Testers needed! New medicated fish food options

[jmetzger72 6,976]

I think most experts agree that Metronidazole food works better than water borne Metro, so I want to try Ken's Metro pellets in combination with Prazi.  But, that's another thread

Edited April 5, 2016 by Jared

[Arctic Mama 3,641]

Yes but oxytetracycline and metro are 2 out of the 3 meds in MetroMeds. I'd like to see how a combo of those 2 work . . .

I think if the oxy works well we can talk about doing two types but there isn't another commercial food I've seen that had them precombined and isn't a floating pellet. It's a lot more to ask people to buy two foods and combine them than one inexpensive option, you know what I mean? I'm open to doing all sorts of combos and finding the best but I just want data on this one first - I think it may be sensible to sell them combined under resale later but unless we are compounding and extruding the food ourselves we are in a tight spot.

[Eddie 48]

Hi all.

Not sure if this food counts but I just picked up NLS Hex Shield.

Read the ingredients and it has metronidazole.

 

My black ranchu looks to have puffy eyes...not sure if it's the start of popeye.

 

Let me know what you think and if it's info you could use.

[Arctic Mama 3,641]

Hi all.

Not sure if this food counts but I just picked up NLS Hex Shield.

Read the ingredients and it has metronidazole.

My black ranchu looks to have puffy eyes...not sure if it's the start of popeye.

Let me know what you think and if it's info you could use.

Hi Eddie. If you haven't already, please start a new thread for your ranchu and we can address the best course of action there, where we have more details

[Eddie 48]

Thanks Taryl.

It was more a post to see if you considered the Hex as medicated food and if you wanted any info in regards to the product.

To see if the results were needed if positive.

I should've been more clear.

 

[Arctic Mama 3,641]

I haven't had much experience with NLS's medicated line but the main active ingredients are Epsom salt, imidazole (an anti-fungal), and metronidazole, in that order. The volume of medication and duration of feeding leaves me worried about the efficacy, not to mention the overall dose and suspected volume of ingredients (insufficient). It could be better than nothing, but more highly medicated small batch foods would be my go to. Also, I am testing for something specific in this case, whether the food borne oxytetracycline is sufficient to handle dropsy on its own.

It might not be bad to have on hand but for freshness alone I wouldn't trust it in an emergency case. For a slow wasting parasite? Maaaaybe, but I'd be more likely to use leva or paraguard. I'm not sure it is good enough at any one thing to consider using but if enough members have used and liked it we may consider a test?

[Arctic Mama 3,641]

My stuff came yesterday, by the way. The 3 oz bag is surprisingly big! I ordered the kanamycin food as well for consideration in tough infections, so we shall see how these perform alone and together. I have a fish showing long term lethargy and floating issues I'm going to dose with the oxy - he has that look or slightly puffiness that often comes before true dropsy.

[Eddie 48]

Ok very cool. Gotcha. Glad you all are doing this. It'll be an invaluable tool for us gf keepers!

Ed

<')))><

[jmetzger72 6,976]

i got my oxytetracycline sinking pellets from Ken's fish earlier this week.  1 lb came in two 1/2 tightly sealed bags which will help keep it fresh.  The pellets are a good size and not at all crumbly in the bag.  I need to contact him regarding the feeding instructions as there are none on the bag.

[mjfromga 1,785]

I got my Ken's pellets today. I've gotta say, they're a big ugly pellet. Rhonda and Abanayabar cannot eat a pellet this large. Nericon doesn't like big pellets so would only eat a few. Soaking medicated food seems to render it useless, so I don't even see how I could administer these. I can't viably break and soaking them to meticulously cut them will ruin the medication. I could only give these to Slate, and as Slate is the strongest fish I own, I doubt she'd be the first to need them. They are also quite filler loaded, which tends to make my Rhonda float. I'm actually not sure there's a point in me keeping these...

