NEED HELP ASAP

[benjohnson]

I need some advice!!

I think I have 2 problems....

I have one fish who strugles to eat , he will chase food bvut pecks and pecks and never manages to get hold of it.... ? Its almost like his mouth is too small, he used to be fine.... im thinking perhaps he has worms and is becoming drawn out? I treated the whole tank recently with sterazin... that should have sorted him out ???


I also have another fish ( same tank) which looks like he is getting HITH. He has a little white mark on this forehead, and he also has some marks which look like scvratches on his side. This is the alpha fish of the tank so i dont think he has been fighting,m that said he could have been , hes quite agressive at the moment as he has picked his lady and is defending her !!


I definately need to treat this lot ... I am going to move the drawn out fish to his own tank... but what shoud I treat him with ?? Sterazin again? Prazi ? Levimasole? I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO !!! ARGGGGHHH !!!!

What do I do about the one with thge marks on his head/side? I dont have room to move him out of the tank aswell, un less he goes in the medical tank with the other one in which case I will be treating 2 different problems at the same time... isn't that a bad idea?

I need some help ASAP please ..... someone tell me what to do to get them better while they are still reasonably healthy and not knocking on fishy heavens door !! :-(

[benjohnson]

OK - I also have these tiny little white worm looking things in with my other fish tank..... They have also had sterazin treatment recently, they are only about 2 - 3 mm long but quitye a few crawling on the glass of the tank.,... are these worms too


SOMEBODY HELP ME PLEASE !!! If I need to get medicine I have to order it from the vet and it takes time !!!!

[seecuta]

the tiny little white worms are planaria worms which normally comes out as a result of excessive feeding. i would firstly check the ammonia levels of the tank as that would be a cause of illnesses.

[benjohnson]

Ok - AFAIK ( I will re test when I get home) Ammonia was fine in this tank.

It has a bare bottom for easy cleaning .... and a juwel box filter in the corner , They do get fed 3 or 4 times a day , should I reduce this ?

Could it be food stuck in the box filter somewhere feeding the planaria then and causing my problem ???

[samir]

planaria does not cause that problem but it does mean that you are overfeeding (could be your fish are eating less). fish not eating would probably be internal parasites (worms, bacterial infection, spironucleus vortens etc.) what colour are the droppings ?

[benjohnson]

He's not been eating so he hasnt gone for a poo so i cant tell you ... althoug h Ithere was a white one floating the other day which could well have belonged to him but I can't be sure

I think its worms myself, but I would have thought the sterazin would have sorted it ....

Should I go with the Levi for just him for the time being and see if he picks up ? Perhaps it is a thread or round worm which the sterazin didnt get ? I can move him into a hospital tank to do it so dont have to treat everyone else for something they may not have caught off of him yet , as everyone else in there is eating well and getting big !

[samir]

if there are any white droppings then you need to treat with metro. are the fish jumpy ???

[benjohnson]

No The fish aren't jumpy and like I said it is only him thats not happy

Hes got a really drawn out face, almsot as if his mouth is too small to fit food in and he pecks and pecks no matter what i feed to them and he cant ever get hold of anything ?

The rest of the tank (7 other discus) are doing fine and show no signs of ill health.

His whole body is pretty thing, and he doesnt hang out front with the others, hi sits at the back and doesn't ever come out then to have a little look at food before giving up and heading back to his place at the back of the tank?

[*Chris*]

maybe try a course of levimisole first then if no improvement and it is indeed hole in the head then a metro treatment would be esential
how big is this tank may i ask
it may be a case of a peaking order issue if some of your discus are in hiding
chris

[scott bowler]

hi ben you use sterazin is that from water life if so see if you might try octazin if you can get it it should help it is a tablet so give it a go scott

[benjohnson]

Hi All

The fish with HITH after close inspection has just got fight marks so not to worry.

My other fish who has gone really thin has been moved into a hospital tank. He has pulled through the night but he still doesn't look too good.

In the UK the only levimasole the vet would sell me was a thing called "levicide injection" which had a content of 7.5 % levimasole . I checked for no ingredients that were bad for fish and on my vets advice they said this would be ok.

Due to it being a weaker strength than the "Big L" stuff you auzzies can get hold of, I dosed him at just under 8ml for the 28 l tank he is in. (basing it on the 1 ml med per 7 litres water) I am heating it to between 29-30 C and just have a fluval number one filter in there.

Is there anything else I can do ? I need to get him to eat someing ASAP else this will all be in vain.... he wasn't even interested in bloodworms last night, ill try again today but has anyone else got any other ideas?

[*Chris*]

live worms usually gets the ball rolling if not try some metro after his course of levimisole
im tipping by the end of the week he should eat
cheers
chris

[benjohnson]

What is the correct coure of treatment for levimasole ? I treated him last night ... so does he get more today or is it a one off treatment ?

[*Chris*]

with the big L stuff
one week between treatments and two treatments usually does it but seeing as it is a differant product ask the vet mate because i couldnty safely say
but id assume you would do it again in a week to prevent reinfestation
cheers
chris

[benjohnson]

Well....

The Levimasole worked... he passed loads of worms , unfortunately he was too far gone... I knew it was a long shot as he was so poorly already , afraid I lost him last night ..... :-( :-( :-( :-(

He was always a finicky fish from when I bought him over a year ago , everyone else could be fine in the tank and he would be upset about something , never really gelled with the clan and always sat on his own somewhere in the tank ..... He will be remembered fondly though .... I am so sad I couldn't save him ....

I suppose now... the chances are everyone else in the tank has worms, even though they are eating fine and acting totally normal ??? Or could it be just that he had them and no one else does?

And if so .... should I take the plung and administer this levacide stuff?? I have found loads of information onthe exact med I have and lots of people have reported no problems with it, im just scared i coudl end up doing my community tank a lot of damage if it goes wrong .... :-(

[Del]

So sorry to hear about your loss Ben, you did your best!

[scott bowler]

sorry you lost him mate we can only try and some times we fail but thats life and we have to go on.