Discus has hex, now what?

[CammieTime]

I have a confirmed case of hex - my 4" RSG is not eating, looks stressed, and has a 3" trail of white stringy poop hanging from him.

I have six hex tablets. The instructions say heat the water to 90 degrees, put one tablet in for each gallon of water (he is in a 30 gallon hospital tank at the moment) and leave it like that for three days, then bring the temp down to normal and change half the water.

That is all they say.

I have not done anything yet and would like your feedback and instructions before I goof with the medicine. Please tell me how to treat for hex. Also, how long does the fish have to live?

Thanks!

[CammieTime]

I have a confirmed case of hex - my 4" RSG is not eating, looks stressed, and has a 3" trail of white stringy poop hanging from him.

I have six hex tablets. The instructions say heat the water to 90 degrees, put one tablet in for each gallon of water (he is in a 30 gallon hospital tank at the moment) and leave it like that for three days, then bring the temp down to normal and change half the water.

That is all they say.

I have not done anything yet and would like your feedback and instructions before I goof with the medicine. Please tell me how to treat for hex. Also, how long does the fish have to live?

Thanks!

I have six metro tablets.

[judy]

Your fish will be fine, but first, you will need more metro, because you will need to treat three times in all, three days apart. also, what size are the tablets i.e. how many milligrams?

[judy]

Further to... while metro is recommended at 200 or 250 mg per ten gallons, most success is reported and no damage to the fish when the dose is 400 or 500 mg per ten gallons. some people do this every other day for three days.
raise the tank temp to 90 degrees or higher (92) if possible (do so with the discus in the tank. Don't just plop him into a dramatically changed temperature). As well, many suggest a daily dose with a fifty percent water change right before each dose. Some people say this should be done for three days, others claim up to ten days. I'd go with five days in a row at the high temp. If I recall coreclty, that formula worked for me, but it was a long time ago...

[rickztahone]

i'm actually going through something similar right now as well. i noticed my BD had the white fecal matter so i removed him and put him in a 30g but only filled it up half way to save on medication. i am on the second day of treatment at 92F. i noticed that there was a white piece of fecal matter in the main tank when the BD was out of it so my question is do i just treat my whole 125g? sorry i do not mean to jump your thread here but seeing as it has to do with hex i'm sure the more info in one post is probably better. i will treat the BD until saturday (5 days).

[judy]

treat the fish that exhibit symptoms for now. try to keep an eye on their poop if possible. Other fish may "mouth" it and be contaminated. Mind you, there is a school of thought that all discus just have hex and it manifests when they're stressed.... I don't know that I buy that theory, especially with my babies which have never been exposed to it, since the parents were long ago treated prophylactically.

[rickztahone]

treat the fish that exhibit symptoms for now. try to keep an eye on their poop if possible. Other fish may "mouth" it and be contaminated. Mind you, there is a school of thought that all discus just have hex and it manifests when they're stressed.... I don't know that I buy that theory, especially with my babies which have never been exposed to it, since the parents were long ago treated prophylactically.

i saw that just today actually (mouthed). i have a check list going on which have normal looking fecal matter and those that don't. the one that i saw mouth a white stringy poo today is one of the ones with normal poo. i've been trying to identify the one that has it but i have not been able to pin point him/her as of yet. i will keep observing but now i am afraid that the one that mouthed it will now be contaminated :(. this Hex thing is no joke!

[judy]

no, it sure isn't untreated hex can result in hole-in-the-head disease. If you have any doubts about which fish have it and which fish don't, you may want to treat the whole tank. It'll cost more in meds-- but at least you'll be sure.

[rickztahone]

no, it sure isn't untreated hex can result in hole-in-the-head disease. If you have any doubts about which fish have it and which fish don't, you may want to treat the whole tank. It'll cost more in meds-- but at least you'll be sure.

my only concern is the tankmates. i have; corydoras, BNP, 1 ram, red cherry shrimp. im sure most can not tolerate the 92f temp. what worries me is that i will treat the discus and when i put them back with their tankmates they might have picked it up and pass it right back to the discus. any thoughts? and to the OP im sry for the hijack. please let me know if you would like for me to start a new thread

[judy]

you're right, those other guys won't tolerate the high temp. can you get all your discus into a hospital tank? Or vice -versa: can you catch everyone else, isolate tham and treat the discus only in the main tank? That might be better, as you;ll be killing off any errant hexamita in the tank itself. Hex really only affects discus badly. There may be other fish in the tank that could re-infect them sometime down the road. but by then, they might be strong enough to cope on their own.
bear in mind: hex itself is not necessarily a problem unless the water parameters are poor or unstable, or the fish are very stressed for some other reason.
But I would still leave it all alone until and unless you see other discus in the main tank with the problem. Intervene only if it becomes genuinely necessary.

