Currently treating flowerhorn for hex. How long until will he eat?

[noelsphoto]

. The Kamfa is back to himself after 5 days, but my Thai Silk is still sick so Im going to have to try to treat her for longer. Use Clear, it works.

I also increased my temp to 80+ and probably keep it there. My FH loves warmth.
He's eating without hesitation now. And not missing weekly water changes.
BTW i notice those small spiraling worms in the tank when i water change. It seems like they stick to the glass first. what are they and where they come from. is it beneficial to have them algea eaters?

 

[RD.]

The OP stated;

Last night I noticed long white worm like poop coming out. They seem to be dead white worms.

In which case his fish appears to be suffering from worms, most likely a tapeworm, which would require a deworming agent such as PraziPro aka Praziquantel. For nematodes (round worms) you're better off treating with levamisole as per the directions in the following link.

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fa091


Neither metronidazole or epsom salt will cure a fish that's infested with worms. Epsom salt can act as a purgitive agent and help flush the worms out, but it won't kill the worms, or their eggs.

Once the fish is clean of worms I would wait & see before taking a shotgun approach with medications designed to treat internal pathogens such as Spironucleus vortens, aka hexamita.

The white poop isnt actually a worm but its his intestine line shedding.

If that was the case what you would generally be seeing is clear poop, not white.


Also keep in mind that almost all fish medications have the potential to be dangerous and/or toxic at high enough dosage rates, or if used excessively. The vast majority of fish that hobbyists on MFK keep in captivity, such as flowerhorn, have absolutely no data to support the safety of any of these medications, at any dosage rate. These medications generally do not take into account the age, size, or weight, of the fish either. Certainly many of these aquatic marketed medications work, and are better than watching a fish suffer, and then die - but that sure as hell doesn't mean that any of them are 100% "safe", either, at any dosage rate. My advice has always been that unless your fish is already knocking on heavens door, start small & work your way up, not the other way around.

Good luck.

 

[RD.]

FYI - when you are medicating fish, do not feed them unless the medication is being infused into the food, such as epsom or metro soaked pellets.

 

[noelsphoto]

thats a lot of good info. thanks. i got lucky not overmedicating. still waiting to see about the OP if he was sucessfull.

 

[RD.]

I'm also curious as to what the active ingredients are in the OP's "General Cure" medication. At one time API's General Cure was made up of 250 mg Metronidazole, and 75 mg of Praziquantel. A good general combo of meds for a fish with worms and/or spiro/hex.

Currently this same product (API General Cure) is now listed as containing Sodium chloride, Metronidazole, Trichlorfon, Silica amorphous, fumed, crystalline free and Copper Sulfate.

http://www.apifishcare.com/pdf/15D_...SVendors_2014_February_19_08-06-12-227_AM.pdf

This is exactly why I am very careful when administering meds to fish. The OP's fish doesn't sound like it is having any issues with external parasites, so there is absolutely no need to subject that fish to copper sulfate, and/or trichloforon. Trichloforon is an organophosphate compound insecticide, it's nasty stuff, and can be VERY toxic to certain species of fish, as well as the vast majority of invertebrates. The same ingredient is found in CLOUT, another fairly toxic mix of meds that should always be used as a last resort or in extreme cases where the fish appears to be rapidly declining.

 

[hybridcichlids]

+1 I used clear and it worked api , Epson salt etc is not going to get rid of internal parasites like some 1 stated already it helps flush them but don't kill eggs or the actual parasite I would try clear it worked for both of my fish.....It's 17$$ comes with a needle and a bottle full of capsules it works....

Sent from my SM-N900P using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[RD.]

api , Epson salt etc is not going to get rid of internal parasites like some 1 stated already it helps flush them but don't kill eggs or the actual parasite

That's absolutely incorrect, and spoken from yet another hobbyist that doesn't understand the cause or cure of the pathogen involved in the vast majority of hex outbreaks in tropical fish. The pathogen is Spironucleus vortens, and both metronidazole and epsom salt have been used in various studies and in commercial applications where thousands of test subjects have been utilized, and both of these agents will in fact cause the demise of this internal parasite.

You can start by reading the following sticky located at the top of this section.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?339362-Treating-Hexamita-aka-Spironucleus

It's also posted in a few other locations on MFK.

A classic example of a flowerhorn that was imported from Thailand with Spironucleus vortens, aka Hexamita.

This flowerhorn was cured by utilizing the information found within that sticky. Presoaked @ 3% epsom salt for 5 days straight. Pic below was taken 2 yrs after treatment, with no repeats of this pathogen or any other illness.

Will Metro and/or epsom salt adminstered via feed work on every FH infected with spiro/hex? Nope, once spiro/hex becomes systemic and spreads into organs etc sometimes nothing will save the fish. But I would most certainly start small when using some of these meds on a fish, before blindly adminstering a medication formulated in a country such as Thailand where almost anything goes, and where so far no one has even been able to tell me what the active ingredients are. What may save ones fish today, could also kill it from complications down the road.

 

[hybridcichlids]

Honestly I did exactly wht you said in that sticky I even brought (kill) to kill the parasites in the water and on the 6th day and on remind you my fh never stop eating it continued her behavior never changed and the problem continued i then tried metro for a week problem continued then i tried clear last week and my fish is back to normal I'm speaking off my own exp. Not wht a Dr. Or whoever Epson salt , api etc did nothing but clear did that's why I can't Co sign the Epson salt

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[RD.]

Which is exactly why I stated:

Will Metro and/or epsom salt adminstered via feed work on every FH infected with spiro/hex? Nope, once spiro/hex becomes systemic and spreads into organs etc sometimes nothing will save the fish.

But what you just posted is a far cry from stating:

Epson salt etc is not going to get rid of internal parasites like some 1 stated already it helps flush them but don't kill eggs or the actual parasite

No drug will be 100% effective in 100% of all cases. This same rule applies to all forms of medicine, from aquatic to human. That doesn't mean that you throw the baby out with the bath water because something didn't personally work for your fish. Scores of people posted in that sticky where that treatment did in fact save their FH. Many others sent me PM's/email thanking me for saving their fish. (not just FH) A mod (Chris) later deleted most of those comments because the thread became so long. Does it (and metro) work, absolutely! Will they work in 100% of all cases - absolutely not!

I understand Clear does work in many cases, just as I understand that Clout also works in many cases. My point is that I would never start with those types of drugs due to their potential side effects. If nothing else is working I would have done exactly as you did, no question about it.

Do you, or anyone else for that matter even know what the active ingredients in Clear are? I'm curious as I honestly don't know. My concern is from a youtube vid that was posted here last year that showed somebody talking out of his arse with regards to using it for deworming. (on a monthly basis)

 

[aquatic_wonders]

K

I also increased my temp to 80+ and probably keep it there. My FH loves warmth.
He's eating without hesitation now. And not missing weekly water changes.
BTW i notice those small spiraling worms in the tank when i water change. It seems like they stick to the glass first. what are they and where they come from. is it beneficial to have them algea eaters?

Those are planaria usually the cause is overfeeding.