This is from a page in Dr. Ross's book "Freshwater Stingrays."
He says:
"When injectable antibiotics are not avaiable the most useful anitbiotic is nitrofurazone. This medication does not damage bacterial filters, and is regularly absorbed by the fish when added to the water. dosage is 250mg per 10 gallons. The treatment must be repeated every 3 to 4 days, because the drug breaks down in the water. When treating fish by adding antibiotics to the water, it is necessary to do a 50 percent water change between treatments."
I recommend this drug ALL of the time for stingrays with fungus, disc rot, ulcers, or necrosis. An old legend on here aceface, saved a colony of his worth about 15-20k USD in rare plecos that had cotton fungus and wasting. Didn't lose a single one. It's hard to source and expensive but it has a great place in any fish exotic fish keepers cabinet. Especially with scaleless and senitive fish not tolerating drugs many drugs.
NEVER GIVE A STINGRAY: malachite green, copper OR ivermectin,
Methylene blue, mentioned in the original post is a very unique and interesting drug. It's been used for years in livestock and humans, was a malaria treatment. It stains cells, our cells survive but bacterial, protozoan, fungal and cells inside many parasites have inhibited function and lead to death.
The drug also increases oxygen saturation on a cellular level. Which can be very postive for the specimen being treated. I have seen arowana, with bag gill burn gasping for air, near death. After Methylene blue baths, it regained balance and posture and made a slow but full recovery. I attribute that turnaround to the oxygen saturation of tissues. It's not magical, but it's a useful drug as it's a broad spectrum. will damage bio.
I know you don't want to treat with drugs. I'm not trying to convince you to, I'm just giving you all of the information I know so you can make the best decision for your fish.
jim barry
said it perfect. Only the keeper will ultimately know what's best.
Good luck
