Kanamycin dosage

[ayrton]

Hi Leebca,
I have a porcupine puffer with a cloudy/ whitish pop eye because of a scratch caused by a bite of another puffer during feeding. Now it is in a qt with an antibiotic - kanamycin -in it. I'm using Kanaplex from Seachem following their dosage and using it in the water "Use 1 level spoonful (180 mg) for every 20 L (5 gallons). Repeat every 2 days as required up to a maximum of 3 doses. Turn off UV, ozone, and chemical filtration. To feed, blend 1 measure with about 1 tablespoon of frozen food paste. Food may be refrozen.
Active ingredients: kanamycin sulfate (40%). Inactive ingredients: potassium sulfate (60%)".
I'd like to know what is the right dose using kanamic and why the dosage is 180 mg/20l instead of 50-100 mg/l as Dr. Edward Noga suggest in his "Fish desease" book"? Is Seachem's dosage too much low for a terapeutic level?
I have used all three doses now and puffer has still his eye covered by a thick white film. Is it recovering or this condition shows no improvement?
Thanks in advance for your support.

Lorenzo 

[leebca]

Makers of medications for marine fishes know the best dosage for their particular product. I wouldn't try to second guess their reasoning.

Usually, if the condition is bacterial and the antibiotic is the right type for that kind of bacteria, the fish should show improvement in a week or less.

If there is no improvement then there are a few possibilities (assuming you've dosed properly and followed directions totally):

Not bacteria at all
Conditions don't allow the fish to heal (e.g., poor water quality; extra stressors)
The fish is not being fed the best nutrition to help it heal itself
The wrong type of medication for that kind of bacteria.
Any combo of the above.

I'd switch medication to Nitrofurazone. That is found in the product Furan-2. It's a different kind of antibiotic for a different kind of bacteria -- IF you still think it is a bacterial problem.