Edited April 9, 2016 by mjfromga

[jmetzger72 6,976]

I got my Ken's pellets today. I've gotta say, they're a big ugly pellet. Rhonda and Abanayabar cannot eat a pellet this large. Nericon doesn't like big pellets so would only eat a few. Soaking medicated food seems to render it useless, so I don't even see how I could administer these. I can't viably break and soaking them to meticulously cut them will ruin the medication. I could only give these to Slate, and as Slate is the strongest fish I own, I doubt she'd be the first to need them. They are also quite filler loaded, which tends to make my Rhonda float. I'm actually not sure there's a point in me keeping these...

These are the same size as Metro Meds.  I've seen plenty of small fish gobble pellets of this size up.  You can also chop them in half

Edited April 9, 2016 by Jared

[mjfromga 1,785]

I've tried to feed NLS Thera A large fish pellets to them, and they can't eat them. I'm pretty sure they're the same size as these pellets. Keep in mind that Rhonda is 22 grams and Abanayabar is 10 grams. So they're more of tiny fish, not small ones. I don't see how I can cut them... They're too small to cut. Also, as for MetroMeds, I got my first two goldies last October, I would know nothing of MetroMeds.

[jmetzger72 6,976]

I've tried to feed NLS Thera A large fish pellets to them, and they can't eat them. I'm pretty sure they're the same size as these pellets. Keep in mind that Rhonda is 22 grams and Abanayabar is 10 grams. So they're more of tiny fish, not small ones. I don't see how I can cut them... They're too small to cut. Also, as for MetroMeds, I got my first two goldies last October, I would know nothing of MetroMeds.

Try crushing them and then offering them in a feeding ring.  The metro meds comment was for everyone reading as a point of reference

Edited April 10, 2016 by Jared

[mjfromga 1,785]

Gotcha via the Metro Meds comment. What is a feeding ring for fish? Where can I get one? (Going to try and Google now, excuse my noobery).

[jmetzger72 6,976]

Gotcha via the Metro Meds comment. What is a feeding ring for fish? Where can I get one? (Going to try and Google now, excuse my noobery).

http://www.amazon.com/Lee%60s-Aquarium-Cone-Worm-Feeder/dp/B002DZE9T8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1460249820&sr=8-1&keywords=lees+feeding+ring

 

The ring will keep the crushed medicated pellets or flakes from going all over the tank.  The fish can be trained to find their food in the same spot daily.  This increases the chance of the fish eating all the food quickly before it gets lost or too waterlogged.  The cone is removable and is good for offering frozen bloodworms.

Edited April 10, 2016 by Jared

[mjfromga 1,785]

Awesome. I'm headed to Petco tomorrow. If I can't find it there, I'll order one. Thanks!

[koko 14,366]

I had to crush the progold to feed to my fish. Just crush them a bit and there shouldnt be a problem hun

[Bmitchell486 554]

Hey Taryl, you mentioned at first you were wanting to gather information on medicated food.  I'm not sure if this is the right time to post this, but I figured I'd pass along the results from my medicated food use:

 

Medicated Food: Antibiotic II flakes

Fish treated: Ryukin (almost 6 years old)

Fish Symptoms: He was bottom sitting and lethargic for a few weeks prior to treatment.  He started slightly leaning to one side so I started treatment.  For one day during QT he had slight dropsy, but it was gone the next day.

Treatment: 10 gal QT tank, .1% salt. 30 days in QT with 100% water change everyday.  Treatment started with 14 days of Mardel Maricyn Two, but he was still lethargic and bottom sitting after 2 weeks.  Then took all meds out of the water and fed exclusively Antibiotic II (currently on day 8 of 10).

Results: He is 100% improved.  No longer bottom sitting, no longer lethargic.  He readily ate the food.

 

Another note -- the food arrived to my doorstep in 2 days, and it was packaged very nicely.  I was worried that the flakes would be crushed in the mail, but it was in a box with packing peanuts so the food was in perfect condition when it arrived.  I got the 8oz bag and have a ton of food left over.  If anyone in the US needs this food but can't afford it, I'd be happy to mail them some.

