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Re: Penicillin



In a message dated 10/7/2000 12:57:12 Pacific Daylight Time, 
Aquatic-Plants-Owner at actwin_com writes:

> I added penicillin to my 90 gallon planted tank yesterday but I am 
wondering 
>  wether it was o.k. to do. I followed the instructions on the package and 
>  used 9 250mg tablets to treat a body fungus infection on my pleco.

Not cool.  Penicillin is not effective against fungus.  In fact, it's 
ineffective on just about everything these days, with a few rare exceptions.  
At any rate, it is not a wise idea to add antibiotics (or anything else, for 
that matter) unless you have a specific idea (or, at least a pretty darned 
good guess) as to what the problem is, and then treat specifically for that 
problem.  This is a great example of how resistant organisms develop:  
throwing antibiotics at an unknown problem just breeds antibiotic-resistant 
organisms.  If it is a fungal infection, you would be better off to use 
something like Methylene Blue or one of the specific anti-fungal medications. 
 If you're worried about its effects on plants, then a hospital tank is in 
order, so the plants are not exposed to any unnecessary chemicals.