Possibly Hex? Need advice

[cwj108]

After reading the sticky, I treated my new FH with epsom salt soaked food for 5 days after noticing a white colored poo. By day three there was only normal poo, I was very ecstatic that it worked. The day after I finished the treatment I gave him some freeze dried bloodworms and by the end of the day I noticed white poo was back. Whether it was a coincidence I fed him the freeze dried bloodworms or not, I was discouraged. I then bought NLS hex but he is very picky with food. He will only eat hikari gold and bloodworms(refuses all other pellets but goes nuts for hikari gold). I have had him for about three weeks, he is growing, eating and acting just fine. He refuses to eat the NLS hex, I havent fed him anything for two days and offer him NLS hex twice a day. Below is what it looks like, is this hex? Should I try another epsom salt treatment or keep trying to NLS hex? I know two days is nothing to worry about, its a battle of wills on who will win out, but just wanna make sure I have the correct diagnosis(could it by chance just be nothing). Thanks in advance for the help. Sorry for the poor quality pic, I havent fed him for two days, he goes nuts begging for food and wont stay still when he sees me.

 

[RD.]

Yes, looks like Spironucleus aka Hexamita waste. I would recommend stop feeding BW completely, and stick to Epsom soaked pellets for another 5 days (twice a day), adding Metronidazole to the presoak as well. The fact that he is still eating is good news.

 

[cwj108]

Yes, looks like Spironucleus aka Hexamita waste. I would recommend stop feeding BW completely, and stick to Epsom soaked pellets for another 5 days (twice a day), adding Metronidazole to the presoak as well. The fact that he is still eating is good news.

I jinxed myself, I woke up this morning and attempted to feed him epsom soaked pellets, he wasnt even begging at the glass and then when he did see me, he just ignored the pellets. I orded some API General Cure for the tank and ordered some CZ Aqua "Clear" with some small syringes if the General Cure cant get him eating again. Im new to flowerhorns so this has been a wild ride for basically 3 weeks experience. In 13 yrs of keeping cichlids, ive never attempted to medicate with a syringe, hopefully the General Cure does the trick, or at least helps him to be able to eat again.

 

[RD.]

Bummer, sorry to hear that. Hopefully he bounces back for you.

 

[cwj108]

So today he seemed like he had a little more pep but still not interested in food. I came home during lunch break to check on him and he seemed more energetic so i attempted to feed him some epsom salt pellets, he ate a couple which was a good sign. I waited until this evening and he actually ate about 5 or 6 which is a step in the right direction. The api general cure should be here tomorrow and im anxious to see how hes doing in the morning now that he finally ate a little bit.

 

[Man-made Monsters]

Don't add meds to the water if he is eating the epson soaked pellets. Plus the general cure is not good for treating hex. That med will just further stress your fish and possibly negatively impact your filters. Just feed him the epson soaked pellets for 10-14 days. If he isn't cleared of infection then its time for CZ Clear. I had the same fears that you have. I have been keeping cichlids for the last 20 years and never had to inject a single medicine into a fishes stomach and then I started keeping and importing flowerhorn and that all changed. If your flowerhorn gets to that point of needing the CZ Clear we can help you with it. For now keep the water clean, anytime you see that pearl shaped white feces in the tank vac it out. Keep feeding the epson salt soaked food.

 

[RD.]

API General Cure contains salt (sodium chloride), Metronidazole, and Praziquantel. Adding that mix to ones tank water isn't going to stress their fish.

IME adding meds to the water is not the most ideal way to treat Spironucleus (which is most likely what this is), but it is an effective way to clear the pathogens from the water column and filters. This bacteria lives in the waste, and some of that waste is already in the filters.

The goal should always be to eradicate the pathogen completely from the system.


What are the ingredients in CZ Clear? Does anyone even know? I understand that it can work with a fish infected with Spiro/Hex, but other than a last resort personally I would never use a medication without knowing what it is made up from. Most meds that can save a fish, can also harm them over the long haul (cancer etc) if not used properly - and most meds for Spiro/Hex are designed to be taken internally based on the weight of the fish. Not just willy-nilly by pumping it into a fishes stomach with a syringe.

 

[cwj108]

Right now hes still eating epsom pellets hit or miss, and only a few at a time. Yea, the aqua clear will be my last ditch effort if it comes down to it, I bought it more or less to have on hand if things go WAY south. My reasoning behind the API General Cure was I was hoping to use it to:
A: Kill any bacteria/organisms in the water.
B: Hopefully get him better enough to bring back an appetite so I can continue epsom soaked pellets. Right now he spits out any food with meds, most likely because he feels like crap and will only eat something that tastes amazing to him. Everything else gets rejected.

I do 40-45% water changes AT LEAST twice a week, and everyday I change at least 5 to 10 gals when I vacuum out everything sitting on the bottom of the tank. Any food/poo/debris sitting on the bottom of the tank is removed daily. I run a powerhead with a sponge filter intake for circulation, I have a HOB penguin 350 filled with a sponge and bio media (No Carbon, i hot rod them for bio media), and I run a 4.5 inch standard sponge filter hooked up to a tetra 100 pump.

I appreciate all of the advice and help.

 

[cwj108]

Little Update: Added the General Cure 48 hrs ago and since then his appetite has started to come back so I have been feeding him epsom soaked pellets. Yesterday he had a weird looking tan-ish stringy poo with a really white mass at the end. Pics below

 

[cwj108]

Update: Its been about 10 days, his appetite is back to normal and his poops have been becoming slowly more brown and less white over the last two days. I treated with the API General Cure per the directions on the box (day 1 then another does 48 hrs later) and have been feeding him Epsom salt soaked pellets two to three times a day for 10 days now. I noticed this morning that his kok is beginning to grow again. I also siphon out any debris 1 to 2 times a day. I have a straight piece of PVC pipe, 3/4" diameter with an elbow at the end hooked to a hose. Makes for real quick vacuuming of the bottom vs a normal siphon tube with a larger diameter. The smaller diameter of the 3/4" tube makes it pretty powerful when sucking stuff out. I can usually vacuum out all the debris without filling a 5 gal bucket.