Metronidazole Dose

[Dee]

Hey all :)

Looks like a have a case of Hex in my main tank with 6 discus :x

2 have white poo (mucas like and soft) and are hiding and darkening up alot. These two are also eating less and less. I have raised temp (slowly over 3 days) to 31c from 29c and dosed with salt ( 1 tbl spoon/40L ) for seven days with 30% nightly WC's, with no improvement in the 2 fish. All the other fish seem fine and feeding like pigs and always rushing to the front of the tank etc.

I was able to get some Metronidazole today, but am not sure of exact dose rate. I have been told by my vet to dose as follows ---

20mg/L
After 7 days do a 30% WC and repeat dose.
Works out to be approx 800mg/40L

This seems excessive to me, with no WC's for 7 days.

The other dosage rate i was able to find for discus is as follows ---

400mg/40L
Dose every 8 hours (3 times a day) with 25% WC each day for 4 days.

I have searched on DF.com and found the following dosage ---

Day 1. 30% WC dose 1 200mg/30L
Day 2. 30% WC dose 2 200mg/30L
Day 3. 30% WC dose 3 200mg/30L
Day 4. Leave WC's for 24 Hours
Day 5. 30% WC

Can anybody please confirm what dose rate has worked for them when treating for Hex. I really would hate too under/overdose or incorrectly dose etc.

Tank Specs ---

450L
Ph6.7
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5ppm (just registers on test kit)
Eheim 2217 Canister Filter
Temp 31c
30% WC every 2nd day
Well airated
Food ...
Breeders Premium/Tetra Bits for breakfast
Hikari Blood Worms when i get home from work
BeefHeart Mix before lights out

Sorry for the long post :roll: just want to make sure i dose the correct amount and do the right thing by my fish.

Cheers :)

Dee

Ooooops :oops: :oops: just relised i mistakenly posted this in General Questions and not Illness & Medications .... duhhhhh sorry :roll: it's getting late ...

[africandiscus]

I remember seeing a page on "Discus Page Holland", do a seach there

http://www.dphnet.com/

[Dee]

G'day PSX,

Thanks for the reply. :)

DPH.com is where i got the second dose rate i listed in my post. I have the specific URL at home.

Thanks again,

Cheers

Dee

[mtchye]

Hi D,

I think there are many listed dose rates for metro on the web. Its hard to pick but if I remember correctly Untergasser's book as well as this article on dose rates used at a public aquarium

http://www.gcas.org/articles/info_medicating.html

seem to indicate a range of 6ppm as suitable. 6ppm is roughly the dose rate that SLS uses in that 3-5 day regime so I guess its what I would go for! BTW 6ppm means 6 mg / litre, so count the number of litres you have and multiply by 6 to figure out how many 400 or 250mg tabs you have to use.

HTH

Vincent

[Dee]

Hi Vincent :)

Thanks for the info and advice, most appreciated. the 6ppm/L dosage was the one that seemed best from the info i could gather. I just did not want to OD the crew as im not very well versed in the medication game, only ever having treated with heat, salt and praziquantel in the past. I will try the 6ppm/l dosage and post results when done.

So the correct thing to do is a 30% WC before each 6ppm/L dose each day ?

once again Vincent thanks for your time and help :)

Cheers

Dee

SIDE NOTE: Regarding prazi doses .... i found a article here on DF.com advising on dosing prazi at 2.5mg/L. I used this dosage with sucess to treat for gill flukes when i first got my discus. I used Aqua Master gill and fluke tabs (100mg Prazi per tab), on the bottle it says to dose at 100mg/20L, which is double the 2.5mg/L dosage. I have since read posts stating that people using prazi have lost bn pleco's and cory's using this med. I had no problems with my bn's or cory's using the 2.5mg/L dosage instead of the bottle instructions of 100mg/20L. Just thought i would mention it, for what its worth.

Thanks again :)

[Dee]

Hey All,

Just an update... Looks like the Metro has done the trick. The two fish that had the problems have fully regained their colour and are eating like little pigs again with no white mucasy poo.

Meanwhile my pair (in the same tank) continued to lay eggs throughout the treatment, guess Metro is a pretty mild treatment.

Thanks to Vincent again for the advice on the 6mg/L dosage :)

Cheers

Dee

[weird]

Discus D your advice on prazi has me agreeing.

I am using aqua master, and deworming my babies at the dosage you said, so for 80 litres I am using 2 tablets (not 4 as the instructions have you use). They seem to be fine. However I remember when I used the recommended dosage of 1 tablet for 20 litres, my other 4 juveniles refused to eat for 3 days after treatment , they were stressed.

Started treating last night, and there seems to be 3 hair like worms, which were covered in faeces. They are craping them out ? Wow ... and I google that and I find .... Capillaria. Learning something everyday.

[mtchye]

Great to hear your fish are now doing fine. :) I have also had similar experiences with using praziquantel at the lower dose rate. Saves us a bit of money too at half the doseage ;)

Capillaria is a nematode if I am not mistaken. Prazi is not active against nematodes (roundworms), only against flukes and tapeworms (cestodes and trematodes)... If you have a low powered microscope try retrieving some of those worms to see if they are round or flat ;) There are good microscope pics on the net to help you identify your worms...

To treat nematodes levamisole is the key. Its a pig and poultry wormer sold as Big L in farm supply stores. Its also a very mild med much like metro and prazi and I've used it with very good success also.

On the topic of meds, does everyone do a second dose with praziquantel 7 days later? I have read conflicting reports on a second dose, in particular an article on koivet.com states that you do not require a second dose?

[weird]

I will be syphoning them out tonight , if you want I can send you one ! Anyone want to put my worms under a microscope, I am willing to send them to any part of NSW ... or any where else if I am not breaking any quarantine law, just tell me the best way to store them and I will pop them in an envelope. Probably a petri dish with some substance ? Dunno.

I was considering doing a second dose in a week because it says on the instructions, also because I do 50% daily water changes, I was going to redose 50% medicine again tonight ... because the instructions say after 48 hours do 25% change ... but I dont want to wait 48 hours for water changes.