What's going on with Aquatronics?

[Rachel]

I'm bummed. What a disappointing day.

There have been rumors for some time now that Aquatronics, the makers of some really great fish meds, are going out of business. Today I found out that is indeed the case and they are already closed. Stores that have Aquatronics products in stock will sell what they have and then that's it... I've always preferred their brand and products over others, so I know I'm going to stock up. Buy now while you can!

[Rachel]

Some of Aquatronics most popular products:

BettaMax

Tetracycline

Dip-A-Way

Furacyn

Kanacyn

Super Ich Plus

Penicillin

[twoluvcats]

oh NO!! BettaMax just turned into my new favorite post-med treatment too!!! <<jumps up to go buy all the BettaMax she can find>>

Thanks for the heads up!

[Rachel]

I'm still trying to find out more about this. I contacted Aquatronics and hopefully will hear back with a reply soon. I stopped into a fish store here in town today and was talking with the owner who mentioned that ideally they are trying to pull all fish medications off the market.

He claimed that since so many are available for purchase over the internet, misuse by human consumption has become somewhat of an issue. For example, tetracycline is available for both people and fish although it differs, but those who may not be able to afford the prescription option decide to purchase the fish med instead. -- I had never heard of this before, but I suppose it may be. *Edited to add an article I found about it*: aquaticpath.umd.edu/news/

Personally I think it may be more likely that it is because many of the chemicals in these medications are starting to be labeled as carcinogens and have the potential to cause cancer or other health issues in very large doses.

The concept of completely eliminating fish medication from the market does seem fairly unrealistic though, although it could certainly happen in the long run.

I'll keep you posted with what I discover.

[mandymarie]

Wow I hope they don't pull them all.

[Rachel]

Well I finally got in contact with someone from Aquatronics this morning who told me that the company is just undergoing a "change." You can still order their products, but you have to do it directly from them. This is their website: www.aquatronicsonline.com. He told me the best way to place an order was via fax.

This is strange though. I'm confused why a customer service rep would have told me on a major aquarium website that Aquatronics was closed and they were not able to get any more of their products.

So - I guess only time will tell what's going to happen with this.