Safe Meds for Bamboo shark

[speedjester]

I recently acquired a pair of bamboo sharks approx 12”. There in observational qt. They are eating fine acting as expected. But wonder what Medication is considered safe. As I’ve always Dipped newly acquired fish in Ruby reef pro, Meth blue and peroxide before treating with copper. (I know copper is out of the question. ) Someone recommended CP. but I have never used CP on any fish let alone a Bamboo shark. Anyone know of a list of Shark safe meds?

Also the sharks will be going in a 460gallon established aquarium. With a large 12” Puffer ,several triggers , Tangs, blennies. I keep the tank well fed. Most aggressive fish is my Hippo tang. I’ve read several articles which state puffers and triggers will bother them. Is this correct? Or is it based on individuals temperament?

Any help would be appreciated

Thank you

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Dips overall do not "cure" disease. They can be used as a diagnostic tool, and in some cases, can be used to buy some time in acute infections. They do not kill 100% of the pathogens, and of course, they do not do anything for reproductive offspring of any pathogens in the tank, not exposed to the dip. I would skip dips as part of a quarantine process.

Ionic copper is rough on sharks. Some people have reported good results using amine-based chelated copper; coppersafe or copper power, I've done it myself with no issues. I can't remember dosing sharks with chloroquine, so I don't have much history with that.

Depending on the species, I would worry about the puffer or triggers going after the shark's eyes. Some butterflyfish will also.

You may be aware, but banded bamboo sharks will quickly outgrow that tank, and they are pretty active swimmers when mature. Even spotted bamboos can reach almost a meter.

Jay

 

[speedjester]

Dips overall do not "cure" disease. They can be used as a diagnostic tool, and in some cases, can be used to buy some time in acute infections. They do not kill 100% of the pathogens, and of course, they do not do anything for reproductive offspring of any pathogens in the tank, not exposed to the dip. I would skip dips as part of a quarantine process.

Ionic copper is rough on sharks. Some people have reported good results using amine-based chelated copper; coppersafe or copper power, I've done it myself with no issues. I can't remember dosing sharks with chloroquine, so I don't have much history with that.

Depending on the species, I would worry about the puffer or triggers going after the shark's eyes. Some butterflyfish will also.

You may be aware, but banded bamboo sharks will quickly outgrow that tank, and they are pretty active swimmers when mature. Even spotted bamboos can reach almost a meter.

Jay

I use the dips prior to Copper. To buy some time for treatment. As I usually dose prazi first in quarantine. Then move on to copper

Jay I noticed one of the Sharks appear to flash. Actually it appeared to scratch his head. I don’t see anything on him. ( Would I even see spots if ich or velvet?).

Also youve treated bamboo sharks with Chelated copper with success? At What percentage any noted side effects?

Right now I’m qt them in 40 breeders. But need to make sure there clean before going into display. Not sure how to go about it. Other than CP. Any recommendations

Thank you

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I use the dips prior to Copper. To buy some time for treatment. As I usually dose prazi first in quarantine. Then move on to copper

Jay I noticed one of the Sharks appear to flash. Actually it appeared to scratch his head. I don’t see anything on him. ( Would I even see spots if ich or velvet?).

Also youve treated bamboo sharks with Chelated copper with success? At What percentage any noted side effects?

Right now I’m qt them in 40 breeders. But need to make sure there clean before going into display. Not sure how to go about it. Other than CP. Any recommendations

Thank you

I don’t like using coppersafe on sharks, but it can be done. A dose of 2.0 would be better/safer than the full 2.5 dose.
The flashing could be flukes or leeches. You may not see flukes, but any leeches would be pretty obvious.
You could try dosing with prazipro if you see more scratching.
Jay

 

[speedjester]

I don’t like using coppersafe on sharks, but it can be done. A dose of 2.0 would be better/safer than the full 2.5 dose.
The flashing could be flukes or leeches. You may not see flukes, but any leeches would be pretty obvious.
You could try dosing with prazipro if you see more scratching.
Jay

I dosed Prazi on day one. They became annoyed (excited) I don’t see leaches. Would I see ich and velvet spots? Any other behaviors I should be looking for other than flashing. Like Would they surf the the powerhead if they had velvet?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I dosed Prazi on day one. They became annoyed (excited) I don’t see leaches. Would I see ich and velvet spots? Any other behaviors I should be looking for other than flashing. Like Would they surf the the powerhead if they had velvet?

They won’t get marine ich. Velvet will just cause rapid breathing. You should count the breathing rate now for a baseline so you can check to see if it rises due to flukes or velvet.
Jay

 

[speedjester]

They won’t get marine ich. Velvet will just cause rapid breathing. You should count the breathing rate now for a baseline so you can check to see if it rises due to flukes or velvet.
Jay

I count 60bpm. But this morning both were flashing heavily. Both are still eating just not as aggressively. I redosed Prazipro and once again they immediately started flashing repeatedly and swimming around. I don’t see any visual signs of parasites. I’m concerned with possibly of it being Velvet or brooks. I’ve dealt with both in the past on other fish. But not sure what I should expect to see in the shark. Thoughts? Any help is appreciated

Thank you

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I count 60bpm. But this morning both were flashing heavily. Both are still eating just not as aggressively. I redosed Prazipro and once again they immediately started flashing repeatedly and swimming around. I don’t see any visual signs of parasites. I’m concerned with possibly of it being Velvet or brooks. I’ve dealt with both in the past on other fish. But not sure what I should expect to see in the shark. Thoughts? Any help is appreciated

Thank you

I've never seen Brooklynella on a shark. Velvet is possible, but the respiration rate should be higher.

