mysterious deaths??

iamntbatman

My guess would be that they are transmitted through the feces.

Kim

Well, I started seeing the white, stringy poops and quickly made an emergency trip to petquarters. I did a 25% water change, and put in the recommended dose of Parasite Clear. Last night I checked on them before going to bed, and they didn't look so great - I know that for horses you want to deworm them gradually otherwise serious problems can occur. You can't really do this for fish though, so I just hoped that it would turn out all right. Well, I woke up this morning to see all the remaining fish swimming happily with big brown poops hanging off them . Yay! I think that it is working.

Well, now I have a medicine for every major fish disease . I'm well prepared with my arsenal of fishie medicines!!

iamntbatman

I'm glad it worked out well for you!

Parasite Clear is made by Jungle, right? I've got to add it to my list and I'll be sure to try it should any of my fish come down with anything that seems internal parasite-ish. Thanks!

Kim

Well, some wierd things have been happening in this tank. After the first dose all looked fine, but then on day four (the directions say to dose, then wait four days and do a water change) I noticed the almost clear, stringy poops again. So, I did the water change and dosed again. This happened another time. It seems that every time they look good and then have a relapse. I am now down to only 3. Should I try another medication? Maybe a medicated food? I think that the parasite clear is pretty darn strong stuff (active ingredients are praziquantel, diflubenzuron, metronidazole, and acriflavine) which is why I am confused on what to do. I tried giving them bits of a mashed up pea to see if maybe they had just gotten constipated, and there was no change.

The thing that I don't like is that if I can't treat it the fish have a very slow death, which makes me sad even if they are not even feeder quality guppies. I also have plans for the tank that require the fish to move out, but they have to be healthy first.

I do think that I figured out the cause of the sudden deaths though. I was doing some reading and found out that if fish have parasites and are exposed to stress (tank move and even slow water parameters change in my case) their bodies can't handle the parasite loads and it gets out of control. So, I think that the parasites established themselves in the dirty water, and took over when the fish were stressed.

So does anyone with experience with internal parasites have any suggestions? Could it be something else entirely? If so why would the medication appear to work at first?

Oh, and just in case you're wondering why I have so many problems with diseases, it is due to this annoying habit of mine to rescue anything that I can. I have to say though, fish are a lot harder to help than horses or cats! :(

okiemavis

Gah- I feel like I'm ALWAYS dealing with IP's. I've had way more success medicating their food than anything else.

Here's what I'm giving my discus right now: three cubes of frozen brine shrimp spirulina (I use this because it's super tasty and also because brine shrimp and spirulina both tend to be mild laxatives, so it keeps things moving despite the dead worms). Two scoops of metronidazole (the seachem stuff comes with a scoop in it), a tablespoon of PraziPro, and liberal amounts of GarlicGuard and Entice (flavor enhancers). Let it soak/thaw for an hour or so, and then feed to your guys. Make that the only food you give them for 3-4 days. Repeat again a week later.

Let me know if you need any more help! My usual first fallback is Discomed, but it's not on the market anymore, I just have a secret stash.

Kim

Thanks for the help! I don't think that any of the fish stores near me carry the pure metronidazole or the Prazipro though. The soonest that I could get it would be in 4-7 days if I order it. Could I crush up some of the Parasite Clear? It already has those 2 active ingredients, and if I followed the rest of the recipe would it have the same effect? Thank you very much :)