elfdoctors
Active Member
Here's my 1000th post! 
Thanks to all in this forum where I have tended to do the majority of my posts; the other forums seem to have lots of other people offering advice so I tend to just lurk in them. Thanks particularly to Beth and TerryB. I hope I haven't stepped on your toes too much! I have learned immensely by spending too much of my free time on these boards. It has also made my call nights go by more quickly when the ER is quiet.
Human medicine is more similar then I initially thought to caring for fish. The same way people ignore prevention (e.g. ignoring cholesterols, pap smears, etc.), many aquarists don't check levels or do water changes or quarantine and then are surprised by illness. They both tend to overfeed. They do some harmful things like buying creatures they know will die and using tapwater, the same way people smoke and drive without seatbelts. There is even a thriving market in herbals and other snake oil products which only occasionally have benefit but promise a quick fix. Some of the fish antibiotics are used for human diseases (esp minocycline, erythromycin and metronidazole).
I feel fortunate that human medicine has a much higher success rate. Fortunately there are some good people out there who have been advancing the marine sciences. I am confident that the success rates in our aquaria will also continue to improve. :happyfish
Thanks to all in this forum where I have tended to do the majority of my posts; the other forums seem to have lots of other people offering advice so I tend to just lurk in them. Thanks particularly to Beth and TerryB. I hope I haven't stepped on your toes too much! I have learned immensely by spending too much of my free time on these boards. It has also made my call nights go by more quickly when the ER is quiet.
Human medicine is more similar then I initially thought to caring for fish. The same way people ignore prevention (e.g. ignoring cholesterols, pap smears, etc.), many aquarists don't check levels or do water changes or quarantine and then are surprised by illness. They both tend to overfeed. They do some harmful things like buying creatures they know will die and using tapwater, the same way people smoke and drive without seatbelts. There is even a thriving market in herbals and other snake oil products which only occasionally have benefit but promise a quick fix. Some of the fish antibiotics are used for human diseases (esp minocycline, erythromycin and metronidazole).
I feel fortunate that human medicine has a much higher success rate. Fortunately there are some good people out there who have been advancing the marine sciences. I am confident that the success rates in our aquaria will also continue to improve. :happyfish
