still not eating - what next

[-gb-]

One of my fish had not eaten in 4 weeks. Fist I treated him with metro for one week with no effect. Secondly I treated him with PraziPro for 6 days and he has been passing worms steadily each day. He is still not eating and is still passing worms on the 6th day. I did the PraziPro treatment on the community tank… the rest of the fish are fine but a little put off by the treatment

He is still very active and his colour is good.

What should I do now? If this guy doesn’t eat soon he’s not going to make it. I’m setting up a hospital tank now.

My parameters:
65 gallon
25% water changes daily
PH = 6.85
Temp = 30c
Nitrates = 0
Nitrites = 0
Ammonia = No
CO2 = yes
Planted

Any suggestions on next steps?

Thanks for the help,

-gb-

[Ardan]

Hi,
If its still passing worms are you sure what kind of worms? is it still white and slimy (not segmented) as in hex?

or is it segmented and white?
http://www.simplydiscus.com/library/disease_medications/internal/tapeworms.shtml

depends on the problem what to do. but your temp for treating with metro should have been 33C + for 10 days.

can you post a pic of the worms?

Ardan

[-gb-]

thanks Ardan,

I had the temp up for the metro treatment.

As for what worms - I think that they are Tapeworms. They are coming out in 2" -3” segments.

the picture below is a little fuzzy but it may help.

[-gb-]

this was taken one week ago:

[Ardan]

For tapeworm, by segmented it means "little bumps very close together", not just 2 to 3 inch pieces. It is hard to tell from the pic.
Usually all tapeworms come out with one treatment of prazi. then tapeworm eggs in the intestine hatch and more tapeworm can be eliminated with prazi after a week. Usually not every day.
If its every day it seems more like intestinal lining, possibly due to internal nematode worms, or an internal bacterial infection or just plain stress from something else such as flukes...

I would first try some live food, sometimes brine shrimp will work (the big ones) or live black worms from a clean source. I know some people frown on the cbw, but it may get the fish eating.

Otherwise its possible to try the metro again at a higher dose? don't know what dose you used.
I have used it at 400 to 500 mg/10 gal and added it every 8 hours for 3 days. But the temp must be 33 C for 10 days.
The fish looks good in the photo, although the eye color is not real bright. SOme might say that is a sign of internal nematodes. For that then pipzine or piperazine citrate has been effective. In the water at
http://forum.simplydiscus.com//showthread.php?t=48637

By the pic though it looks more like intestinal lining to me.

hth
Ardan

[lora]

I am having the exact same problem with one of my fish, tried metro, didn't work either, fish is not eating even though I have tried every kind of food I could think of to get her to eat. I'm beginning to think it might be bacterial.

[-gb-]

Thanks again Arban,

He is currently sitting in the hospital tank. I have added sea salt and increasing the temp at 33C.

I’m going to let him sit for a day or two with just salts and no medication. If no improvement is seen I’ll try metro again at 500 mg/10 gal and added it every 8 hours for 3 days.

In the meantime I’ll try and find some live food.

[Ardan]

Hi Lora,
Is there any bloating in the stomach area? Usually with (not always) internal bacteria there is some bloating.
For internal infections I like kanacyn. (seachem has kanazole)
Ardan

[lora]

Ardan: There is no bloating, the fish is swimming around okay, just not eating, excreting segmented feces and sometimes rubbing itself against things. I have it in a 30 gallon hospital tank and am trying Jungle Parasite Clear. I also have a blue diamond in the same tank, it also is not eating and rubbing itself, but I haven't seen feces of any kind in the last couple of days.

[Ardan]

Hi Lora,
if they are segmented feces as in the link above, then its tapeworm and you need to keep treating with the parasite clear to get all the tapeworm out.
After no more tapeworm, then keep the heat at 92F to see if they will eat. this may help heal the stomach.

hth
Ardan

[lora]

Thanks, I'll do that.