Treating internal parasites when a fish won't eat?

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Dispatch273

Dispatch273

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jul 22, 2011
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I recently bought a nice EBJD. He was in my QT tank for 2 weeks and was then added to my 75 gallon to pair up with one of my BGJD females. He has not eaten since I got him :( I have a feeling he has internal parasites since I can't see anything on the outside. He does not have a sunken in belly though. I have tried treating the tank with metro but there has been no improvement. Water parameters are good and 50% weekly water changes are done. I've tried every kind of food mixed with the meds to try to treat him be he won't eat anything. He hangs out near the surface of the water(plenty of oxygen in the tank) and goes between normal coloration and being dark colored. I paid a lot of money for this fish and I really don't want him to die. I've added salt to the tank, raised the temp, treated with metro/prazi and still no improvement. What else can I do? How can I get the meds into him?
 
Well I guess it wasn't really that fast, since I had him for at least 2 weeks before he passed and he never ate that whole time. I was hoping I still had time to save him but I guess not :( It would be nice to know what to do in this situation if I'm ever faced with it again though. Does anyone have any ideas?
 
Dispatch273 said:
Bump, I'd still like to know how to treat internal parasites when a fish won't eat.....
Click to expand...
When a fish is so ill that it can't eat on it's own (You) have to hand feed them. There's a Garlic liquid you can add to your fish food to treat internal parasites. Garlic is also used to treat anything from appetite loss to blindness and everything in between.

Good luck in the future
-Jill :)
 
Jillfishie said:
When a fish is so ill that it can't eat on it's own (You) have to hand feed them. There's a Garlic liquid you can add to your fish food to treat internal parasites. Garlic is also used to treat anything from appetite loss to blindness and everything in between.

Good luck in the future
-Jill :)
Click to expand...

Thank you Jill. How do you hand feed them? Could I just load a syringe(no needle!!) with a food/water/med mixture and put it in the fish's mouth?
 
Dispatch273


Sandy you're welcome for the information, but you really need to take better care of your fish. You've lost more fish than any one I know for (NO REASON). The syringe will work if needed, but I've never had to do this myself so I couldn't give any more information than I've already mentioned.

I remember a while back you where looking into getting a Wet/Dry system for your tanks, but I don't believe you ever purchased one. Keeping a good healthy environment for your fish isn't very hard & even someone like myself with little extra time can maintain a few tanks.

I know there's a lot of ppl that think EBJD's are (FRAGILE), but they are very hardy fish. I know because I have & breed many. Now if you get EBJD's from a bad breeder I know you can have problems. But if you know the breeder & heritage of the fish you should be alright. ( Same for any other type of FISH ).

Good luck with your breeding projects in the future. I hope you're able to get them going.

- Jill :)
 
yeah I would say from breeding that you will have weak fry that is the trade off. you can also have a healthy fish that can get internal parasites. You should be monitoring ebjd at least 10 minutes each day and watching the eating habits. healthy fish is always eager hunger ...They get internal parasites i have many die of this with good conditions. Uv can help and some member use it Ive also used with help. I firmly believe in a quarantine tank that you get before you introduce to your main tank and to treat for parasites just make sure that your not buying someone else sick fish.
 
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