[Eddie]

Metro breaks down and is loses effectiveness over a short period with the temperature in higher ranges. That is why it is recommended to dose them more frequently, if not twice a day then at least every day. Depends on the amount used.

My own personal experience in using metro with great success is dosing twice a day using 500mg per 10 gallons. 50% WC between each dose. I keep the temp above 92F. This is a very effective way to treat Spiro V. (Hexamita). I'd run this course for 5 days and then keep the heat high for another 7 days after the 5 day treatment.

BAM!!! All gone,

Eddie

[Al M.]

I'm with Eddie on this one Metro becomes non effective after 8 hours, I would treat with 500 mg per 10 gal. at least twice a day, it is recomended to treat every 8 hours with A water change but some of us have to work and sleep.... easy treatment usually very effective, remember heat over 92 deg.....

[rickztahone]

i have the BD in 92f. i can take out the tankmates and only leave about 40g in my 125 and treat. my only concern was the reintroduction of hex via the tankmates once treatment was done. i will keep observing but i think i might have treat them just for ease of mind. thank you all for the great advice. i will get a couple of the metro tubes to treat soon. lastly, does it matter if the filter is on when the metro goes in initially? i have no carbon in my filters btw

[TankWatcher]

Hi Cammie & Ricardo

I hesitated replying here, 'cause I thought adding someone elses thoughts to the advice you already have might just confuse more than it helps. You know the old saying, too many cooks spoil the broth

Anway, here we go:-

Cammie you say the hex is confirmed - is that by scope? You probably know there is more than one type of white poop, & depending on how the white poop looks, it can be hex or some other type of internal parasite (eg nematodes, etc). They need different types of treatment, so I thought it was worth asking you, as you describe the poop as 3" trail of white stringy poop hanging from him. Paul (pcsb23) helped me tell the difference & poop like this he said was more likely to be nematodes.

There's a diagram of the flagellate protozan found here
http://www.discusnews.com/article/cat-02/hexamita.shtml

When I was dealing with hex (aka spironucleus) I found this article invaluable. It's worth taking the time to read all the way through it, IMO. Take note of temperature & light sensitivity issues discussed. Lots of ppl say up the temp, but this article disagrees with that tactic totally.
http://www.discusnews.com/article/ca...onucleus.shtml

There is debate about what is the correct frequency of dose. Paul (pcsb23), who I really, really respect for his knowledge, feels that less frequent redosing is adequate. I can't say for sure, but I did follow the instructions on this link http://www.discusnews.com/article/ca...onucleus.shtml using the higher dosage option, redosing tank every 8 hours. I extended the treatment though. I think Paul is dead right when he says antibiotics must be kept up for 8-10days. My fish pulled through & I hope your fish does too.

Have a look at this thread http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=68330 for a pic of white poop from another of my fish. It shows 2 different types of white poop, so I likely had 2 different types internal parasite issues going on (Nematodes as well as flagellates). The 1st few poops & some subsequent ones show the likely nematodal poops, but have a look at the pic on post 24 - these are more like flagellates (hex) poops.

Starting from post 25, that's where Paul enters the scene. He's a really knowledable guy & I'd pay a lot of attention to any advice from him. Even so, I stuck with the 8hr dosing as I'd had success with it before, but Roxanne had success with Paul's dosing method.

Metro will only help with flagellates, it will do nothing if this is nematodes, tapeworms, etc.

For gill flukes and tape worms, use praziquantal.
For nematodes, eg round worms and thread worms, you need levamisole.
For flagellates (hex / spiro) you need metro

Anyway, guess that's enough for now. HTH

[waters10]

Metro dosage is somewhat controversial matter. I recommend using the search engine and read a lot ... I use 500mg/10 gallon, 2 times a day for 10 days. And I'd feed them 3 times a day mixed with either beefheart or seafood mix.

Oh, and something that I'd dose together with Metro is epson salt. Otherwise you could get bloated discus due to dead parasites.

[Eddie]

Metro dosage is somewhat controversial matter. I recommend using the search engine and read a lot ... I use 500mg/10 gallon, 2 times a day for 10 days. And I'd feed them 3 times a day mixed with either beefheart or seafood mix.

Oh, and something that I'd dose together with Metro is epson salt. Otherwise you could get bloated discus due to dead parasites.

10 days is usually recommended for stubborn/recurring cases, definitely works though.


I haven't ever had to use Epsom salt with Metro but read it can be beneficial.

I feed metro flake when treating with metro and it just helps the effectiveness of the drug.

Eddie

[rwong2k]

do you treat the whole tank with metro or do you qt only the affected discus and treat them seperately?

thank-you
Raymond

[Eddie]

do you treat the whole tank with metro or do you qt only the affected discus and treat them seperately?

thank-you
Raymond

Only affected fish when it comes to hex


Eddie