Please help

[krislewis3]

I've began metro treatment, I'll keep you guys posted!!!

[krislewis3]

Ok guys, this is day 5 of metro treatment, and my bd is now eating!!! YES!!!!! She's still somewhat listless, and keeps to herself some of the time, she has definitely improved. Question......how many more days should I treat? I'm using 3/4 teaspoon daily in my 60 gallon tank!! Kris

[PP_GBR]

I'd treat for 10 days. And now she is eating, you need to observe her at every feeding and wc. If she is passing yellowish/greenish feces, then follow with antibiotic like Furan-2. I know other ppl prefer Kanamycin/oxytetra but Furan-2 had worked for my BDs.

You will catch her passing feces @ feedings or wcs. If you don't then you need to pull a chair and sit in front of the tank to do fish feces study. LOL

[krislewis3]

I'd treat for 10 days. And now she is eating, you need to observe her at every feeding and wc. If she is passing yellowish/greenish feces, then follow with antibiotic like Furan-2. I know other ppl prefer Kanamycin/oxytetra but Furan-2 had worked for my BDs.

You will catch her passing feces @ feedings or wcs. If you don't then you need to pull a chair and sit in front of the tank to do fish feces study. LOL

I can't believe that I can't catch her pooping, and I do spend hours watching.....I've been adding brine shrimp to her diet, which she loves, in the hope that it will help her.....we shall see!!!!!

[OC Discus]

Mine all have a poop party as soon as the lights come on in the morning. I wait an hour to feed while poo is flying everywhere. Start watching as soon as the lights come on and don't feed for about an hour. You'll probably see some action.

I can't believe that I can't catch her pooping, and I do spend hours watching.....I've been adding brine shrimp to her diet, which she loves, in the hope that it will help her.....we shall see!!!!!

[krislewis3]

Ok....thanks for the tip!

[simsavfc]

Hi.. I had the same problem with my blue Diamond a few months ago... turned out she had internal worms which caused stringy slime like poop... so I used kusuri wormer which not only kills worms but kills internal parasites and helminths which can be caused by the worms..... it even treats flukes at the same time added bonus.. anyway my fish was fine after the treatment and started to feed around four days later... maybe worth a try

[aalbina]

Great - looks like the fish is on the mend. While I don't disagree with the metro treatment, as it is fairly easy on the fish, just remember that metro is an antibiotic that also happens to kill intestinal flagellates (that is what is most widely used for). So you really don't know what was wrong with your fish - just that metro got whatever it was a bit more under control. It could have been bacterial.

If it was an internal flagellate - it may very well come back. I've treated fish, after scoping and positively confirming a flagellate infestation, with 500mg/10g of metro for 10 days, followed by a 10 break, followed by 10 more days... 2 months later they were back. I see symptoms in the weakest fish and find them at different concentrations on slides of all fish feces (samples captured before they hit the bottom). Last round I used a different med which has a higher mortality rate on fish as a last resort - and haven't had an issue since - going on almost a year (fingers crossed.)

No-one can diagnose an intestinal flagellate with certainty (certainly not down to the species of Hexamita) without out microscope and a lot of knowledge. I provided video images to PHd biologist at the school where I work and 1000x wasn't enough to id the species. Doing so here based on the information given is really just irresponsible.

Adam

[krislewis3]

I used lavamocele successfully, to treat a fish for round worms. I was able to diagnose, using a microscope on the fecal matter, and viewing the eggs!!!
Adam, when looking for a flagellate infestation, what do you look for? The living parasite?

[Skip]

I used lavamocele successfully, to treat a fish for round worms. I was able to diagnose, using a microscope on the fecal matter, and viewing the eggs!!!
Adam, when looking for a flagellate infestation, what do you look for? The living parasite?

the Dr. at NADA 2012 Austin.. from university of florida from a department that study fish illness..

she made a statement about flagellates and worms..

in all their studies.. when they found worms.. flagellates were present..

other times.. it was just flagellates..

but it was NEVER just worms alone.. so if you found worms.. treat for flagellates

[aalbina]

I'm looking for the live protozoan moving around in the field. I have no idea what flagellate eggs look like nor have I found anything on the Internet nor scientific journals that show eggs. I imagine they would be far too small to see and identify at even 1000x. Here's a couple of videos of an infestation I worked through. http://youtu.be/mLohG_3DSqc and http://youtu.be/4emANAkwmis. In order to positively identify the species as Hexamita, Spironucleous or Cryptobia you have to be able to count the flagellates themselves both front and back. At 1000x a live flagellate is moving to fast to isolate for that identifcation - if I get them again I have a protozoan expert willing to do the identification from a sample in his lab. He actually has protozoans named after him. I suppose if your a biologist that's a big deal.

According to the University of Florida Extension, a few of these protozoans in the gut of fish is common. When environmental factors weaken the immune system - that's when these things reproduce unchecked and cause major issues. http://www.extension.org/mediawiki/f...l_cichlids.pdf

I had success with a different product that isn't well documented in it's usage and has a higher mortality rate than metro - dimetryl+ is what I used after quite a lengthy battle unsuccessfully with metro.

Adam

I used lavamocele successfully, to treat a fish for round worms. I was able to diagnose, using a microscope on the fecal matter, and viewing the eggs!!!
Adam, when looking for a flagellate infestation, what do you look for? The living parasite?

[krislewis3]

the Dr. at NADA 2012 Austin.. from university of florida from a department that study fish illness..

she made a statement about flagellates and worms..

in all their studies.. when they found worms.. flagellates were present..

other times.. it was just flagellates..

but it was NEVER just worms alone.. so if you found worms.. treat for flagellates

Are you saying that if worms are found, to treat for both worms, and flagellates?

[krislewis3]

Update ......pigeon finally pooped...and it looked normal, but she seemed to have difficulty passing it! I fed her some brine shrimp, and it seemed to help! Kris

[Skip]

Are you saying that if worms are found, to treat for both worms, and flagellates?

yes..

[dirtyplants]

Spinach and green peas ( without the shells ) are a natural laxative in the diet.

Are you saying that if worms are found, to treat for both worms, and flagellates?

If flagellates are found you also treat for bacteria infection as both goes hand and hand.