Skinny discus with roting fins - help

[Del]

Temp 29, PH 7, Ammonia 0. Establised 150L tank.

5 medium discus:
- one of which is really getting way too skinny and has some fraying fins
- one of which is hiding and dark and not really eating (both being stressed from the others I think).
- 3 of which are larger and fine...

After reading lots of threads on the forum, I am hoping it might be threadworm (I have not de-wormed the discus for about 6 months).

I have some WORM-RID (Prazi) but my question is ... will it effect my other fish. Tetras, Siamese flying foxes, otto and whiptail?

Is this the best treatment for the symptoms listed above...?

Thanks!

[Merrilyn]

Del I think you're on the right track with worms. Prazi will remove flukes and tape worm, but if you feel your fish is suffering from thread worm, you need to use a product containing levamisole, which is safe for all your fish.

Prazi won't remove threadworm or roundworm.

[Del]

Thanks Ladyred,

Its been 48hrs and I am about to do a 25% water change, clean the filter and add some carbon to help remove all the Worm-Rid. It says to repeat after 7 days, is this what I should be doing?

How long should I wait before trying with levamisole, and how will I know whether they are suffering with threadworm or roundworm?

Should this be the procedure, every 6 months, to worm my discus??

[mistakes r crucial]

Hi Del.

Yes you should repeat the dose after 7 days with Prazi. It is most important that you don't under dose with Prazi otherwise the nasties get immune to it.

If they were my fish I would wait a week or so after the 2nd dose of Prazi before I used Levamisole. Personally I hate Levamisole and wouldn't use it unless I absolutely had to but that is just my personal opinion and I'm sure there are plenty of people here that would disagree. However, give your fish a bit of time between drugs, it just lets them get back to the norm before you hit them with something else.

I treat all my fish every 10-12 weeks for worms as a matter of course.
Cheers
MAC

[Del]

Personally I hate Levamisole and wouldn't use it unless I absolutely had to
If you don't mind me asking MAC, what do you use to treat your discus if you don't use Levamisole?

[mistakes r crucial]

Hi,

I'm not aware of any other drug that would replace Levamisole, actually there is one but according to my vet it has never been tested so I wouldn't even mention it's name here. I use Levamisole but only when absolutely necessary bacause contrary to the experiences of many people here it always knocks the crap out of my fish. There again, I don't use Big Kevs or whatever its called, I use the pure stuff from the vet. Maybe I OD them, I don't know but it doesn't win any favours with me. I've used a large percentage of drugs recommended for fish and as far as knocking your fish around is concerned Levamisole comes first and Trichlorofon isn't far behind. They both get the job done real well but you sure as helll wouldnt want to be in the tank with those fish when it's in there.
MAC

[*Chris*]

sorry but i have to disagree MAC
not wiht your personel experiences
but
LEVIMISOLE
is the best thing to use if you dont want to knock your fish around
other products such as IVPLUS(IVMECTIN) totally knocks your fish around its so concentrated that if you overdose even with just the residue in the syringe
you likely to kill your fish
levimisole is the way to go it kills the worms quicker than other products and does not usually harm your filters
your discus sound like they might be suffering from hex
which is a stomach bug and its syptoms are very similar to that of a worm outbreak
sunken stomach white faeces and frayed or rotting fins
see how you go
never mix medications and always allow 24 hours before new medications are added to the tank
hope this helps
EXAI

[mistakes r crucial]

Hi Ex,

It's one of the few choices that work we've got mate but no one will ever convince me they like it.
MAC

[Del]

Ok - thanks... here are some picures to help deceide if it is HEX or WORMS... any advice would be greatly appreciated...!

[Jadels]

I use Ivemectin paste to worm my horses with... :shock:

[Del]

Well I lost the little orange discus this morning :cry:

I am going to do the 2nd course of WORM RID (prazi) tonight.

After 2 weeks of water changes and adding the carbon at the end of the 2nd treatment, I am going to treat the whole tank for HEX using METRO.

This is the second discus I have lost in exactly the same way, so I am guessing its HEX and it is contagious...

Is this the right course of action?

[*Chris*]

try the metro but after the metro if thre is still no improvement within a month use the levimisole
metro kills heximita BUT if it is worms it will only treta the health problems that the worms create
cheers
EXAI

[Del]

Ok - now I have some photos... so is this a worm or HEX...? :shock:

What do I do?

He hasn't eaten for the last 3-4 days really...

[mistakes r crucial]

Sorry Del but that fish has a lot more wrong with it than just worms. It's stunted, the fecal trail looks like tape worm but it's difficult to tell, it looks like it's starving and it probably has Hex too. Dont be surprised if the next problem is flukes on top of it all. Just telling it as I see it, sorry.

I'd be giving it a week on week off treatment. First, metro, hit it for a few days with however youve been told (there are various methods), second hit it with Prazi but if you cant get the pure stuff I wouldnt worry about it, hit it with Trichlorofon as per the instructions. After that, if it's still alive keep changing water and feed it either live or very high protein food. Best of luck I think you might need a bit.
MAC

[*Chris*]

that looks like worms
id dose them with levimisole then allow 24hours from the last treatment and start the course of metro
but the other discus in the tank look healthy and happy
best bet is from now on worm them every 6-8mnths as a precaution
EXAI

[samir]

i'd go metro asap. the fish should start eating in a couple of days.

[Del]

So no second dose of WORM-RID (Prazi)?

Can I dose the whole tank with Metro to make sure the others haven't been affected?

Thanks so much for this... :)