Tape Worm ?

[Aquarius]

Hello All,

I have a Discus that i've had for ablout 4 month. He was always kinda the loner of the group in the 125, though was active in swimming and eating, just not out of my hands. Would stay in the back until I stepped away from the tank.

Well, tonight, I got home from the movies right before the lights go off on the tank, and I was looking them over, and this Discus had what I would call a Tapeworm, as it look as such. White, about 3 1/2 inches and segmented, as there were darker whaite bands evenly spaced.

If this is a tapeworm, why is the discus droping it now? Do they drop them on there ownevery so often and I haden't seen it before. Or could it be from the larger then norm w/c I did today with a lower water temp too.

Also, if this is a tapeworm, please post the name and link to where I can get the drugs

Thanks

-steve

[fcdiscus]

Yes Steve- sure sounds like a tapeworm to me. They will drop one on occasion, but you can be sure there are more. Try billman@citynet.net for Praziquantel. His name is Barry Illman. Good luck, frank

[keno]

Prazi is probably the best for the treatment of tapeworms, most other drugs tend to be hard on the fish. I got mine from Barry also as Steve has pointed out.

Ken

The segments it is passing are full of eggs. These detatch from the worm for reproduction. The worm is still attached in your fish's intestine.

Mat

[ronrca]

Have or hopefully had the same problem! 12 discus juvs, 1 is way behind in growth. Started 21 day flubendazole treatment beginning of this weekend. The poor little guy has been crapping out tapeworm for the last 2-3 days. No wonder he is so behind in growth.

[Smokey]

sorry to hear about the worm problem... Hope it is irradicated soon.

[Denny]

steve

it must be the season, my fish dropped some too yesterday

denny

[rfidiscus]

I have had good luck in the past using 1- 34 mg tablet of Droncit (dog dewormer) per 4 ounces of fish food. Take 4 oz of frozen bloodworms or beefheart... thaw out, crush up tablet into powder, mix into bloodworms, refreeze... feed to all of your fish. Repeat this 2 days in a row and then again 7 days later. I have spoken with several fish vets (ken reeves being one of them) and they told me that droncit ie. prezequantil(spelling?) has a very low tox. to fish. I have used this as earlier stated and it completly cleaned the fish intestine track out and the worms didn't return. I never saw any side effect from this treatment, as a matter of fact the fish breed and raised fry on a normal basis during and after this treatment. You may obtain this from your local vet.
TLM

[fcdiscus]

Hey Tom, the stuff from Barry is much less expensive than thru the Vet, and it can be put in water or food much more readily, without crushing. Frank