# Okay, internal parasites - the best med?



## peckka

Turns out after starting completely over with my tank - and recycling and everything, I'm reliving the same problem I had before giving up on it a few months ago - internal parasites. This time, I'm not going to stand by and watch every fish rot away from the inside out. I want to cure it once and for all and have a happy breeding tank. 

I've been using Jungle medicated parasite food, but it's not working (most probably because the infected fish aren't really eating). So, I've read that there are some meds out there that are actually absorbed through the fish's gills, and are very effective. And I've heard good things about Prazi-Pro and it's quick and safe effectiveness on internal parasites. What do you recommend I try??? 

Thanks!
Kevin


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## TheOldSalt

Prazi-Pro works wonders, and should be the first thing you use. Follow up afterward with Jungle's Parasite-Clear.


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## mousey

I have a platy that swims in short jerky movements especially at night.Acts like something is biting him. have treated him for ich as he had a few (2-3) spots i could see. he was not scraping himself. he also has stringy white poo. Eats like a pig but never passes healthy poo. has his fins clamped most times except when beating up other platys. changed personality for him!
Now a guppy has started passing white poo and has her fins clamped. it was suggested by local fish store that i treat with hex- out which is for internal worms and parasites. it is flagyl and metronidazole combo.
"everything fishy"website author suggests it may be enteric septicemia as fish has short jerky movemnets. Anyone know about this and any ideas on the platy. Had one young guppy just die with lack of appetite and white poo. She would go up to eat then not take the food.Wasted away in effect.
Glo tetra also is acting hungry but will not eat after he checks the food out. Can't ever see any poo from him.
ideas needed.
thanks


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## solar-ton

i found that for the really tough parasites you should try a 1.5x doseage of a powerful cupper med but you cant do that with prazi pro...my fish had some super parasite that came from walmart remarkably some of the fishes immune systems ripped a new one for the little bas*ards and then they got popeye and fought off that with just a little melafix wich i have no idea how they survived that but the only way i could get them was bleaching the tank and the decor and trashing the gravel and another intresting fact is that i left it in there for a little bit in a big plastic bag and the parasites just kept multiplying and there were so many the water turned thick and yellow and the moral of this story is:walmart tank conditions are so bad that entirerly new super hardy species of parasites are created lol 

sorry about the long story lol


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## TheOldSalt

Mousey, once again, Prazi-Pro & Parasite Clear will fix most of your problems. After a week each of those, some Coppersafe will get rid of the remaining Ick.


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## mousey

I was not able to find any prazi pro locally so went ahead and did the hex out thing for 2 days. The platy is now passing food colored stool again. i thought that the drug was too strong as the tabs are 500 mg.I had read in a fish keeping magazine that 250 mg is a better dosage. i put a pregnant guppy in with the platy as she had started to pass white poo. She died within 4 hours of the treatment starting so i initially thought the meds had killed her. i now believe she was too scared. the platy has been showing signs of stress for the past two days in his Q container too. he seems to be made of tougher stuff.
The local fish store treat all of their new fish with hex outas well as other antibiotics and they assure me that it does not hurt pregnant fish if used in the correct dose. i would be interested if you have any ideas or info on the correct dose of flagy( the main ingredient of hex out or Hexamit). A 4 hour goofle search has not revealed this info.
i am going to continue to search for the Prazi pro. i may have to buy it online.
Mousey


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## DavidDoyle

Hexamit is no longer available as far as I know. The main ingredient, and what I use for parasites, is Metronoddazole which is available under that name from Seachem.

It is a very benign medication, is hard to overdose and can be used to make a medicated food. This is the most effective way to use it if the fish is still eating but, if not, it can be dosed in the tank.


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## peckka

I ordered the Prazi Pro online last Thursday, and it's supposed to be here by Wednesday at the latest. I can't wait for it to arrive, as my fish are getting skinnier and skinnier as the days go by. Two of the fish spend most of the day lying on the gravel now, but still come to the top for food when it's time. Hopefully this medicine will heal them up quickly!


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## solar-ton

isnt it true that you cant use any other meds while treating with prazi pro?


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## peckka

I have no idea, but I'd sure like to know - I still have coppersafe in there from an ich breakout about two to three weeks ago. ???


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## TheOldSalt

Yes, it is true. PraziPro should be used by itself, according to the label. I haven't yet experimented with combining it with coppersafe.

