Question about Maracyn2 Saltwater and hillstream loaches

[fain]

I have 7 hillstream loaches in quarantine (6 Gastromyzon, 1 mystery loach) and am suspecting that they may have the beginnings of the 'patchy' disease. I went to the store to pick up some Maracyn-two, but was rather dismayed to only find the saltwater version. I've looked around and it seems that the only difference is that they are 2x the strength of the freshwater counterpart and have an appetite stimulant added. If I do the dosage right, should it be ok for my hillstream loaches?

I haven't found any reason why it shouldn't work yet, but I want to have some feedback before I add this to my tank. There have been people who used Maracyn-two freshwater for their saltwater tanks successfully at least, but is that good enough reason to trust it with my loaches?

[fain]

I did some more reading and have decided to go ahead with the treatment. Time for my 'Here goes nothing!' approach. I'll keep updating throughout the treatment.

[Jim Powers]

Good luck!!! Be sure to monitor them carefully. You might also want to add startup bacteria to the tank after you are finished treatment in case the strength of the antibiotic does a number on the bacteria in the tank. I know its not supposed to, but remember this stuff is for saltwater.

[fain]

I've got some spare media in my other tank that I can use. Thanks for the suggestion!

So far, they are doing well. They are all still shuffling around the tank, eating well and defending their chosen rocks.

[fain]

I finished the first treatment and six of my loaches are doing well. There are still some patchy areas, so I'm going for the full ten day treatment. I did loose one loach, though it wasn't due to the meds. One of my smaller Gastromyzon wedged himself between a few rocks and got stuck. I found him while I was doing the water change, but it was too late. I've since spaced all of the rocks out and added more sand so that they can't worm their way underneath anything.

There seems to have been no problems caused by using the Saltwater Maracyn 2, so I can tentatively say that it is loach-safe.
The last treatment will be later this week and I hope that all of my little ones are better by then.

[Jim Powers]

That's good news!

[fain]

Finished the treatment and the loaches have colored up beautifully and gained weight. I didn't realize how thin they were until I took a look at them today and saw how much weight they had gained. I give my thumbs up for the Saltwater Maracyn 2. The extra vitamin that stimulates appetite probably helped a bundle with their weight gain.

[Jim Powers]

Very interesting! I suggest you might want to email the company about this. They might want to add the appetite stimulant to other products.