Treatment of skinny disease (nematodes). Downloadable PDF

RD.

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Aquanero

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API General Cure (Metro/Prazi) used as a food soak and in tank treatment usually covers most situations like this IME. However occasionally other treatments may be necessary.
 

RD.

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Tom, if I'm not mistaken API General Cure has changed formulas - it no longer simply consists of metro & prazi, but also contains ingredients (an insecticide) that are not meant to be ingested. I could be wrong, but not usually. :)
 
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RD.

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They must have changed the formula again? I posted about this in 2014 in the following thread.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...w-long-until-will-he-eat.584128/#post-6975425

"At one time API's General Cure was made up of 250 mg Metronidazole, and 75 mg of Praziquantel. A good general combo of meds for a fish with worms and/or spiro/hex.

Currently this same product (API General Cure) is now listed as containing Sodium chloride, Metronidazole, Trichlorfon, Silica amorphous, fumed, crystalline free and Copper Sulfate."

Hopefully it's back to being a mix of salt, prazi, and metro - because that always was a great combo IMO. Thanks Tom.
 
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Matteus

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Would you say this is skinny disease?

66F21E2E-A351-471F-B88B-B9BF262175AD.jpeg97A26ECC-DFDF-431A-8DF5-3AAE3ADF3693.jpegDE762C01-7A19-4358-A06F-02F0D3363F1D.jpeg

This ones head seems to be sunken in to the point of having a line on each side almost sticking out. The other 7 are nice and plump as you might see in the last photo.

I have started with hex shield already but not sure if it is eating very much. I am also wondering is it worth it to put in a hospital tank or just keep treating everyone with the same?
 
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RD.

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Wow yeah, not looking good. Have you had this loach long? Has this loach or the others been dewormed with Prazi, or Levamisole? Skinny disease is a symptom, not a disease. Your fish could have worms, could have Spironucleus aka Hexamita, it could even be Cryptobia iulbilans, or a form of mycobacterium. Wasting of a fish is not always caused by the same thing. I would personally remove that fish, treat in qt, continue to feed hex shield for a few days to the main tank, and then watch the others very closely. If you can get your hands on some dimtetridazole I would use that to treat the sick fish. Of course the fish in the main tank may also be infected now as they have been exposed to whatever the sick loach has.
 

RD.

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Just a quick addition before I get busy at work, and take this for what it's worth ......

If this was my fish I would treat this as a case of Spironucleus aka Hexamita. It could be something else, possibly Cryptobia, but I would not jump to that conclusion unless you see other signs, such as the fish appearing to suffer from 02 depletion. (gasping at the surface, rapid breathing, etc) You can leave it in the main tank, but it must eat the medicated food in order for that to work, otherwise you are left treating the water column with Metronidazole, and IME that is not always successful. I would still add Metro to the water while feeding, doing so can eliminate many flagellates that are in the open water or filter media.

The PDF below gives a pretty good basic run down on the differences between Spiro & Cryptobia, but it's pretty complicated unless one has the proper means and/or equipment to differentiate between the two. There are also different forms of Cryptobia, so again, treatment can be more complicated than Spironucleus.

 

Ulu

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Is microscopic exam of the feces really useful in the diagnosis of these various conditions?
I haven't owned a microscope since the 70's but I am considering it for this and other reasons.
 
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