Hexamita?

[CichlidDan]

My oscar has suddenly become lethargic and hangs around at the bottom of the tank. I recently ridded the tank of a red devil because it was etting very aggressive and I had noticed spots on the oscars head where it looked like he had been attacked by the red devil. The spot looked like to was healing and a divit would stay where the spot used to be. They seemed to stop appearing when the red devil was taken away but I'm not sure. Now he has had several white poos and they are longer than normal. He also does not want to eat as often. He is only 5" long and I am worried his growth could become stunted from this. I keep the tank very clean with water changes occuring at least twice a week. Nitrates always under 40ppm and normally around 20. Do you guys think it is hexamita and how should I treat it?

 

[CichlidDan]

I have melafix in the water already to help a peacock bass heal... can I treat with metronidazle medicated food while I have melafix in the water, I need to know soon cus the pet store closes in 2 hours so I gotta get a treatment plan quick....[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]
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[---XR---]

What you are seeing is more likely Stress realted (Hole in the Head disease) or more commononly known as (HITH). my oscars in the past have gotten it bad from being beat on by other cichlids (the super aggro ones).

it's a very common diesease seen in oscars. ussally seen in oscars who are being kept in proper condition or aquatic enviroments. IE- Tanks to Small, water quality's bad- and if they are fed fish such as store bought feeder goldfish that have not been quarentiened properly. But stress realted HITH is very common aswell.

Treatment-

Keep your oscar away from aggresive fish, keep tank matenince and water quality in perfect condition, raise your water temp to around 82-84F, Add small amounts of salt to your aquarium daily, and keep useing melafix or pimafix.

it'll be gone soon.

 

[CichlidDan]

Does that explain the white feces to? And he is in a 90 gallon tank as well and I make sure the staple of his diet is Hikari Cichlid Gold and then he sometimes gets crickets, bloodworms, krill, and no live or dead fish of any kind.

 

[---XR---]

stringy white feces can be and indication of an internal parasite infection. also common in cichlids. i've seen it the more in saum and green terror cichlids, but all cichlids get them. treat with what i previously stated but switch the mealfix to just pimafix which is made for internal problems aswell as the typical outer wounds that mealfix treats.

 

[---XR---]

Ussally if a fish isn't eating and gets white feces that is what is the problem, but by the sounds of it your oscar eats plenty, so beyond what i previously stated i don't know what to tell you.

Best of Luck.

 

[dirtyblacksocks]

Didn't read past the first post but oscar's are overly prone to Hole In The Head - sketchy studies have related it to hexamita, but it is more than likely a nutrition deficiency.

Best cure, in my opinion - is to increase the temperature to around 80 degree's, add salt, and start performing daily water changes of at least 15%, preferably 30% until you see the holes start to receed in size.

Feed a varied diet of healthy foods, hikari, new life spectrum, algae waefers...avoid live feeder fish.

Keep in mind that it takes a long time for the wounds from HITH to actually heal up, but so long as you don't see them increasing in size you should be good - clean waters and a good diet are the key to fighting it.

 

[pcfriedrich]

stringy white feces is a sign of hexamita. the metronidazle medicated food is good, but apparently not necessary. My O had it recently, I was sure he would die. he was swimmng backward, not moving, and not eating anything. his skin was completely black, except for a few red spangles. I just treated the water with "Jungle Brand Tank Buddies parasite clear". He was beginning to eat again within a week, and fully recovered within two. if your fish is still eating, I recommend you feed him medicated food along with medicating the water. who knows what kind of internal damage that parasite can cause.


I'm not sure if metronidazle is compatible with melafix or not. you definately want to find out..

 

[pcfriedrich]

Didn't read past the first post but oscar's are overly prone to Hole In The Head - sketchy studies have related it to hexamita, but it is more than likely a nutrition deficiency.

the hexamita no doubt leads to nutrition deficiency, which in turn, leads to HITH.

definately treat the internal parasite first. it will only cause the HITH to get worse, if it doesn't kill the O on its own.

 

[CichlidDan]

I guess I shouldn't have but I assumed that the metronidazole would not react with melafix because melafix is all natural. I mixed a bit in with some frozen blood worms and tossed it in. They had terrible instructions for mixing with food so I kinda tried to do an approximate ratio. Everything seems fine and the oscar is already very active and hyper again. The instructions were terrible so do any of you guys have a way of mixing and using it that has worked for you?