Expired KanaPlex

[Helicase]

Hello,

Last weekend I bought two small fantail goldfish (~1" long). I am quarantining them in a 5-gallon quarantine tank with an established 4-stage filter and aeration. Their water is treated with GoldBuffer and Fresh Trace.

At the end of their second day, it became obvious that they were sick, not just stressed from their move. One starting showing signs of ich (white cysts) and the other's fins started looking ragged. They both became lethargic, sinking to the bottom of the tank with all fins clamped and refusing food. They also appear to be sloughing off their slime coat, or are covered in patches of whitish film.

I started treating with ParaGard, but I think they have progressed to internal infections; one began to hang vertically and the other has small bloody spots on its body. They both have labored, rapid breathing. After three days of ParaGard, they appear to be getting worse. They have refused food for almost four days now, though the one that was hanging now stays horizontal.

I would like to replace the Purigen in my filter to remove the ParaGard and then start treating with KanaPlex in the water column tomorrow. However, the KanaPlex that I have expired in 08/2021. The code above the expiration date is 90567. I can't make it to the only supply shop in my area that carries aquarium antibiotics for another two days. Can I start treating with this older KanaPlex? Should I increase the dose to make up for any decrease in effectiveness?

In addition to ParaGard, I also added aquarium salt (1 TBS) and increased the aeration, which helped their breathing be less labored.

Thanks for your advice!

[Tech Support AN]

Thanks for the post, Helicase!

I'm sorry to hear about your fish! It should be fine to use the older KanaPlex, as medications don't go bad immediately after their expiration date and will last quite a while afterward. I would recommend doing a normal treatment of a single dose every other day for up to 3 days. If after that time you are seeing improvement but think it needs another round, you can repeat the treatment period. If you need to do your normal water change, just be sure that you do it on one of the days you are scheduled to re-dose the KanaPlex. The salt is not a problem with the treatment.

I hope this helps and good luck!

[Helicase]

Hi,

Sorry for the delay. I have an update and another question.

The older KanaPlex worked well. I gave a standard 3-dose treatment in the water column, and they started improving after the first dose. They began to eat again, and slowly returned to normal behavior. After removing the KanaPlex at the end of treatment with a water change and replacing the Purigen, one fish started losing more weight despite starting to eat and his fins remained clamped, while the other was easily able to regain the weight that he lost while ill. I fed the underweight one food soaked with API's General Cure plus added the remainder to the water column, and after a day he began passing tapeworms. He is now on the road to recovery, but isn't 100% yet.

The other goldfish was doing just fine and had normal, healthy behavior through the 4-day API treatment period, but overnight started showing signs of yet another illness. He is staying near the bottom, beginning to clamp his fins, and has a milky slime coat.

I have treated them for external parasites, internal parasites (the one that is newly sick also ate some of the medicated food, plus was exposed to the General Cure in the water column), and gram-negative bacterial infections. My water parameters are good, and I've maintained the salinity. I'm at a loss of what to try next. Do you have any suggestions? For today I've removed the Purigen again and dosed ParaGard to address the slime coat issues.

Thanks again!

[Tech Support AN]

I would recommend using the ParaGuard for a week daily to see if that helps with the current fish that is sick. It will also give them a break from the antibiotics you have been treating with recently. From those symptoms, it is hard to determine exactly what is causing the sickness, so we would be guessing as to what to treat. Since ParaGuard is broad spectrum, it is a good place to start when you don't know what you are treating.