Treating Hexamita aka Spironucleus

RD.

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That form of magnesium sulfate should be fine. As for your fish, continue treatment for a few more days & with any luck that will clean him out. Typically the waste excreted by a fish infested with Spironucleus/Hexamita will be clear, not so much white.



I wish I could offer more for those in need of help with their sick fish, but I don't own a crystal ball & without a proper diagnosis from someone qualified to do so, as in examining a sample under a microscope, we seldom even know with 100% certainty exactly what we are dealing with. Add to that what people are feeding, the manner in which they are treating their fish, including environmental conditions the fish is being treated under, and it's impossible for me to know how each person should proceed. Sometimes no amount of medication will turn a fish around, even when diagnosed properly & treated with known cures. Unfortunately there are no guarantees when it comes to treating sick fish.
 

Miguel

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the prepared solution can be kept on the fridge and used thereafter untill you finishthe half litre :)
 

RD.

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To be honest I don't even think that it requires any type of refrigeration. Sorry that I missed that part of the question.
 

Miguel

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:) i keep it in the fridge, in any case.
 

tanyaelec11

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after reading this thread I will be starting to treat my fish for this tonight . they have acting quite different and I did see signs of this . I hope it works !
 

Mastiffman

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@RD.

Ok, after 5 days of force feeding my fish with the epsom salt and mashed food fish health didnt improve, nor got worse at least either, so I decided to add metro to the same mashed food and the epsom salt. Since then five more days have passed and still fish helath doesnt improve, his kok is starting to look like a dry grape, he is lethargic too.

I think he hasnt died because of the force feeding and somehow medication has helped out for that not to happen.

Now I am worried, he should have shown signs of improvement by now, dont you think so?, this is really super frustrating.

I am force feeding him the medicated food as long as it takes, but I am starting fear that he' d never recover and despite all the efforts to keep him alive he might end up dieing.

What can you comment about this?, I need your help.
Glad the his condition isn't worsoning... I want to ask you if you amde sure to use Vitamin Drops while administering your force fed food? YOu should mix this in as it says in the "Force Feeding" Web page so that the vitmins that are not intact any longer in the mashed food are replaced with htis liquid form or vitsmins. Specifically Vitamin A, B, C.... Maybe soak the mash in Garlic Jiuce from a minced garlic Jar as well, if not mix in some of the minced garlic in the force fed mash as Garlic will Kill an interanl parasites whil boosting it's immune system!

I just started this treatment on a Wild Caught Colony of tropheus that I started showing signs of bloat after 2 weeks of healthy eating on the proper Spiruline based Herbivore food. There was some spawning action going on and they are still in a QT tank so I think that it was due to aggression stress... But just overnight I saw improvement in their behavoir!

Thank you for posting this article!
 

RD.

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There is no need to add vitamins to the food, all of the vitamins will still be intact if it is mixed & administered properly. Also, many commercial foods (such as NLS) contain garlic so no real need to add any extra garlic either. BTW - garlic is a good preventative for parasites, and does have certain health benefits such as boosting a fishes immune system - but it has never been shown to actually kill parasites.
 

Mastiffman

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There is no need to add vitamins to the food, all of the vitamins will still be intact if it is mixed & administered properly. Also, many commercial foods (such as NLS) contain garlic so no real need to add any extra garlic either. BTW - garlic is a good preventative for parasites, and does have certain health benefits such as boosting a fishes immune system - but it has never been shown to actually kill parasites.


I'm sorry but I have to disagree. Do a quick google Search for "Garlic and Parasites" and you will see that it does.

One of the Articles linked to in this thread suggests using Vitamins in specific cases. I wasn't referring to every case. And it's especially important if the fish isn't responding well with just the food. Or if the food is left to soften and sit over a long period of time that it should be. And considering the case above, the fish isn't getting better, a few extra vitamins is not going to hurt it. Although to much can.

I don't recommend NLS for every fish. As it's given quite a few of my trophs Bloat/ Constipation even during a very slow acclimation of it.

I think that most would find that Ocean Nutrition: For one for Carnivores as well as some Choice Frozen Crustations and Ocean Nutrition: Formula Two for Herbivores is a Much Better Choice of Food! It's soft and pelletable as opposed to the hard pellets of NLS.

JMTC though...
 

RD.

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Andrew, I have been studying the effects of garlic & all of its various sulphur compounds with regards to parasites & fish for several years. I can assure you that garlic does not kill any form of spironucleus, which is what this discussion is about. I posted the following back in 2006, back when certain authors in the aquatic industry were still stating that garlic had no effect whatsoever on the immune system or health of a fish, and that using garlic in fish feed was merely a fad based on manufacturer hype.

http://www.newlife.ipbhost.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=256


Quite frankly I think that you will be very hard pressed to find anyone hanging out on a fish forum that knows more on this subject than I do. I have debated the merits of feeding garlic to fish for many years, and debated this subject with a lot of people over the years, including research scientists that work in the field of fish health. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about.

I also suggest that you read the following discussion, another sticky here on MFK.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?456034-Bloat-Causes-Cures-and-BIG-Myths


Myself, along with thousands of other hobbyists world-wide have fed NLS to tropheus along with many other fish classified as strict herbivores without ever experiencing a single case of "bloat". Not one single case.

I have personally kept numerous species of African cichlids, pretty much all of the species that are considered by the masses to be bloat prone magnets, such as various Tropheus sp., Tanganicodus irsacae, Tropheops Macrophthalmus, P. demasoni, Labeotropheus fuelleborni, Labeotropheus trewavasae, several species of Melanochromis & Metriaclima as well as numerous other species of mbuna classified as herbivores, and over a span of 15+ years in keeping African cichlids of all dietary types never once encountered bloat in any of my tanks. All fed NLS pellets.

Many years ago I was a moderator on a well known cichlid forum in the health & nutrition folder, and I can assure you that every brand of food currently on the market has been blamed by one or more people as causing bloat in their fish - due to the fact that most people do not understand how or why bloat is triggered. Most hobbyists have never even heard of Spironucleus vortens. IMHO bloat is seldom caused by diet.

Read the link that I posed above and you will begin to understand how & why bloat is triggered in our tanks, and what one can do to prevent it.

As far as vitamin loss in mashed food, if the food is properly mixed, and not left to sit for days on end at room temps, or in a well lit area, the vitamin loss will be next to nothing. The key is feeding a high quality easily digestible food where optimum levels of vitamins are already present. When force feeding a fish that food should be mixed & fed within the same day as being prepared, any extra can also be stored in a fridge with little to no vitamin loss - if stored properly. Proper food storage & prevention against vitamin loss isn't exactly rocket science.
 
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