Aquatic Antibiotics - Are They More Or Less The Same As Human Ones?

[joko]

they are named amoxycillin, metronidazole etc - which are the same as human ones.

whats the difference - besides dosage?

i'm just wondering if i can use a few left over penicillin to treat a fish tank.

cheers

[woofgang]

Are you sure that what the fish have will be cured by penecillin? Also how will you know what dose to put in the tank?

[wildwood]

How have you determined that the fish need antibiotics?

[joko]

not yet, waiting to see if other things work

i will research details when needed.

just need to know if theyre the same thing or are some special fish formula

[wildwood]

ok, yes, it is the same stuff. The amoxicillin dose for humans is strictly regulated, so if you get the dosage right for fish it is ok. Don't under any circumstances use the pet stuff for humans as the correct strength is unlikely to be accurate.

[divegirl]

Whats actually wrong with the fish Joko?

Lisa x

[lankeela]

lol @ wildwood - think there would be far more danger to fish using the human dose than there would be to humans using a fish dose!

[wildwood]

^^ Think about what you've just said. If anti-biotics for humans are 20mg you can be pretty sure it is between 19mg and 21mg. Medicines for fish may have have or double concentration in it as it is not regulated. Pet medicines for a 50gallon tank will require more than one human does so you could easily ingest multiple doses and bugger up your digestive enzymes.

I can't believe that I need to explain this to someone who works with dogs daily.