Jessican
Sheriff
- Location
- San Antonio, TX
***If you have any additional tips or know of sites to order from in various countries, PLEASE reply to this thread so that I can add the information to the OP!***
Unfortunately, the medications that we tend to recommend here are difficult (or impossible) to come by outside of the US. It can be costly or even illegal to attempt to import these medications, so below is a compilation of medication information for various international regions. In many areas, non-medicated treatment options maybe be the best course of action:
Canada
UK
Guidelines and detailed dosage information can be found in @Salmo Si's threads Emergency Disease Fighting 101 and Internal Parasites and nphsmith's thread My Prophylactic Quarantine Regime at Ultimate Reef. The brief info below was pulled from these two threads and is used with permission.
Note: Some of this information may apply to Europe in general, but it is mostly applicable specifically to the UK.
Thanks to @doc for providing additional information on the medication available in Australia: "I wanted to add the following for Australia currently available without prescription locally and without needing to look outside of solutions directly intended for aquarium use." And thanks to @Autonomy for providing additional sources for some of these meds.
As noted previously, if attempting to import medications, plan ahead as noted in the introduction as they may get delayed by customs.
If Cupramine becomes unavailable as mentioned above, the following DIY copper medication will be your best bet:
Asia
Thanks to @Sealala for helping to provide this information. Many medications are difficult to get in Asia, but Seachem and API products seem to be readily available, along with a few others:
Unfortunately, the medications that we tend to recommend here are difficult (or impossible) to come by outside of the US. It can be costly or even illegal to attempt to import these medications, so below is a compilation of medication information for various international regions. In many areas, non-medicated treatment options maybe be the best course of action:
- Hybrid Tank Transfer Method (prophylactic QT method to treat all external parasites)
- Hyposalinity (for gill flukes and ich)
- Peroxide Dosing for Parasites in Reef Tank (for treatment when removing the fish from the DT isn't an option)
Canada
- DIY copper medication (copper sulfate) treats ich and velvet. This has a low, tight therapeutic range of ~0.15 - 0.25mg/L and is best used alongside the Hanna High Range Copper Colorimeter (HI702) to ensure accuracy, but the ingredients to make it can be easily sourced from Amazon.
- Thanks to @andrewkw for this source of medications for Canadians in Ontario: Canadian Fish Vet
- Also thanks to @EAChris for this source for fenbendazole: Pets Drug Mart
- Other medications may still be orderable from the US, but plan ahead as mentioned above as they may get delayed by customs as noted by @mikeintoronto: Medication ban in Canada.
- Edit to add additional information from @mikeintoronto: "Importing meds from the US (or anywhere) into Canada is not allowed. The Health Canada regulations are very clear about who, what, and how this is done but if you get them through it’s solely based on the ignorance of customs. The regulations were clarified shortly after my original post. It is much less ambiguous." Refer to these guidelines for more information: Guidance Document on the Import Requirements for Health Products under the Food and Drugs Act and its Regulations (GUI-0084)
UK
Guidelines and detailed dosage information can be found in @Salmo Si's threads Emergency Disease Fighting 101 and Internal Parasites and nphsmith's thread My Prophylactic Quarantine Regime at Ultimate Reef. The brief info below was pulled from these two threads and is used with permission.
Note: Some of this information may apply to Europe in general, but it is mostly applicable specifically to the UK.
- Avloclor (chloroquine phosphate) can be obtained via prescription, and treats ich, velvet, brooklynella, and uronema. Dosage is 10mg per 1L of saltwater.
- Seachem Cupramine (ionic copper) treats ich and velvet. Therapeutic dosage is 0.5ppm, but this must be reached slowly and should be checked frequently.
- Copper Power (chelated copper) treats ich and velvet. Therapeutic dosage is 2.0-2.5ppm, more info available here
- Waterlife Myxazin (acriflavine, malachite green and formaldehyde) is used to fight bacterial infections. Often used to increase the effectiveness of a freshwater dip; dosage is 0.5mL per 3L of dip water.
- NT Labs Acriflavin (acriflavine) is used as a 90min bath treatment for brooklynella (similar to Ruby Reef Rally). Dosage is 7.5mL per 1L of saltwater.
- Sera Tremazol (praziquantel) treats flukes and worms. Used as a 6 hour bath treatment at a dosage of 1mL per 11L of saltwater.
- An alternative to Tramazol is Fluke Solve(praziquantel), which is dosed directly into a reef or QT vs. being used as a bath treatment. Dosage is 1g per 250L (55g) of saltwater. Treatment chart provided by @Wyster:
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- Another alternative to praziquantel is Panacur (fenbendazole). Note: NOT reef safe, even when bound to food. Use only in a QT setting.
- For internal parasites, dosage is 2mg/litre once a week for 3 weeks.