As for the dose for metronidazole, ( flagyl ) if you look in five different books you'll get five different answers. The average seems to be around 7 mg per liter, with a 25% water change every other day followed by another dose of the same size, for a week. Many over-the-counter medications make it a lot easier than this to use, though. However, since you now have PraziPro coming you probably won't need metronidazole unless your fish have Hexamita as well. Prazi is great for worms, but not much help against Hex.


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## peckka

Oh, God. I don't know if it's hex or just parasites. I've looked up the symptoms, and they are very similar, if not the same. Guess I'll just hope the prazi-pro does some good!


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## peckka

Well, my Prazi-pro arrived on Wednesday, and I immediately did a huge water change and put the med in. It's amazing what a small amount is needed - 1 teaspoon per 20 gallons! 

Two days in, I'm not seeing any improvement, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed and trying to stay positive. I've lost two more mollies, and the last molly in the tank is so skinny he can barely swim. Hopefully this stuff works!!!

Kevin


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## mousey

try the flagyl then. it worked wonders for my platy with the white stringy poo.
i have an old glo light tetra who won't eat. he was getting very thin and was afraid of the other fish. i have him in a container and he is eating only frozen shrimp!! little bum, he is at least still alive and happy in the breeding tank. feels nice and safe. refuses all flake or pellet food


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## peckka

Just a quick question here - how long until I start seeing results? I'm on day 3 with the prazipro. I added a second dosage today, as per the directions. Some of the fish seem to be stressed, just hanging out at the top of the water or hiding under plants. Most are still eating, though. They are still extremely thin looking, and still have the white poop. I know it's only day three, and it'll probably take a week or two - but I'm just not sure how long until I'll know if the medicine is working or if I'll need to try something else.

Thanks!!!


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## mousey

sorry i know nothing about the prazi pro. but with the flagyl i saw results by the next morning. however my platy was quite vigorus with a healthy appetite. Your fish may be too far gone.
if they had worms you may have seen a few hanging out of them.


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## TheOldSalt

Prazipro takes a week to do it's thing. If you don't see improvement by then, switch to the flagyl ( metronidazole )


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## peckka

Well, I'm going to take this as a positive sign. All of the fish except for one are swimming around with thier fins not tucked in and eating well. One fish that was in real bad shape is now swimming as well, and while he's still thin, his poop is kind of leopard-like, white with black spots. The only fish that is still acting strange is one female guppy - while her body is in good shape, and she never got really thin, she hides whenever I walk to the glass and stays hidden away until I walk away. I do notice that she is still passing a cotton-like substance for poop, and I hope she gets better like the rest. As for everybody else, as stated, their swimming and eating nicely. And their poop is now a dark brown color.

Good news???


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## TheOldSalt

Yes, very good news.
It occurs to me that if the place you got your fish has worms, it probably has Hex as well, so when the PraziPro treatment is done, give them a round of metronidazole to make sure the job is done.


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## peckka

Thanks for the reply!

Oh, I don't have any of that - I wonder if I can buy that locally at PetSmart or Petco, or if I'll have to get that online as well.

Today is day 7 for the prazi-pro, so I guess it's done. I'm assuming I'll have to do a big water change before adding more meds.

I'll keep you posted on their progress!

Thanks again
Kevin


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## peckka

Well, I think we're in the clear! After my week of prazipro, I did a water change and then added jungle's parasite clear. There were only eight tabs in the package, so I did four tabs at once, and then the other four tabs two days later. 

All fish are eating and swimming and having a good time, with no clamped fins or anything. Oh, and let me mention all of the dark brown poo that is covering the gravel right now! No more white stuff!!!

Yeah! I'm planning on doing another water change and gravel cleaning today. I'm left with two male guppies, one female guppy, one male platty, and five female platties. I know the female guppy is getting it from all angles with two male guppies in there, so I'll need to get some new females to even the paying field. Problem is, I'm afraid to go get new fish! This is the first time in probably a year that my fish are disease free and looking very healthy! I'd hate to go out and get more fish and introduce some sort of fungus or ich or something. And, unfortunately, I do not have a quarantine tank.  Guess I'll have to tough it out and gamble with PetSmart or Petco fish, and hopefully all works out for the best.

