PLEASE HELP Q/T HAS PARASITES ALL OVER IT!?

[Plumkin]

So I am freaking out my blue cobalt female discus has been in her Q/T tank has had cloud eye so after days of doing salt n w/c not working I thought I would try what I used on my angels which is called Fungus Eliminator and it worked wonders! So i did a 80% w/c then added the medicaine and today being the next day I checked on her and I found all these tiny white wiggley thingys an thought oh she had fry!? then i saw it all over the entire tank an almost fell over what is this!? I have no idea whats going.. is it the medicane ? Im moving her in a new clean 10 gallon Q/T tank with my 75 gallon tank water so it wont shock her I just want her in clean water the cloud eye has gotten so bad it looks like a mushroom of fungal on her eye Im in tears im so worried about her please someone help!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjC_g0bK5qw

Theres a video showing the tank

i posted a link on cloudy all all the information is on there for parameters and the other questions that was asked are still the same.

[Skip]

what is the TIMELINE.. when did fish first go in tank?, then medicate.. and when did you notice this stuff

[Keith Perkins]

I'm guessing they are tiny little thread like looking things may an eighth inch long? Hard to tell from the video. If so, they're caused by overfeeding and are absolutely nothing to worry about. Cutting back on the food a bit and WCs should clear them up if that's what they are. What have you been doing for WCs on that tank?

[Plumkin]

http://i54.tinypic.com/2s79kww.jpg this is the eye , the fish has been in that tank a week i started medicating yesterday.

[Plumkin]

Since i started the medicine i didnt clean the water says to use medicine for 4 days then do a 25% w/c n add more if needed.

[Keith Perkins]

I can't speak to the eye, but the med directions sound like they're for your basic pet store fish and not discus WC regiments. I'd be more likely to do huge WCs daily and redose, but let's let one of the medication experts come along and give you exact advice. They'll probably have a different medication recommendation.

[Skip]

yes.. i was thinking like that.. but i thats why i wondering of timeline..

what is feeding schedule.. how much/often

[Plumkin]

I can't speak to the eye, but the med directions sound like they're for your basic pet store fish and not discus WC regiments. I'd be more likely to do huge WCs daily and redose, but let's let one of the medication experts come along and give you exact advice. They'll probably have a different medication recommendation.

im afraid it might of been the meds that did that to the tank because it was like only 24 hours and then they covered the tank should I be only feeding her flakes? I been giving her bloodworms also

[Plumkin]

yes.. i was thinking like that.. but i thats why i wondering of timeline..

what is feeding schedule.. how much/often


I feed her 2 times a day bloodworms and flakes 10am and 10pm

[Skip]

your probably feeding too much..

wipe down tank and less amount and water change.. its ok..

[Keith Perkins]

I can't imagine a med giving you creepy crawlies in your tank under any circumstances, but maybe I'm about to get an education. I almost exclusively feed beefheart mix and I've gotten the little white threadlike critters from time to time, reducing the amount being fed and my normal huge WCs have always cleared up the problem pretty quickly. I see you posted your fishes condition earlier and didn't get a lot of help, hopefully you'll get a lot more hits this time with it being the weekend.

[Plumkin]

thank you guys =] i was so worried ill cut down on feeding and more on w/c should i still ad thesalt for w/cs?

[Keith Perkins]

Try this link. http://www.simplydiscus.com/library/disease_medications/external/cloudy_eyes.shtml I'd actually do even bigger water changes, but that's probably just me. I'm a big believer in LOTS of good clean water. Acriflavine is a pretty basic med, and unlike a lot of other things quite cheap.

[bonsai dave]

The worms are from over feeding and the eye problem is from a ph crash or drop.

[Plumkin]

The worms are from over feeding and the eye problem is from a ph crash or drop.

how do i fix this ph crash to her eye ? i thought it was from when the owner was bagging her her dropped her on some wood!

[Plumkin]

Try this link. http://www.simplydiscus.com/library/disease_medications/external/cloudy_eyes.shtml I'd actually do even bigger water changes, but that's probably just me. I'm a big believer in LOTS of good clean water. Acriflavine is a pretty basic med, and unlike a lot of other things quite cheap.

thank you!

[TURQ64]

Missed this one, that'll teach me to go to bed early on a Saturday....Overview....All of this was lack of good water hygiene...The first meds afected the bio, which triggered the planaria to become visible..Both the planaria, and the cloudy eye (bacterial) are from not enough WC's (especially if it's a planted tank) leaving conditions prime for the bacterail eye problem, and feeding the planaria..I hope all is well now, If the eye problem returns, Furan-2 is probably your best choice... Gary

[Keith Perkins]

Gary - I knew one of you guys would smell the coffee and wake up this morning. The first meds affecting the bio which triggered the planaria makes perfect sense. Not a direct cause and effect, but only one step removed. Can I ask why Furan-2 versus Acriflavin?

[TURQ64]

No big reason; I use Acriflavin a lot, but for eyes, I like Furan types, for being weak enough to not kill off the bio....

