Gold saum acting strange( possible IP maybe)

[Benno87]

Hey guys looking for a bit of advice as my Gts behaviour has changed a bit in the last couple of weeks. I had noticed 2 weeks ago when I gave him his first feed for the day of hikari bio plus he was still straight up to the top of the tank smashing them with gusto. But after he'd eat 2 or 3 maybe then the rest he'd chew up and spit out all over the place( usually would eat 5-8 then be straight back up front of the glass wanting more although he wouldn't be able to keep anymore down). And sometimes now hel just start chewing and spitting them out straight away even if he hasn't eaten for a day. He appears to have lost a tiny bit of weight but is still ver active and playful, although a tiny bit more skittish than usual but not much. He is even displaying this behaviour when I've been giving him his cichlid excel veg pellets too which he'd also usually devour no probs. I also haven't seen him poop for 3 or 4 weeks either, which has got me stressing it could be the start of an internal parasite problem which has got me a little worried as I love this fish. I'm also wondering if he's just gotten sick of hikari bio plus and cichlid excel because yesterday I thought I'd drop in some hikari discus bio gold from when I had angelfish as no fish is meant to reject this. He absolutely devoured this like he hadn't eaten in ages so I ended up giving him 3 good feeds of it yesterday and already one today soaked in fresh garlic juice until soft as I've read that can help with ips also and I figured it wouldn't hurt. So as you can understand I'm a tad confused as he once loved the 2 other foods. If anyone's got any ideas what's going on any input would be greatfully appreciated. Thanking you, sorry for the long post just don't wanna lose him because awesome quality fish like him are hard to find around my area.
Cheers

 

[Benno87]

Forgot to mention I also tested all parameters and everything was sweet as I'd expect because the tank gets weekly 60-70% water changes.

 

[ragin_cajun]

It could be all kinds of things. Very hard to say. Could be Hexamita. Could be a blockage in his gut. Could be nothing. I"ve noticed my fish will, couple times a year, just eat very sparingly or not at all for a few days. If you notice white stringy poop, and fish quits eating, and gets kinda sluggish, that's Hex. NLS sells a medicated food called "Hex Shield" for that--I've never tried it.

What I HAVE done for Hexamita is follow RDs sticky in the freshwater diseases forum. He describes how to prepare and administer epsom salt solution for Hex. Worked like a charm for me on 4-5 fish.

But, you don't know your fish has Hex until you see the white stringy poop.

 

[Benno87]

Thanks heaps for the reply Ragin, I actually did find a couple of terror terds whilst doing a water change this morning and they looked perfectly fine so maybe he is just going through a phase hopefully. I mail ordered some api general cure from the states this morning which contains both prazi and metro( the stuff is apparently very hard to get hold of in Australia without a vet script). Would you recommend still treating with this and Epsom salts anyways just to be sure? Or do you think it would put too much stress on my terror?
Thanks again

 

[Benno87]

Well I think I've solved the problem, pretty sure he was just constipated coz after 2 feeds soaked in RDs Epsom salt solution my Gt started poopn like a champ again. He still won't eat the bigger pellets again though which is bothering me a bit as I'd prefer him to be on a lesser protein diet than the discus bio gold. Maybe hel get back on the cichlid gold when he's bigger.