Thanks for all your help!
Kevin


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## mousey

kevin, you can use a bucket for a q tank. i use a 5 gal bucket and halve the meds. You need to make sure you can keep the water warm tho. i have electric heat so raise the room up to 72 degrees.( i usually keep it around 68)
You can also put a tank heater in the bucket as long as it doesn't touch the sides and can be immersed to the correct depth. if you just want to monitor the fish and they are small, take a square shape juice bottle. cut it in half, burn 2 holes into the top near where you cut it. insert 2 wires to act as hooks and submerge into the main tank.Or use a plastic peanut butter jar after cleaning it very well. it looks a bit tacky but it is only for a couple of weeks til you asses if the fish are healthy. get a turkey baster from the dollar store and you can suck the water out of the little container to do a water change every couple of days. I have done this with a nunber of small fish like tetras and guppies and give them a smidge of salt in the water until the ich or what ever goes away.
sometimes you have to be real creative.
the guys here have lots of ideas and have helped me out a number of times for which i am very thankful.
minnie mouse


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## peckka

Thanks for the advice! I'll have to get creative. 

I went to Petco last night, and man were their fish ever sick! Over half of the guppies were on the surface of the water, fins clamped and seemingly gasping for air. The others were swimming around all crazy, and their spines were all bent to almost a 90 degree angle! Let's just say I walked right back out of that store. I'll be going to PetSmart later today, and hopefully their fish will be in better shape.

Kevin


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## Georgia Peach

oh my, thats awful that those fish were in that shape in the Petco. Im happy to hear that you healed your fishies!


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## kttrvs

*sick with ich*

Hi, just joining tonite to seek help with ich, maybe someone can help me before I lose all my fishes. I recently noticed the flashing motions and white spot. I have them in a 55 and immediately went and got med for scaleless fishes, cranked the temp, removed carbon, vacuumed gravel, added salt, etc,etc. Ive had this tank for 3 years and not lost many fish, now I have 2 dead clown loaches in 2 days, there are 2 surviving loaches but they look unwell, I also have a black ghost knifey. There are other fish in the tank but the loaches and knife were my favorites. I was reading posts from theoldsalt and solar-ton, you seem to have much knowledge about diseases. Can ANYONE help me before I lose more of my friends? Im worried sick what will transpire tonite. I feel really bummed that im not able to help my creatures. Thanks


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## DavidDoyle

kttrvs- You have not provided sufficient details in four post:
What med at what dose?
What temp?
How much salt?

Generally when treating ich it is best to use either a med or salt but not both. Clowns generally can't take temps much above about 85.


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## guppys r best

i no this is off the subject but my swordtal has white spot what should i do?


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## mousey

treat them for ich and monitor the fish for further illness. Fish get ill when stressed.
mousey


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## peckka

Well, here we are a few weeks later. A little update -

My fish seem to be doing okay. Throughout that entire process, they developed ich again as well. So I did a water change and added the correct amount of Coppersafe, which cleared that right up. It's been two weeks, and that problem is once again solved.

They are still somewhat skinny, but don't seem to be as stressed as they were before, and are all eating very well. The other good news is that the guppy had a bunch of babies, followed by the female platty doing the same thing a few days later.

Their poop, however, is still a mess. Sometimes it's fine, other times it's a clear string that is very hard to see, and almost looks like pulled cotton. It's got no color to it at all, just very light colored, and takes up to an hour to pass through and fall off. I've done every parasite med you can imagine, so perhaps that problem isn't a parasite at all. Do you think it's something I should continue to worry about and try to fix, or just let it be since the fish seem to be doing okay right now?

Thanks!


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## TheOldSalt

Hmm...
Well, I think that you should definitely give them a rest from all this medication. Feed them a variety of foods as best you can and with any luck they'll start to perk up. Change some water, too.


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## heatherhoge

is prazi pro or flagy safe to use on delicate fish? IF you had to choose between the 2 to use on a delicate fish which one would be the best? I don't have any problems to use these meds just like info incase.


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## mousey

I have one guppy that also has been treated several times and still has stringy white poop. eats well.
mouse


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## TheOldSalt

Heatherhoge, there is no reason to choose between the two because they do two completely different things. The choice depends soley on the problem at hand. Both are safe for most delicate fishes.

kttvrs, it sounds like you've alreay pretty much covered all the bases.


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