Batteling Hexamita in my CA cichlids. Any suggestions?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I have had good success adding epsome salt to the water with other IP's. Seems like it would work with Hexamita as well according to RD's right up, right? The fish are eating but I have never had luck with them eating the salt infused food. I hope they take the hex shield. I am going to try the salt infused food tonight as well.

I know the dosing for the metro I was asking about the dosing of the salt. Sorry I was unlclear.
 
I think its 1 to 3 table spoons for every 5 gallons when treating fish constipation im not sure with hex. I just throw a couple of handfuls in the tank. Epsom is pretty mild and I don't think you could really overdose. Fish pass it through there system real easy.
 
Thanks for the info. I soaked food in metro and epsome salts last night. My hexshield should arrive today. I did 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons of epsome salts in my tank last night. This morning my fish that had it the worst was swimming a 2" long piece of white feces before it dropped from him. I hope that is a sign that the meds and salt is working through the body.
 
Keep us updated. Im battling this myself with little 2" fish. They keep killing one another and overfeeding on the remains. Hex shield works but they are not fond of it at all.
 
You might want to read the comments that I posted today in the following discussion.

http://monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/treating-a-small-fish-for-hex.651285/

Adding Epsom salt to the tank water may help flush the parasites, but it will not cause them to die unless ingested directly into the gut. Metro on the other hand can cause death via a bath. I explained how this works and posted link to a 200+ page study that explains some pretty detailed info on this disease.



IME Hex-Shield must be nasty tasting stuff, but if your fish will eat it, feed for 3-4 days straight and it should nuke any Spironucleus vortens aka Hexamita parasites. My fish all ate the food (in a comm tank) but they weren't exactly fighting over it like they usually do, and after a few days some of them started to refuse it. Good news is it worked to perfection, and cured a pretty serious problem. Make sure that ALL fish in the tank are eating it, and offer no other food during this period. Metronidazole should not be used for two weeks straight, but I understand your desperation and why you dosed that long. As far as cost, save the metro for down the road - not much point in saving a fish only to have it later die from organ failure from over medicating.

Sometimes no matter what we do these things cannot be beat, and of course short of a proper identification by an expert in fish pathogens and protozoa we are generally just making educated guesses.

Edited to add a repost from a past discussion on this topic .....


A few things to note when treating with metronidazole, it has been found to cause organ damage in fish if used excessively.


Metro applied via feed should only be done based on the fishes weight.


Dr. Edward J Noga suggests

1. Bath

a. Add 19mg/gallon and treat for 3 hours. Repeat every other day for 3 treatments.

2. Prolonged Immersion

a. Add 25mg/gallon and treat once daily for a total of 3 times.
b. Add 95mg/gallon and treat every other day for three days.

3. via feed

25 mg/Kg of body weight/day for 5 to 10 days, or 100 mg/kg of body weight for 3 days. Retreat once if required.




Dr. Edward J. Noga, MS, DVM, is a highly respected professor of aquatic medicine and immunology, that has been published approx 150 times in related papers/journals. His lab at NC State University specializes in the study of infectious diseases of finfish and shellfish. His book, Fish Disease: Diagnosis and Treatment is the go to "health" book for every serious fish keeper and aquatuc DVM on the planet.


Good Luck!
 
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RD I read your write up good info thank you.

Most of the fish seem to be doing better. I am only seeing white poop from one of the fish. The fish that is still showing symtoms didn't show symptoms when I first started feeding hex shield a few days ago. I hope she is jsut a few steps behind the others. These are the steps I am taking

1. feeding hex shield. Fish aren't refusing yet but they aren't eager about it either.
2. Epsome Salt 1tbs spoon for every 5 gallons
3. Metro dosed tank as directed by the bottle.
 
The fact that they are eating is VERY positive. It's when they refuse feed and sulk in a corner that things can become a bit hopeless. Oddly enough one of my fish (P. polleni) would refuse his normal pellets soaked in Epsom salt. I had never seen that before, but he totally refused to eat. When my Hex Shield pellets arrived in the mail he ate them, and continued to eat a few pellets twice a day. On day 4 he refused to eat them, but that was all it took to turn him around. Today he is as healthy as ever, so don't give up hope. FYI - I treated the tank water with Metro as per Dr. Noga's info, and fed the NLS Hex pellets for 3.5 days total.

I also just recently cleaned up some clown loaches that were given to me, one out of the group of 5 had classic hex symptoms. (clear stringy fecal matter) I fed them Hex Shield for 3 days, gave them a rest for a couple days on a regular staple, then treated them for another 3 days, then treated with PraziPro just in case any of them were carrying tape worms. All 5 are cleaned out, and doing super. No more clear stringy waste, and all are eating and getting fat and sassy.

Good luck
 
Thanks I am going to keep feeding Hex Shield for a few more days. Make sure it is all knocked out and see what happens.
 
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