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Fish Medications at a Glance

When treating aquarium fish infections, diseases or parasites, use these medications or natural remedies.

When treating for...	such as...	use the following medications...	or the following natural remedies.
Protozoal infections	Ich, velvet	Medicinal dyes, aldehydes, copper, metronidazole	Salt (also reduces swelling in dropsy and improves gill functions after nitrite poisoning)
Fungal infections	Whitish cottony growths on the fish or fish egg fungus	Methelyne blue or the same medications used for protozoal infections that are specifically packaged doses recommended for fungi	Tree oils, such as pimenta and melaleuca extracts
Large parasites	Wormlike or buglike parasites large enough to be seen with the naked eye	Praziquantel, mebendazole, trichorfon, diflubenzuron (Dimilin)	Salt (for large and small parasites)
Bacterial infections	Bacterial infections caused by bacteria of the genus Flavobacterium (previously called Flexibacter), Aeromonas, Pseudomonas and Vibrio	For Gram-negative bacteria, use antibiotics, such as minocycline, tetracycline, neomycin, kanamycin and the sulfa drugs (sulfadimidine, sulfathiazole, suflamethazine and sulfacetamide, often sold in combination with one another or with trimethoprim), and to a lesser extent ampicillin, amoxicillin and the furan drugs (nifurpirinol, nitrofurazone, furazolidone and nitrofurantoin). For Gram-negative bacteria, use penicillin, cephalexin and erythromycin.	Tree oils, such as pimenta and melaleuca extracts
Disease prevention	As a prophylactic	N/A	Garlic extract (to inhibit microorganisms and prevent disease onset), and a probiotic bacteria (as a disease preventative and to stimulate fish's immunity)