[jimg]

imo acriflavin is more of a precaution treatment that does little to something that has set it. furan 2 covers a few problems.
when I need stronger for external I use furanace

[nc0gnet0]

Here is what happened, you medicated the tank and drove out the planaria (white squiggly things) out of your filter. Nothing to worry about, just ugly to look at. A mild dose of PP will dissolve them easily. After you dose the tank with 1-2ppm pp and do a water change I would start treating the eye with furan 2 (antibiotic) and plenty of clean water. As other have mentioned your probably overfeeding leeding to the planaria outbreak and poor water conditions which led to the cloudy eye.

I seriously doubt ph has anything to do with this. It does look like you need to clean your filter (make sure you use tank water). What is your water change schedule?

Rick

[Plumkin]

Here is what happened, you medicated the tank and drove out the planaria (white squiggly things) out of your filter. Nothing to worry about, just ugly to look at. A mild dose of PP will dissolve them easily. After you dose the tank with 1-2ppm pp and do a water change I would start treating the eye with furan 2 (antibiotic) and plenty of clean water. As other have mentioned your probably overfeeding leeding to the planaria outbreak and poor water conditions which led to the cloudy eye.

I seriously doubt ph has anything to do with this. It does look like you need to clean your filter (make sure you use tank water). What is your water change schedule?

Rick

for my q/t tank i do w/c everyday to every other day 80% changes... for my 75 gallon i do it twice a week 50% changes

[Plumkin]

Missed this one, that'll teach me to go to bed early on a Saturday....Overview....All of this was lack of good water hygiene...The first meds afected the bio, which triggered the planaria to become visible..Both the planaria, and the cloudy eye (bacterial) are from not enough WC's (especially if it's a planted tank) leaving conditions prime for the bacterail eye problem, and feeding the planaria..I hope all is well now, If the eye problem returns, Furan-2 is probably your best choice... Gary

thank you! I was so lost and scared about this.

[Plumkin]

So is her eye from being dropped when the owner bagged her? cloud eye? or ph burn? because im really not sure which it is and i dont want to treat her with meds that could harm her most of you seem to say cloud eye which I also thought.

[TURQ64]

Regardless of which, a good bacteriacidal is in order if plenty of clean water doesn't clear it up.....lotta water is first on the list..

[Plumkin]

well doing my w/c tonight on her tank i noticed that part of that white stuff fell off her eye on the pupal part n it was like hard or something it looked like awuarium salt but it wasn't it was really strange.. n now u can sorta see her eye it looks really bad..

ill keep you guys updated on her eye and how it turns out shes the spawning pair female and im not sure if she will be up to par for spawning when shes better its sad the blues are my favorite!

[TURQ64]

Well kiddo, this doesn't sound good..I've personally never had a fish's lens turn hard and fall out; guess it's possible that a burn or chemical could have hardened it, but this is a new one to me, whether hobby related, or at the end of a fishing rod...Any new photo?..really keep an eye (no pun intended) on this...If it does lose an eye, the world isn't over, but staying on top of secondary issues could get ruff....Gary

[lipadj46]

I would qt the fish and treat aggressively with kanaplex and furan-2/bifuran. I've had luck with that combination dosing both every 48 hours with 90% water changes before dosing, do this for 6 days then cease the kanaplex and see how the fish looks. continue furan 2 if needed or just do large daily wc's if they look good.

[Plumkin]

my lfs didnt have Acriflavin so i bought Furan -2 it says to dose for 2 days then do 25% w/c an repeat x4 doses then 1 more 25% w/c ... How do you guys use Furan-2

[TURQ64]

I do req'd dose first day, same dose second day, change 25-50% (depending on how dirty the QT is) on 3rd day and do the cycle again. So that's 4 times total in 4 days. Then do at least 25% WC....You can add regular salt, dissolved in a cup of aquarium water, 2 tbsp/10gal....HTH, Gary

[Plumkin]

thank you!, it seems to be working already her eye is already looting a tad bit better which is great wish I would have tried this first.

[strawberryblonde]

Well kiddo, this doesn't sound good..I've personally never had a fish's lens turn hard and fall out; guess it's possible that a burn or chemical could have hardened it, but this is a new one to me, whether hobby related, or at the end of a fishing rod...Any new photo?..really keep an eye (no pun intended) on this...If it does lose an eye, the world isn't over, but staying on top of secondary issues could get ruff....Gary

I've seen this kind of thing with my 18 year old cat a few years ago. He had a terminal brain tumor that put a lot of pressure on his eye. As a result it dried out and itched a lot, and he scratched, leaving it wide open to bacterial infections.

The first time it happened the eyelid and nictating membrane closed over it, so I didn't notice the problem till the day I was cleaning some of the "goo" off of his nose. He reacted to my wiping with a damp cloth by batting at the cloth, but hit his eye instead and bam, a hard white chunk of stuff fell off of the eye and onto my counter. I panicked of course and was sure I'd permanently damaged the eyeball.

The vet assured me that it's a natural process of the eye during a serious infection to build up a lot of secretions, which harden over time and then eventually the scale drops off, leaving the eye raw and vulnerable to yet more infections.

