medicated foods

[fishmaven]

When I last ran a fishstore

I used a food formula when I rx'd a new shipment. It included a prophylactic treatment of an

antibiotic and antiparasite too. I used a freshly opened canned food as a base, added powdered

spirulina, some crushed krill or small shrimps and some liquid baby vitamins. I wanted vitamins B6

and B12 in large amounts so I drug myself to a store I hated, Walmart, and bought a jar of B150

whenever I was low on supply. I made up about a quart sized can of this and fed this under I ran

out. I did this feeding in additon to daily water changes on the new stuff until I was certain they

were okay. Then I dropped the new from the catagory and treated them as store stock.

I

started this post to get you to think about what you do and to get you to post for others to

utilize ytour experiences.

What meds do you use?? What foods do you use?? Why??

'Cause it's cheap isn't good enough a reason to post it here. If you use a product

because you think it's better that other products, that's what we want to know.

I don't want to name manufacturers because I've had relationships with some but YOU

can.

[maddog10]

I have all Africans and

one thing I do as preventative maintenance on my fish is feed them MediKoi for 7 days about every 2

months. Just as a precaution. Costs a little more but a large bag goes a long way. Probably

don't need to do it but it sure doesn't seem to hurt. Have not had a sick fish yet (knock

on wood).

[fishmaven]

<!--quoteo

(post=1463:date=Jul 6 2006, 08:28 PM:name=maddog10)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(maddog10

@ Jul 6 2006, 08:28 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1463"><{POST_SNAPBACK}

></a></div><div class='quotemain'>I have all Africans and one thing I do as

preventative maintenance on my fish is feed them MediKoi for 7 days about every 2 months. Just as a

precaution. Costs a little more but a large bag goes a long way. Probably don't need to do it

but it sure doesn't seem to hurt. Have not had a sick fish yet (knock on wood).<!--QuoteEnd--

></div>
Who makes MediKoi? What meds does it contain? When you buy a bg bag

how do you keep it fresh?? Dan

[maddog10]

MediKoi is the brand name

(don't have a bag around to check the manufacturer). It is used to help fight bacterial and

fungal diseases. Contains ROMET (sulfadimethoxine & ormetoprim sulfa), oxolinic acis and

kanamycin. I usually get a three pound bag and immediately transfer the contents into about 20

smaller vaccum sealed bags and keep them on the shelf. Just go thru one small bag about every two

months. Small bag lasts about 7 - 10 days when fed daily.

[fishmaven]

<!--quoteo

(post=1466:date=Jul 7 2006, 05:20 AM:name=maddog10)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(maddog10

@ Jul 7 2006, 05:20 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1466"><{POST_SNAPBACK}

></a></div><div class='quotemain'>MediKoi is the brand name (don't have a bag

around to check the manufacturer). It is used to help fight bacterial and fungal diseases. Contains

ROMET (sulfadimethoxine & ormetoprim sulfa), oxolinic acis and kanamycin. I usually get a three

pound bag and immediately transfer the contents into about 20 smaller vaccum sealed bags and keep

them on the shelf. Just go thru one small bag about every two months. Small bag lasts about 7 - 10

days when fed daily.</div>
Rather than keeping your foods on

the shelf, to get better life from foods, especially when buying large quantities, after removing a

small quantity for shortterm use, store the rest in the FREEZER. Not the 'fridge. You can do

flakes or pellets this way. FYI, the moisture in the 'fridge promotes fungal growths. This is

especially important with medicated foods. Dan

[maddog10]

Dan,

The

MediKoi food that I use has a very specific warning that says to not freeze or refrigerate.

Probably has something to do with the medicines that are incorporated into the foods.

[fishmaven]

<!--quoteo

(post=1469:date=Jul 7 2006, 08:55 PM:name=maddog10)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(maddog10

@ Jul 7 2006, 08:55 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1469"><{POST_SNAPBACK}

></a></div><div class='quotemain'>Dan,

The MediKoi food that I use has a

very specific warning that says to not freeze or refrigerate. Probably has something to do with the

medicines that are incorporated into the foods.</div>
I can

understand the deal about not refrigerating. I'll have to look into the not freezing though.

Right now I can't come up with a reason not to freeze. I could if the meds were liquid but as a

solid already in the food...?
Dan

[fishmaven]

<!--quoteo

(post=1474:date=Jul 7 2006, 11:20 PM:name=fishmaven)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(fishmaven

@ Jul 7 2006, 11:20 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1474"><{POST_SNAPBACK}

></a></div><div class='quotemain'>I can understand the deal about not

refrigerating. I'll have to look into the not freezing though. Right now I can't come up

with a reason not to freeze. I could if the meds were liquid but as a solid already in the

food...?
Dan</div>
Recently the topic of medicated foods

came up in another thread. Because of this, I looked up Medi-Koi using Google. A California

company, North Bay Ponds and Water, in Napa, has a good info sheet on the medicated product. They

say " Medi-Koi is to be fed to SICK or STRESSED fish ONLY, then for at least 10 days."

(They did the capitalization) So, it's not to be used as a preventative. I'd qualify new

arrivals as "stressed" so you could probably consider it of benefit on new arrivals. They

also suggest that the product should be used within six months even if kept in an airtight

container in a dry, cool and dark place. I couldn't find any mention of refrigeration or

freezing on any of several spec sheets I found. I did NOT read an actual bag of the product.

I'd probably use a food can and separate a small quantity for use, then freeze the remainder.

The active meds include ROMET (ROMET 30?) (sulfamethoxine and ormetoprim sulfa), Oxolinic acid and

Kanacyn.
A couple of additional notes:
1. In order for medicated food to be successful it

needs to be fed at certain levels. NBP&W states the usual is 3% of body weight and suggests

that Medi-Koi can be fed at 1% and still accomplish the same results. This makes it cheaper than

some alternatives and easier to use. Sick and stressed fish rarely have a good appetite. At 1%

it's possible to force feed a single fish or small numbers of fish. (USDA recommends Romet 30

at 50mg/kg (5%) of body weight for 5 days.)
2. NBP&W also stressed not overfeeding the

product. I'd remind any readers that overfeeding ANY foods tends to foul the water and adds to

the already high levels of stress in confined spaces. When using foods rich in nutrients or

medicated foods water changes and trash/debris removal is even more important than normal. Dan