Flashing after dosing prazi is pretty common - the prazi makes the flukes move/drop off and that irritates the fish.

Jay

 

[speedjester]

I've never seen Brooklynella on a shark. Velvet is possible, but the respiration rate should be higher.

Flashing after dosing prazi is pretty common - the prazi makes the flukes move/drop off and that irritates the fish.

Jay

Jay wondering how would you go about Qt before adding to DT. I did a Second dose of prazi and dipped in Rally Reef pro for 60 minutes. Flashing has stopped. Not sure what else to do. Or how to go about reducing the risk of contaminating my DT.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Jay wondering how would you go about Qt before adding to DT. I did a Second dose of prazi and dipped in Rally Reef pro for 60 minutes. Flashing has stopped. Not sure what else to do. Or how to go about reducing the risk of contaminating my DT.

Sharks are a unique situation - they don’t handle copper, but they also don’t develop typical external protozoan infections.
How did Rally dip go? Any overt signs of stress? If not, here is what I would do: dose prazi a third time and then 3 hours later, go to another ruby dip and from that into to DT (assuming you match temperature and salinity).

Jay

 

[speedjester]

Sharks are a unique situation - they don’t handle copper, but they also don’t develop typical external protozoan infections.
How did Rally dip go? Any overt signs of stress? If not, here is what I would do: dose prazi a third time and then 3 hours later, go to another ruby dip and from that into to DT (assuming you match temperature and salinity).

Jay

Rally dip went well.No signs of stress No increase in breathing. They Hardly moved in the bucket. Both ate immediately after being placed back in QT. Thank you I appreciate your help.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Rally dip went well.No signs of stress No increase in breathing. They Hardly moved in the bucket. Both ate immediately after being placed back in QT. Thank you I appreciate your help.

Great to hear. About the only thing I trust around them why suggested

 

[speedjester]

Great to hear. About the only thing I trust around them why suggested

Thank you

 

[KilianSP]

I have a bamboo shark.
Jay and vetteguy gave me some Tips about medications.
I already used Prazipro (Flukes) and Ruby Reef Rally Pro and he is doing good, so i would say those two are safe for sharks

 

[Mmitchell1031]

I count 60bpm. But this morning both were flashing heavily. Both are still eating just not as aggressively. I redosed Prazipro and once again they immediately started flashing repeatedly and swimming around. I don’t see any visual signs of parasites. I’m concerned with possibly of it being Velvet or brooks. I’ve dealt with both in the past on other fish. But not sure what I should expect to see in the shark. Thoughts? Any help is appreciated

Thank you

I've never seen Brooklynella on a shark. Velvet is possible, but the respiration rate should be higher.

Flashing after dosing prazi is pretty common - the prazi makes the flukes move/drop off and that irritates the fish.

Jay

Jay,

My bamboo shark is at about 86 bpm.

So a little background we believe we have been dealing with a velvet outbreak in our tank and have lost most of the tank, only have the bamboo, a dog face puffer and a bicolor angel. we pulled the bamboo a few days ago gave him a RO bath and put him in a QT. Can’t seem to get his breathing to steady. Any advice/help would be grateful

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Jay,

My bamboo shark is at about 86 bpm.

So a little background we believe we have been dealing with a velvet outbreak in our tank and have lost most of the tank, only have the bamboo, a dog face puffer and a bicolor angel. we pulled the bamboo a few days ago gave him a RO bath and put him in a QT. Can’t seem to get his breathing to steady. Any advice/help would be grateful

Sharks can contract velvet (Amyloodinium) and it can be tough to treat them for that - since you can’t use copper. Chloroquine maybe?

However, if your tank had velvet, I would have expected it to take out the bicolor angel and puffer….so maybe something else is going on?

Jay

 

[Mmitchell1031]

Sharks can contract velvet (Amyloodinium) and it can be tough to treat them for that - since you can’t use copper. Chloroquine maybe?

However, if your tank had velvet, I would have expected it to take out the bicolor angel and puffer….so maybe something else is going on?

Jay

Well so far it took out a dogface puffer, porcupine puffer, lionfish, a pink tail trigger, Niger trigger and a larger bamboo shark, all within the last 6 days

 

[Mmitchell1031]

Sharks can contract velvet (Amyloodinium) and it can be tough to treat them for that - since you can’t use copper. Chloroquine maybe?

However, if your tank had velvet, I would have expected it to take out the bicolor angel and puffer….so maybe something else is going on?

Jay

As of today we have the last dog puff and bicolor in a ten gal QT and added copper, the smaller bamboo that is still alive is in a 40gal QT

 

[Jay Hemdal]

As of today we have the last dog puff and bicolor in a ten gal QT and added copper, the smaller bamboo that is still alive is in a 40gal QT

I recalled a public aquarium paper that tested chloroquine on sharks…so I looked it up just now. Things went well at first, but then they had mortalities. They weren’t sure though, they thought the ozone being used might have reacted with the chloroquine. Still, I wouldn’t use it on a bamboo shark…coppersafe might be safer. The shark might go off its feed, but I’ve dosed them at 2 ppm before and they survived.
Jay

 

[Mmitchell1031]

I recalled a public aquarium paper that tested chloroquine on sharks…so I looked it up just now. Things went well at first, but then they had mortalities. They weren’t sure though, they thought the ozone being used might have reacted with the chloroquine. Still, I wouldn’t use it on a bamboo shark…coppersafe might be safer. The shark might go off its feed, but I’ve dosed them at 2 ppm before and they survived.
Jay

Ok thank you, I’ll look into it, cause all I have left here is prazipro and rally pro