hex maybe

[aquaholic]

hello all
I have a small discus that has stopped eating and is hiding for about a week now. I did give the tank good clean and moved a bit of furniture around but not silly like, anyhow i noticed a white poo a few days ago and have tried some prazi hoping it might have been worms but no joy.
Do you think i should treat for hex or maybe it was the tank change.
haven't seen any fin clamping or other symptons.water parameters are all normal.
cheers andrew

[aquaholic]

noticed another white poo last nite so i guess it must be hex so metro it is :(

[Merrilyn]

Sorry, I must have missed this post Andrew.

Is the little guy going dark, and is he still eating?

White poo is not a good sign, and I think I'd start to treat with metro right away, before things get worse.

If he's still eating, you can add some dry food, like tetrabits to the metro tablets in water. It will absorb some of the metro laced water, and hopefully he'll eat it without noticing. That way the medication goes straight into the gut, where it does the most good.

Add the rest of the dissolved tablet to the water, at the rate of 250g per 40 litres of water. Do a waterchange and repeat every 12 hours for the next 3 days. If symptoms persist, then treat for 5 days.

Keep the lights out. Metro is light affected.

[aquaholic]

thanks for that merrilyn
unfortunaley he has stopped eating so i will have to treat the water.
i don't think he has darkend so hopefully he will respond well.
couple of quick questions,is hex contagious and will the med effect other fish or the filter.
thanks andrew

yes my spelling is bad :)

[ozarowana]

Hex isn't contagious. It is belived that all fish habour it and only when they become stressed (impaired immune system) will it become a problem.

It will not harm your other fish, although it will have the same effect on healthy and sick fish. It doesn't appear to affect the biofilter either.

[Merrilyn]

Further reading here -

http://www.discusforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=18950#18950

[aquaholic]

thanks for that people.
got some metro from local vet sostarting treatment today :) shall keep you posted.

[aquaholic]

have just finished 5 days of metro.
I have'nt seen him eating yet but his conferdence is growing( so is mine).hopefully he will start eating soon.

andrew

[aquaholic]

he still is'nt eating
noticed a browny whitey type poo yesterday not sure wether he has shaken off his troubles.
thinking about the 400g metro.
any thoughts appreciated.

andrew