Fukes, Help please

[troy]

Hi

I had approx 12 days ago posted "what could this be ", i began treatment with cure ex for a parasite or body fluke, My large tank went 10 days of the med as directed, these fish have improved.

In my other tank i have a prize discus who after 5 days had to stop treatment because i slipped and injured him with the syphoner, His injuries are nearly healed so i continued one extra day of med yesterday.

Today he is breathing out of one gill at twice his breathing rate along with a bit of coughing and twitching. Now i am confused between body flukes and gill flukes.

What could be the next plan of attack, what med would be best used,
I have read about salt, permanganate, formalin , prazi. Not sure which to use.

I other thing one week prior to the first sign of all this i had bought a plant food, added it to the tank and all my discus got black spots, water changes were started at once. Whether this has anything to do with this latter problem i do not know.

Some ones help would be most appreciated.

Troy

[Carol_Roberts]

If the big discus is healed - no open wounds - then you can treat with formalin. Formalin will take care of flukes and bacterial gill infection (more likely in adults).

Yes, the plant food (chemicals) could be the problem. The only thing I add to my discus tanks is aged water.

[troy]

Hi

Thanks for your reply

I used a plant food that had been sitting on the shop shelf way too long and had gone off, according to some people i talked to.

One other complication has come up, one of my other fish now has hex 2.5inches of white feces.

Now what to do, treat her for hex now or put her through the formalin first and hope all these meds do not finish her off.

Troy

[Carol_Roberts]

I think you are going to have a hard time curing your discus in a planted, graveled tank. I'd set up a hospital tank and start with salt, heat and 50% daily water changes. If that doesn't work then we can talk about meds.

[troy]

Ok ,here is another update

In the tank that went for the full treatment now has some more of these white things on a couple if fish , approx 0.5- 1.0mm. Maybe these are the flukes.
In this tank i now have one with hex.

In my other tank with price discus i have one other in there that has the hex recently explained in last post, this is a non gravel tank.

What do you think about putting 9 discus from 4inches to 6 inches in size all together in this tank, it is only 35 gal.

[Carol_Roberts]

Flukes can not be seen with the naked eye - you need a microscope. I would not recommend putting 9 discus that size in a 35 gallon tank. You could try 4 bigger or 5 smaller discus in that tank with heat, salt and water changes. You are seeing parasites attached to the outside of hte fish?

[troy]

Hi

I have turned up the temp last night , the 2 fish with the hex have improved bit one still has a little white feces mixed with normal color.

Going to syphon out the gravel out of the other tank , there is only 0.5 inch of gravel to remove. Then i will add salt to both tanks.

Question , how long is salt treatment continued for , i have read 3 weeks , is this correct.

Troy

[troy]

Carol

Added salt to the bare tank.
Did i read the amount of salt right , 1 tablespoon per 1 gal.
That was a lot of salt, the fish are now trying to get out of the tank.
Have to go to work now ,hope they will be ok.

[Carol_Roberts]

1 or 2 tablespoons per 10 gallons

[Ardan]

Hi,
If you added 1 tablespoon per 1 gallon, it should not hurt the discus. i have used that amount at times. Do not worry ;)

Wc's will reduce the concentration.

hth

[troy]

Hi

It has been nearly a week since increased temp and added salt. All fish with white feces have come right but my best discus has stopped eating.
There is now a lot of dashing their gill plate area against objects by most of the fish. Still see the odd white thing on some of the fish.
What should i do now , any suggestions.

Troy

[Miles]

From what I have been reading you have put your fish through alot of stress. They need to rest for a few days. Meds do take their toll on fish. If your fish have Flukes use Prazi, it does two things cleans out tapeworms and also helps control flukes.
Also the white specks you write about on the fish is caused from a dirty tank. It clears up with w/cs.

8)
Miles

[troy]

Hi miles

Water changes are done on a daily basis of %50. Maybe i have too many fish in the tank. I have a 90gal with 7 discus which range in size from4-6 inches , loach, plec, and 2 corys. I have another tank of 35gal with 2discus .
Anyone think it could be too many fish.

Troy

[Barb Newell]

Do the "white things" look like threads sticking out of the fish, do they come and go?

Barb

[troy]

It has been well over a week since i was last here.
All discus are now eating and appear a bit healthier.
These white things still appear on the fish, they look like little white dot, larger ones look more coned shaped. Still get the odd fish with a raised scale.
I have noticed one of my discus with a hole in his lower part of the gill plate,This was noticed 2 weeks ago, has not got worse or better.
The fish still dart about at times , they also dash against objects often.

Any ideas anyone.