FYI ........
Metro applied via feed should only be done based on the fishes weight, and should never be fed for 30 days straight.
Bassleer (1983) recommended metronidazole (Flagyl) as an effective drug for the treatment of hexamitiasis and spironucleosis with a dosage of 500 mg/100 l of water for a 3-day period. Stoskopf (1988) recommended 10 mg of metronidazole mixed into 1.0 g of food given to fish for 5 days.
Dr. Edward J Noga suggests
1. Bath
a. Add 19mg/gallon and treat for 3 hours. Repeat every other day for 3 treatments.
2. Prolonged Immersion
a. Add 25mg/gallon and treat once daily for a total of 3 times.
b. Add 95mg/gallon and treat every other day for three days.
3. via feed
25 mg/Kg of body weight/day for 5 to 10 days, or 100 mg/kg of body weight for 3 days. Retreat once if required.
Dr. Ruth Francis-Floyd et al recommend feeding 50 mg/kg of body weight for 5 consecutive days, or via a bath at a concentration of 5 mg/l every other day for a total of 3 treatments.
These are not some random postings by joe blow hobbyist on some fish forum. These recommendations including dosage rates that have been used sucessfully in Metronidazole baths, were given by some of the leading authorities on aquatic medicine in the world.
Dr. Gerald Bassleer, is one of the leading international fish pathologists and has been active for more than 30 years in the international fish trade. As a biologist he specialised in fish diseases (ichthyophathology) while studying at various universities (Antwerp/Belgium, Maracay/Venezuela, Athens/Georgia/USA, Stiling/Scotland and Stuttgart-Hohenheim/Germany). In addition to his scientific activities he worked for major wholesalers in Belgium, USA, The Netherlands and Germany.
Dr. Edward J. Noga, MS, DVM, is a highly respected professor of aquatic medicine and immunology, that has been published approx 150 times in related papers/journals. His lab at NC State University specializes in the study of infectious diseases of finfish and shellfish. His book, Fish Disease: Diagnosis and Treatment is the go to "health" book for every serious fish keeper and aquatuc DVM on the planet.
Dr. Ruth Francis-Floyd MS, DVM, is a highly respected Certified Fish Pathologist, and Professor and Director of the Aquatic Animal Health program at the University of Florida. Dr. Ruth has probably seen, and treated more cases of Spironucleus/Hexamita than everyone on MFK put together, as for many years she was the go to person for the commercial fish farmers in the State of Florida.
On a personal note, I have saved the life of a number of fish infected with Spironucleus using Metronidazole in a bath solution, when those fish were no longer accepting food. IMO it is not the most ideal treatment for Spironucleus, but to state that "They cannot absorb enough metro thru their gills to be effective." or "Metro is only effective when fed.", is based on nothing but ignorance, and I suspect limited experience in the proper manner in which to treat fish that suffer from this ailment.
This discussion is not about Metronidazole, nor am I interested in discussing that subject any further. Feel free to use metro however you see fit.
Cheers!
