antibiotic and is nice to have a good idea of some that I could use if needed.
Once again thank you!
happy.gif
 
A big water change even from bad water to good water can cause die offs. Usually I suspect water quality problems with die offs. From your list I would recommend Furan 2 for a broad spectrum medicine. I use it as a harmless shotgun approach for all aquatic amphibian problems. Normally I use it all full strength but might start at half strength for larvae. I've had great success with Furan 2 When doing water changes I generally do partial water changes.
 
Just google a search you should find lots of places to get them. I get Furan 2 from that Fish Place but it is also available on line from many pet supply companies. I always keep some on hand.
Michael
 
Michael thank you for sharing your experience with Furan 2. I will keep it in mind.
Best wishes to you!
 
Thanks. I did only a partial water change today to get rid of BBS bodies. I'll get some of Jennifer's recommended Spectrogram just in case. Thanks! Ammonia level was 0.25 from my tests. I'm guessing that's Molarity. That isn't a high amount, but it may be for newts.

Thanks! Have a good weekend.
 
I think that level is still too much, and don't worry about changing too much water at this age, I would figure that 2 half water changes back to back would not hurt anything. Make sure the temperature is the same and the disolved oxygen of the new water isn't too high by letting it sit.
 
Your ammonia test should be in ppms which is typically in mg/kg (which if I remember correctly is molality not molarity).

0.25 ppm ammonia is toxic to most freshwater animals and could readily be the cause of your problems.


Ed
 
With measurable ammonia in the tank, I would recommend changing up to 50% of the water every day until ammonia is back to zero. 50% is not enough of a water change to shock them to death, assuming you've been doing frequent partial changes all along.
 
Ok. Apparently people were 'self-medicating'so Spectrogram is no longer sold in California. Thanks lawmakers. That doesn't fix the problem.

So what I did purchase contains these ingredients. I did my best to find things similar to the other antibiotics:
Neomycin sulfate <10%
Methylene Blue <0.5%
proprietary polymer mixture (plastic?)
buffers
EDTA
malachite green chloride <0.01%
cyanocobalamin
and electrolytes

The store workers also suggested tetracycline tablets. Does anyone know if these are effective/harmful in treating newt illnesses?
 
They can't sell you that product, but tetracycline is OK? Aren't desperate people going to self-medicate with that too?? If anything, I would think that more people would be likely to use the tetracycline on themselves, since it's a single-ingredient preparation and most people are familiar with its use in people. Silly lawmakers, indeed.

Sorry to tell you... malachite green is toxic to amphibians. The axolotl health page linked above has a list of safe/unsafe meds, and it's on the "unsafe" list. It contains copper, which is an amphibian toxin.

According to the Amphibian Med book, tetracycline has been used safely as a bath solution for tadpoles. However, it was used after first testing to see if the bacteria present were sensitive to it. There can be the problem that the bacteria are resistant or the wrong kind to be affected by it.
 
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