Worming

[Lily]

What's the deal with worming as a preventative? I was told my kids had just been wormed before I bought them so assume they are for now at least worm-free.

Is worming discus generally recommended as a preventative? I am opposed to the indiscriminate use of any medication, but open to comments as to why I am wrong :) if it is necessary.

what worm is dosed for? what medication is used? Do all discus always have some worms (like horses do) or is it necessary for the worms to be introduced by another fish for a discus to "catch" them?

Cheers

L

[Pyroman]

I wouldn't think that captive discus would have this problem, wild on the other hand most certainly would. Just like angelfish, discus are notorious paracitic hosts in the wild.

I'm not sure exactly what they would use down there, but generally speaking it's normally food treated with Mebendazole, Niclosamide for tapeworms; Piperazine Citrate for roundworms.

Hope that helps!

[kevkoi]

Nice list of not so available in Australia meds there Prywolf. :lol:

Captive bred discus do come with worms too you know... Commonly Tapeworms. We probabbly deworm our discus in the shop once a month, but that is because we get new fish in and out of the shop so often.

Our drug of choice is Praziquantel. Our method of choice of adminstering the drug is a little unorthodoxed. We get one serve of live blackworms, sit in a cup with a little bit of water, drop in 2 tablets of "Worm Rid" (Praziquantel active ingredient), and leave the worms for about 20min. By this time, the black worms would have injested the praziquantel and would be in little spasms... We feed these little 'spastic' :wink: blackworms to the discus and WA-LAH :!: If there are any nasty tapeworms, u'll see them being pased out as long white ribbons the next day. We siphon off the bottom for these passed out tape worms...

If you've never dewormed your discus, I would suggest doing it once to see what comes out. U may be in for a shock of your life when u see what nasties they may be harbouring.... or, if your discus are squeeky clean, u'll see nothing. :)

[Lily]

EWWwww! Yet, strangely fascinating.

Does the Worm Rid have any effect on plants, snails etc?

I imagine the siphoning the worm corpses out of a planted tank is a bit tricky - has anyone with a planted discus tank done this?

[Pyroman]

Nice list of not so available in Australia meds there Prywolf. :lol:

:oops: sorry, I know talking with Proteus all the time... there's always things you don't have down there. Tis why I feel helpless sometimes when suggesting advice. I'll have to keep a list of meds you guys have so I know what to recommend.

...sorry :oops: