Eddie's not well need help.

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Right so my heads burning now I can't get metronidazole as I need a prescription apparently so no luck there. Will seachem metroplex work. It needs to be something that will work been force fed or in the water as he won't eat any soaked food at all.
 
Metroplex is a Metronidazole based formula, so yes start with that asap. Just follow directions. Start there with force feeding, and see how things go.
 
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Bbuckley said:
Sorry if this comes across as a stupid question but how much of the solution do I force feed him. I'm going to treat one tablet a day I'm assuming I do the whole lot but just wanted to be sure as it's seams like a lot.
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Just enough of the solution to make an easy moving paste through the syringe. There's no overdosing worries with the epsom salt solution. It's more important to get the total dosage of the metro in the fish. You could follow the directions for CZ clear on how much liquid to use for their 2 pill medication.
 
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Metroplex has instructions on the package. Otherwise, when using Metro alone in feed it becomes a bit more complicated.

For epsom salt solution I would refer to this past discussion;

RD. said:
Treating Bloat aka Hexamita aka Spironucleus with Epsom Salt Solution



This is a rather safe way to treat any newly imported fish, as a prophylactic, just as one would use a de-wormer. It's not only an extremely cheap way to treat fish, the active ingredients are readily available world-wide, and it's also much safer than using most forms of medication. Unlike most medications, there should be no worries about flagellates/pathogens building up a resistance to it, and excess magnesium is easily flushed from a fishes system. In my experience, it's very easy on fish, even very young juvenile fish. The best part - as long as the fish is still eating, it works!

While Metronidazole has always been the drug of choice when combating internal parasites such as spironucleus, metro (or any other form of medication) should never be used on a regular basis as a prophylactic, and doing so may cause flagellates/parasites to develop a resistance to the medication, and possibly even mutate and become super bugs. It's also been stated by at least one researcher that excessive use of metronidazole can cause organ damage in fish.



Other cons with metronidazole is its solubility in water is very poor, in aquarium settings it has been suggested that it can precipitate out of solution within 6-8 hours, and it can become rather expensive when treating large systems.

While doing some online research on spironucleus I came across an interesting study that mentioned the use of Magnesium sulphate (Epsom salt) in treating internal parasites in angel fish.
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-120399-140825/unrestricted/ANGEL.PDF

A long read (200+ pages) but the idea of using something as basic as epsom salt to treat internal parasites in fish intrigued me, which in turn lead me to dig deeper.


This is where it got interesting ........

The Israeli Journal of Aquaculture Bamidgeh 57(2), 2005, 97-104.

http://siamb.org.il/uploads/57_2_Ogut.pdf






In his book; Fish Disease: diagnosis and treatment, Edward J. Noga mentions treating hexamita (spironucleus) orally with Magnesium sulphate.

This is certainly encouraging news for anyone who's fish is still eating, or begins eating after treatment with Metro. Not only does Epsom salt assist in recovery when added directly to the aquarium (as per the links above), but according to the research posted above it has a deadly effect on hexamita when ingested.

Dr. Edward J. Noga, MS, DVM, is a highly respected professor of aquatic medicine and immunology, and he 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. As a side note for Discus keepers, Dr. Noga's book on fish disease is the book that Andrew Soh often refers to for disease/treatment information.


Now for the treatment ......


For a 3% solution of Magnesium sulphate, add 1 level tablespoon (15 grams) magnesium sulphate to 500 milliliters of distilled water. Stir, and it's good to go.

Use an eye dropper or pipette to add to pellet food (or any other food that will readily absorb it), and stop dripping water once the pellets become saturated. Use only enough water to saturate the food, with no excess water, so that the water soluble vitamins in the food remain intact. Feed twice a day, for 3-5 days. (I went with 5 days)

In extreme cases, the oral solution could be administered to a fish via a pipette.Just make sure to use a flexible tip so as not to damage the fishes esophagus when squirting the solution down the fishes throat. Only a small amount is required, but repeat daily until the fish is accepting pre-soaked pellets, and continue treatment for 5 days.


My own experience with this treatment ........ so far it's proven to be a life saver, where all other previous 'textbook' methods of treatment for internal parasites have failed, including several days of treating with 500mg Metro per 10 gallons, while feeding Metro soaked food at the same time. (fish was chewing & spitting, but was eating some food twice a day)

In less than 48 hrs of the 3% Magnesium sulphate treatment, for the first time in 30 days the fish was no longer shedding the mucous lining of his intestine. (white/clear feces) After 5 days of feeding the 3% solution via pellets, the fish had made a complete recovery & was back eating like gang busters.

Hopefully some members here will find this information useful.

Neil
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And for treating with metronidazole, this past post;

RD. said:
With regards to Metronidazole.....

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 aquatic DVM.
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Right so it doesn't look like I can get seachem metroplex in the uk or any metronidazole based treatment for that matter. I'm at a loss for what to do. Would waterlife octozin work I can definitely get that ?it treats internal parasites it says and comes in tab form so I could crush and force feed still. If not any more ideas?
 
It's all guess work at this point, but it's worth a shot. I can tell you one thing, the longer this goes on without proper treatment, the greater the chance of failure.
 
For a starter, magnesium sulfate soaked food. You should have that happening, yesterday.
 
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RD. said:
For a starter, magnesium sulfate soaked food. You should have that happening, yesterday.
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I agree with that completely I did try with him he just won't take food no matter what. I'm going to start treatment with the octozin and keep fingers crossed I'll mix it with the Epsom salt solution to force feed it to him.
 
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