Treating Hexamita aka Spironucleus

[Fishminded]

Thanks for the info guys. I'm trying to keep their diet varied as possible, feeding cichlid gold, tetra bits, flakes, home made fish food high in protein but also loaded with peas and spinach. I do drop whole shrimp in the tank on occasion that he goes crazy for. Perhaps it's best he doesn't eat it. Funny thing is the female I got at the same time is still eating like crazy and has almost doubled in size compared to the male. She has had no issues with stringy feces so far..knock on wood...

I'll continue to feed the soaked pellets and treat with the prazipro. I'll keep you posted.

Really appreciate your advice.

 

[xjerr]

I posted a topic and completely slipped my mind that I could have posted a reply here. But anyway... I'm a noob and I have been treating my FW with internal parasites for a month now. I used api general cure, epsom salt, and increased the temp. We went through the no eating stage, hole in the head, and rectal prolapse. I dosed with general cure 3 times (1 dose a week) and decided to stop the meds (which treated the hole in the head) and rely on epsom salt and heat. His intestine went in just recently and finally ate a bloodworm yesterday (which I was stoked about). After a month of stressing over this little guy and almost losing hope when he looked like he wouldn't make it, he is finally gaining his energy and color... charging at the tank when I'm nearby, glows, swims near my finger, etc. ... but, he only eats bloodworms and still poops white. I have tried soaking pellets in bloodworm juice. He just simply spits it out. I feed him very little because I'm still treating him with an epsom salt bath. I want to be sure that he is completely recovered. Could I soak some epsom salt on the bloodworms? Any inputs? Thanks so much!

 

[RD.]

You can safely feed your fish while adding epsom salt to your tank water. From what you have posted here, and in your other thread, I'm guessing that your fish is possibly just excreting part of the lining of his intestine (epithelial cells ), which is why his waste is now white/clear. Hard to say exactly what is going on, but it sounds to me like this fish has already been medicated to the max. If it was my fish, at this point I would try clean water and plenty of it, and offering a couple pellets each day until he responded. Short of that you could bring out the shotgun approach, and hit him with a treatment of CLOUT. If neither of those things work he's most likely a goner. Sorry, but this is exactly why I no longer keep Asian hybrids such as flowerhorns. IME for the most part they are genetic weaklings .......

 

[xjerr]

Is Clout accessible in California?

 

[RD.]

It can be ordered online, I'm not sure if you can get it locally.

 

[Aquanero]

Before you try Clout which is paramount to nuking the fish. Try some raw garlic or soaking some food in raw garlic to get it into the fish. It is a good holistic treatment for internal bacterial issues. Didn't we discuess this already? Or maybe I'm thinking of someone else.

 

[RD.]

Same person, different thread, and each thread seems to offer up a bit more info.

 

[Aquanero]

I thought so.

 

[xjerr]

Oh yeah I tried it. He doesn't want to swallow anything at the moment. I think his throat is clogged. When I look at his gills, his breathing seems abrupt. I'll just keep Clout in hand if there really is nothing else I can do. Thanks!

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I just joined. Primarily for help with my sick Large flowerhorn. He stopped eating and has clear/whitish poo. Years ago he was ill like this and I cured it with MET. This time around, I've been treating with Met, Epsom salt and water changes every 2-3 days and there has been no improvement.(In three weeks) I've been force feeding him with a trace of met (on top of what I'm treating the tank water with) and now with a tip from Aquanero and your thread, Epsom salt in the food mix. Still no change. After he is force fed, his feces shows specks of reddish/brown coloration from the food. But is otherwise clear. I don't want to harm him with the treatment going on for too long. However, I don't want him to die by stopping the treatments. Should I rely on frequent water changes and put the carbon back in the filters and keep force feeding with the salt? Should I keep up the Met untill his symptoms go away? By the way, He's in a 100 gallon bare tank. Superfiltered by two very large cannister filters. His tank has a heater set at 82. The PH is around 7.6. The readings for the other elements are nill because of the frequency of the water changes. He is not bloated. He also doesn't seem overly thin. He is still somewhat active. No outward signs of being ill. Thanks!!