Formalin, flukes, Hex?

[melcahoon]

Hi,

I have been treating a couple of tanks for flukes. 1ml of Formalin per 10 gallons one day, the next day a 50% water change, the next day repeat the 1ml of Formalin per 10 gallons, then another day of rest, repeat... I did this for 12 days.

I now have a couple of fish that have white feces. Not too stringy - mostly one big tubular white dropping. However, the feces are the same the next day as well (thought it might be stomach lining shedding).

Question is, can treatment with Formalin cause Hex? Think that is what this is?

I have metro pills from a vet (250 mg) that I am using to treat these fish now at the rate of 500 mg per 10 gallons. Am I on the right track?

Thanks,
Steve

[Graham]

Hi As to being on the right track, that's just a wild guess on anyones part. White feces can be caused by anything from hex to intestial worms and bacteria to plain old stress. Unless a scrape and scope is done to ID hex. then it's just a guess

The stress from formalin doses alone could have caused it or weaken the fish so that just maybe Hex numbers increased....who knows. Formalin kills external protoza, not encourages them.

Formalin also isn't the best fluke killer so don't be surprised if you see some more flashing a few weeks from now

[melcahoon]

Graham,

Can you recommend another treatment, including exact dosage? I see notes that say, "Use Prazi", but that is it. I have some praziquantel from Aqua Science that I got at Jehmco...

Steve

[Graham]

Hi Use the Prazi that you've got

[Cosmo]

You might want to consider giving them a rest with some good pure water changes before initiating the prazi treatements. A prolonged Formalin routine was probably very stressful on the fish.
Jim

[poconogal]

Hi. I remembered reading something that suggested that white tubular feces, instead of being caused by hex, which is white and stringy, was probably more worm related. Here's a link to the thread - Al (Brewmaster) gives some good information.

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?p=343641&highlight=tubular+feces#post343641

[melcahoon]

Sounds like whether worm or flukes, Prazi would be good. But, as I said in my previous post, everyone just says "Use Prazi", without giving dosages, length of treatment, etc. Note that is exactly what Graham said.

Unfortunately not all of us are biologists in this hobby ;)

Steve

[Graham]

Steve it should state dosages right on the side of the container that the chem comes in. Off the top of my head I believe the dosage is 1 gram per 100 gallons and leave it in for a week...you can't OD the stuff

[melcahoon]

Thanks Graham - the instructions are not clear, but I will see if I can figure it out. The reason I was asking is so many times I see different instructions on this board than what a medication instruction calls for. Metro is a good example. Wanted to be sure what the specific application to Discus was.

After regular water changes during the week, I assume I replace the amount of Prazi lost... Treatment for one week then.

Thanks
Steve

[Graham]

I'd hold off on the water changes for the week...........

As far as doses of meds are concern and why some of them vary, the amount used is based on the concentration of the active ingredient. Different manufacturers use different amounts

[poconogal]

Sounds like whether worm or flukes, Prazi would be good. But, as I said in my previous post, everyone just says "Use Prazi", without giving dosages, length of treatment, etc. Note that is exactly what Graham said.

Unfortunately not all of us are biologists in this hobby ;)

Steve
Prazi will be good for certain types of worms - it does not eliminate all of them. For instance, I believe Prazi treats tape worms, but for round worms it will not do anything. For round worms you need different meds, levamisole (spelling?) being one of them.

I've used Prazi Pro, Hikari's liquid Prazi and it does have the dosing instructions in teeny tiny print on the bottle. For the Prazi you got from Jehmco, if they did not include dosing and directions, I'd contact them to get the info you need.

[pcsb23]

If the prazi you have is pure prazi, then you need to aim for a concentration of 2.5mg/litre. You need a lot to overdose so if we round the litres up in a US gallon (3.8) to 4 then you need a concentration of 10mg per US gallon so Graham's memory was correct ;)

You will need to treat for 3 weeks if its flukes.

[melcahoon]

Can Levamisole and Prazi be used together? And where do you buy levamisole?
Steve

[poconogal]

Can Levamisole and Prazi be used together? And where do you buy levamisole?
Steve
I bought food with levamisole from www.rockymountaindiscus.com along with a med for the water which takes care of any eggs. Don't know if it can be used along with Prazi.

[melcahoon]

hmmmm.. How about Metro and Prazi? Can they be used together?
Steve

[Cosmo]

I have the AquaScience pure metro from Jehmco. Per the label it should be used at a dosage of 5mg/l which is achieved by using 1/4 teaspoon per 41 gallons of water. I've found a slightly higher dosage is more effective and use 3/4 teaspoon when treating my 90 gal BB tank. In my 180 I use 1.5 teaspoons. For what it's worth, I use level teaspoons by scraping the the excess med off with the lid before applying.

Label also states you should really use a gram scale to measure out the dosage, but I don't have one and metro is pretty safe so overdosing would almost have to be intentional.

hth
Jim

[texasdiscusman]

If it is the powder form (Prazi)1/4 tsp for 40 gallons of water. Must put it in Vodka to disolve it. Time line is at least a week.It will not kill the eggs so follow up treatment is suggested.
Randy

[pcsb23]

hmmmm.. How about Metro and Prazi? Can they be used together?
Steve
Yes, no probs.

[keith_cny]

Hi Poconogal

Do you have any idea how long the prazipro is good for? I have some that is around a year old and not sure if I dare use it or not.

Thanks

Keith

[melcahoon]

My prazi has an expiration of 2009, and I got it in 2006.

Four days of Metro and Prazi and no change yet - still long tubular white/clear feces. How long before I should be trying something else? Temp is around 91. No salt added to the tank at all.

Steve

[poconogal]

My prazi has an expiration of 2009, and I got it in 2006.

Four days of Metro and Prazi and no change yet - still long tubular white/clear feces. How long before I should be trying something else? Temp is around 91. No salt added to the tank at all.

Steve
I'd complete the treatment and then see if there's any change. You can also add Epsom Salt to the tank - it helps clean them out and its beneficial to use Epsom for a couple days along with Metro. But I believe for Metro treatment temp should be at 92-93. In fact, I've been told that 93 seemed to be a "magic" number.