- For flukes, it is used as a 12 hour bath treatment at a dosage of 25mg per 1L of saltwater, and the fish would need to go into a clean tank after to prevent reinfection.
- @Wyster's local source for Methylene Blue (treats ammonia burn, cuts, cyanide poisoning, more info here)
- Vitamin options: Waterlife Vitazin (contains vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, B12, C, nicotinic acid, D3, E, K, & panthotenic acid) and Selcon (contains highly unsaturated OMEGA 3 fatty acids, Marine Lipids, Stabilized Vitamin C, and Vitamin B12 Cyanocobalamin). Both are good as food additives, along with powdered spirulina. Vitazin can also be dosed directly in the water.
- Formalin: Formaldehyde 37% ACS (preferred because concentration is known) or NT Labs Koi Care Formaldehyde
Thanks to @doc for providing additional information on the medication available in Australia: "I wanted to add the following for Australia currently available without prescription locally and without needing to look outside of solutions directly intended for aquarium use." And thanks to @Autonomy for providing additional sources for some of these meds.
- Aquasonic Formalin (does contain the required 37% Formaldehyde but also has Malachite Green) or Wunder Formalin (which does not contain Malachite Green)
- AQUASONIC Methylene Blue or Wunder Methylene Blue
- Blue Planet Fluke and Tapeworm (Praziquantel) or Praziquantel tablets or Hikari PraziPro
- Seachem Cupramine (ionic copper) treats ich and velvet. Therapeutic dosage is 0.5ppm, but this must be reached slowly and should be checked frequently (currently still available at shops but may become unavailable soon)
- Copper Power (chelated copper) treats ich and velvet. Therapeutic dosage is 2.0-2.5ppm, more info available here
- Aquasonic Oodonex (Copper Sulfate)
- Tri-Sulfa (similar treatment to Triple Sulfa)
- 3% Hydrogen Peroxide
- Seachem Metroplex
- Seachem Focus
- Fenbendazole (Canine Dewormer)
- Seachem Kanaplex
- Seachem Paraguard
- API General Cure
- Ruby Reef Rally Pro on Amazon and on Desertcart Australia (free delivery to Australia as of May 8th, 2022)
- The Tech Den offers the following Blue Planet medication in tablet form:
- 100mg Praziquantel – ‘Blue Planet Fluke & Tapeworm Tablets’.
- Tetracycline Hydrochloride (broad-spectrum antibiotic) – ‘Blue Planet Aquari-Cycline Tablets’.
- 37mg/L Formaldehyde & 0.32mg/mL Malachite Green – ‘Blue Planet Rapid White Spot Remedy’.
- 0.40mg/mL Malachite Green & 4.00mg/mL Methylene Blue & 2.00mg/mL Acriflavine – ‘Blue Planet Multi-Cure’.
- 20mg Trichlorfon (for external Parasites, Gill & Fin flukes) – ‘Blue Planet Para-Cide’.
As noted previously, if attempting to import medications, plan ahead as noted in the introduction as they may get delayed by customs.
If Cupramine becomes unavailable as mentioned above, the following DIY copper medication will be your best bet:
- DIY copper medication (copper sulfate) treats ich and velvet. This has a low, tight therapeutic range of ~0.15 - 0.25mg/L and is best used alongside the Hanna High Range Copper Colorimeter (HI702) to ensure accuracy, but the ingredients to make it can be easily sourced from Amazon.
Asia
Thanks to @Sealala for helping to provide this information. Many medications are difficult to get in Asia, but Seachem and API products seem to be readily available, along with a few others:
- Seachem Cupramine (ionic copper) treats ich and velvet. Therapeutic dosage is 0.5ppm, but this must be reached slowly and should be checked frequently.
- Seachem Metroplex/Kanaplex/Sulfaplex/Neoplex, API Erythromycin/Furan-2 (antibiotics), used for treating bacterial infections. Dosages and treatment guidelines vary and can be found in the Antibiotics thread.
- Seachem Focus (for binding medications to food)
- API General Cure (metronidazole and praziquantel), dosed directly into QT water for treating flukes and external worms, and food-soaked for treating Internal Parasites
- Ruby Reef Rally (acriflavine and formalin) is used as a 90min bath treatment for brooklynella and temporary relief of velvet. Dosage is 1 teaspoon per 1g of saltwater.
- Waterlife Myxazin (acriflavine, malachite green and formaldehyde) is used to fight bacterial infections. Often used to increase the effectiveness of a freshwater dip; dosage is 0.5mL per 3L of dip water.
- Retail stores in and shipping to Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand; retail stores also in Vietnam & Philippines: Buy Aquarium Fish Medications at Pet Lovers Centre Singapore
- Based in Singapore, but ships globally: Fresh N Marine | No. 1 Choice Online Aquarium Shop
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