With simple antibiotics my cats eye was back to normal within a week.

So keep treating your discus Plumkin and it should heal just fine with the antibacterial treatment. It may, however, be permanently blind in that eye. I'm not an expert on this stuff, but I do know that the long term first infection caused my cat to go blind in his bad eye. It never bothered him a bit (after that first time) and he quickly adjusted to life with just one eye.

[Disgirl]

I have an angelfish who had a horribly infected eye, treated it and now the fish is blind in that eye but alive and healthy.
Barb

[Plumkin]

I've seen this kind of thing with my 18 year old cat a few years ago. He had a terminal brain tumor that put a lot of pressure on his eye. As a result it dried out and itched a lot, and he scratched, leaving it wide open to bacterial infections.

The first time it happened the eyelid and nictating membrane closed over it, so I didn't notice the problem till the day I was cleaning some of the "goo" off of his nose. He reacted to my wiping with a damp cloth by batting at the cloth, but hit his eye instead and bam, a hard white chunk of stuff fell off of the eye and onto my counter. I panicked of course and was sure I'd permanently damaged the eyeball.

The vet assured me that it's a natural process of the eye during a serious infection to build up a lot of secretions, which harden over time and then eventually the scale drops off, leaving the eye raw and vulnerable to yet more infections.

With simple antibiotics my cats eye was back to normal within a week.

So keep treating your discus Plumkin and it should heal just fine with the antibacterial treatment. It may, however, be permanently blind in that eye. I'm not an expert on this stuff, but I do know that the long term first infection caused my cat to go blind in his bad eye. It never bothered him a bit (after that first time) and he quickly adjusted to life with just one eye.

sorry to hear about your kitty :(

but thank you for that information :D!

[Plumkin]

I have an angelfish who had a horribly infected eye, treated it and now the fish is blind in that eye but alive and healthy.
Barb

what did u use to treat them

[Disgirl]

The angel's eye had a terrible fungal infection, looked like a cotton ball on it, and I used a fungus cure, by API, in a QT for 2 weeks.

[Keith Perkins]

So Barb's situation was different than yours in what she was dealing with and appropriately used a different treatment. Furan-2 is the ticket for a severe bacterial problem. Rest assured, you're on the right path. Gary wouldn't steer you wrong.

[Plumkin]

So Barb's situation was different than yours in what she was dealing with and appropriately used a different treatment. Furan-2 is the ticket for a severe bacterial problem. Rest assured, you're on the right path. Gary wouldn't steer you wrong.

glad to hear :) i will bed oing a 25% w/c and then adding the medicane for 2 more days and it should e all cleared up im hoping :).

[Harriett]

The total length of treatment for the Furan-2 should be at least 6-7 days and if it were me, probably closer to 10. Even if it's the right antibiotic for this condition [probably is], the length of treatment is important. Even the right med if used an insufficient time, will not be successful. If fact, if the bug isn't totally killed, you run the risk of the infection becoming resistant to Furan-2 and so would become ineffective against it. For this reason, you need to keep what is called a 'steady state' of the drug, i.e. do not miss doses.
I would be doing at least 50% water changes or more--I am of the 90% club, myself.
I would also caution you to use sea salt or kosher salt, not iodized table salt! You can add 2 tablespoons per 10 gallons with each water change while using the Furan-2 [even much more salt will not harm the fish, so don't worry]--it will be soothing to the eye, calm the fish a little, help kill the planaria off.

Best of luck, it sucks to have sick fish.
HArriett

[Keith Perkins]

Good suggestions on the antibiotics Harriett. I sometimes take telling folks that for granted, but it's VERY important to fully dose for the right period of time for the very reasons you gave. I'm right there with you on the 10 days and 90% club too.

[Plumkin]

so ever 2 days when it says to do 25% w/c do 90%? and just keep medicating till day 10?

[Keith Perkins]

Personally, on the rare occasion I have a sick fish, I do about 95% daily WCs and redose daily. Your option above though is still way better than what the drug manufaturer suggests, at least for discus.

[Plumkin]

if you do that big of w/c how does the meds have time to take effectiveness?

[Keith Perkins]

Because I'm redosing at full strength with every single WC. So for instance if the med directions say to use a teaspoon and do a WC in three days and redose with another teaspoon, instead of doing that I'm doing the 95% WCs daily and redosing daily. You have the same amount of meds if not more in the water all the time as if you followed the directions, except you have much cleaner water.

[Plumkin]

I understand better now thanks :).

[Plumkin]

today i did a 90% w/c added meds n salt hoping this will be better then what i been doing

[Plumkin]

I have 1 day left of treatment then it will been 10 days her eye is not fully better but it does look much better should I just treat her with daily 100% w/c's and salt till its fully cleared or buy more FURAN -2 ?

[Plumkin]

furan-2 is all gone doing 100% w/c an adding salt what elsa should I o to lear the cloud eye?

[TURQ64]

If it looks to you like the healing is going well, you could likely do well with just plenty of clean water. Personally, I'd treat it with the antibio until it's all clear.

[Plumkin]

thanks!