My wildtype population of livebearing freshwater fish has a bacterial infection caused by either Nocardia bacteria or Mycobacteria (fish tuberculosis). This has been confirmed by an aquatic veterinarian. Because these bacteria are very difficult to eliminate as well as zoonotic (can transfer to people) I want to try treating with silver before giving up entirely or culling the population as I really like them and there is no guarantee that my original "source" is not infected as well. I will "test" on a few fish in fishbowls but then I will have to treat my planted 45 gallon because if I don't, the fish may get the bacteria again once put back. I know that the silver might wipe out my biological filtration but am not sure if a lower concentration would be successful in killing this bacteria...it is internal and even penetrates the eggs of the fish which means some babies are already born infected. Essentially I am looking for any feedback from people who have successfully treated freshwater fish diseases using silver and if possible dosage/pm ratio. I have a decent generator so it is reasonable to assume the resulting silver water will be of fairly small particle (silver gen sg6) to attack pathogens if I do not accidentally overdose the fish.
Also, does anyone know what ppm setting the silvergen 6 in the middle will result in? I do have the hannah PWT meter but am unsure if I still have calibration solution and it has been a few years since I used it or the generator (had to order new electrodes). Thanks, Jennifer
