Kanaplex & Bacteria

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Will Kanaplex kill beneficial as well as harmful bacterias? If I use it in my tank, will it send it into a cycle and kill all my fish?

Grrr. LFS in town told me to use it in my tank (stupid, I know), and now everything is dying!

Time to get a quarantine tank, I suppose.

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Anyone?

[michika]

I'm sorry I can't answer you question.

I also used Kanaplex in my QT tank and it killed or contributed to the death of my QTed fish.

I would recommend you email or write to Seachem as it is their product. They should be able to answer any questions you have about Kanaplex.

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Thanks, Catherine. I'll do that!

[michika]

You are welcome.

If you do get a response, post it here so that we can all benefit!

[Quagmire]

Im the meantime do a huge water change,it'll drop your Ammonia down and maybe save your livestock.You may have to do a few untill your bacteria is up and running again.

[Der_Iron_Chef]

I received a reply from Seachem, and was very impressed. Following is what they said regarding Kanaplex (hopefully it will help someone in the future!):

Seachem does not recommend use of medications for reef
aquaria, as various species in a reef tank may be more
sensitive than others in the system. It's unfortunate
that the local vendor gave you that advice. We never
advise anyone to use Kanaplex in a reef system. Typically,
used as directed, Kanaplex will not kill

beneficial bacteria within the live rock and water column

in addition to the nuisance/harmful bacteria and send your
tank into another ammonia/nitrite die-off cycle.

Any exposure to any medication creates additional stress
for any fish or coral as what occurred with your Xenia.
From what other customers have done relatively safely in
a
reef tank is dose Metroniadozle with Focus, soaked in
GarlicGuard. However, Seachem recommends that the safest
thing to dose in a reef system is to use GarlicGuard which
fish truly love (see
http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/GarlicGuard.html).
If only one fish had a bacterial infection, then it is
best to set it apart in a quarantine tank as a marine tank
only and treat with Kanaplex or some other medications
such as Paraguard
(http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/ParaGuard.html).
For scaleless fish, we don't advise using any medications
at all. The best thing for those fish is to simply soak
their food with GarlicGuard alone.

I apologize about your loss. If you have any questions
about treating your fish in the future, please contact us
first.

Thanks,

Seachem Tech Support