Edited April 19, 2016 by Bmitchell486

[jmetzger72 6,976]

Testing Ken's Fish Oxytetracycline Sinking Pellets.  No directions on product and no response to my calls, emails and Facebook inquiries.  They have been getting a lot of negative reviews lately on customer service, though the reviews for this actual product are good.  So, I am going by the 1% of fish body weight per day rule which is standard for similar foods.  These pellets are slightly smaller than Metro Meds and are very uniform in size.  After weighing, I found that 50 pellets = 1 gram.  So a 100 gram fish would need 50 pellets, a 50 gram fish would need 25 pellets, etc.  Mikado weighs 227 grams, so he needs more

[Eddie 48]

Funny thing.  I ended up buying from Angel's plus even though I live in Canada.  Was cheaper with shipping than the all the other US foods.  The Angelfins in Canada was out of stock.  Ken's fish shipping alone for 2 types of food cost the same as the food and shipping to me in Canada from Angel's Plus.

[Arctic Mama 3,641]

Thanks for the feedback guys! Keep it coming

[mjfromga 1,785]

I fed Kens Oxytetracycline pellets to a floating and surface gulping fish. She would eat and then surface gulp until she couldn't swim anymore. Once her food digested and passed, she'd stop floating. It DID NOT matter what type of food I fed her. This Kens food fed exclusively for several days stopped the problem in its tracks. She eats normal food fine now and hasn't floated since. I don't know if it was this food or if she passed the obstruction that may have been causing the issue with no help from this food, but figured I'd report anyway. BTW - she absolutely LOVED these pellets. They're about the same size as NLS Thera A large fish, which she absolutely can't stand. She's a 5" 70 gram calico fantail. She also took some wormer flakes, but the floating stopped before she got the flakes.

[jmetzger72 6,976]

I fed Kens Oxytetracycline pellets to a floating and surface gulping fish. She would eat and then surface gulp until she couldn't swim anymore. Once her food digested and passed, she'd stop floating. It DID NOT matter what type of food I fed her. This Kens food fed exclusively for several days stopped the problem in its tracks. She eats normal food fine now and hasn't floated since. I don't know if it was this food or if she passed the obstruction that may have been causing the issue with no help from this food, but figured I'd report anyway. BTW - she absolutely LOVED these pellets. They're about the same size as NLS Thera A large fish, which she absolutely can't stand. She's a 5" 70 gram calico fantail. She also took some wormer flakes, but the floating stopped before she got the flakes.

Yeah, Mikado likes them too 

[amoonklein 1,212]

I'm game to get supplies an provide feedback. 

 

I've previously ordered Antiprotozoan Fish Flakes from Angel's Plus as part of a springtime preventative treatment on my fish (the treatment ECR does on her goldies) and was a happy customer.  Shipping was quick, the items were packed well, and goldfish loved the flakes.

 

I placed an order for Antibiotic I & II and I ordered a 1/2 lb. bag from Ken's Fish.  Never hurts to have stuff on hand for those just in case moments.  Besides, if I never end up using it... hooray?!.  I'm also happy to give some to a kokos member that may need it

[jmetzger72 6,976]

Update on Ken's Fish Oxytetracycline Sinking Pellets:

 

I tried these to treat what appears to bacterial hemorrhagic septicemia on my Oranda (Red veins, necrosis and hemorrhages of the caudal fin).  Ken's Fish claims this food treats this condition.  After 7-days, the condition remains the same and now he has a new red blotch on his wen.  In addition, the food really clouds the water when feeding 1% body weight to a fish of this size.  I also think the residue from the food has set back my filter because I'm reading ammonia.  This brings me to my other negative review.  There are no directions on the food.  I went by a standard from texts I've read (1% body weight for 10 days).  I tried contacting Ken's fish via email, phone and through their Facebook page and got no replies.  Helen has also reached out with no success.  They also have several bad reviews on their Facebook page for poor customer service.  

 

So, I am switching to my old standby which is Kanaplex + Furan-2.  Hopefully, I have not wasted precious time on this food.

Edited May 13, 2016 by Jared