Don't know what to do next.... (update on ill/med forum)

[sammigold]

Well my blue diamond is up and down like a yoyo. For the last 3 days I thought I had made progress... he was out and eating with the others. This morning I get up and he is hiding up the back and is not upright, he is sort of on a 45 degree angle. He is NOT breathing rapidly ...His colour is a little darker but that could just be because hes under the shadow of an anubias leaf... Not interested in eating again.. and his stomach area (under the gills) is looking a little bulging like it did last time before his explosion of pooh.
As mentioned in illnesses & med thread I dosed the tank with trichlorfon on friday and he showed great improvement.. ie swimming around the tank and actually eating...
I dosed one 20mg tablet per 40 litres (total of 5 tablets) as per instructions

I have been feeding him frozen brine shrimp but have also been feeding Flakes and discus granuales (no beefheart as I thought that may exacerbate any digestive probs so have been withholding that)

Anyway Im confused :? He is so up and down.... All my other fish are fine
Water parameters: PH 7.2-7.4 KH 3dh Nitrites :0 Nitrates: 10ppm
Temperature: 29.5 degrees

Fish in tank: 4 discus, 1 angel, 13 cardinal tetras, 3 rummy nose and 4 black widow tetras and 2 small clown loaches.

Any suggestions would be appreciated am at the end of ideas.

[Merrilyn]

Sammi, as per our phone conversation, I think this could be one of three things.

Constipation and the treatment for that is to remove the fish to a hospital tank , and treat with Epsom salts at the rate of 1 level teaspoon per 10 gallons of water (40 litres)

Bacterial infection, causing a gas build up in the intestine. Treat with Metro or tetracycline at the recommended doses on the container. Tetracycline will destroy your bio filter, so treatment must be carried out in a hospital tank.

Internal worms, threadworms, tapeworms, roundworms and the treatment is praziquantal or levamisole.

The one last thing that it could be is a growth in the intestine, blocking the movement of food and waste thru the gut, and I'm sorry to say, there would be no cure for that.

Good luck Sammi.

Keep us posted.

[Benny]

Far out Sammi i hope it isnt the third....

Having lost a BD myself to an intestinal growth, its terrible to watch :(

Also BE 100% SURE WHAT LEVAMISOLE you use, smell the solution before you buy it, if it has even the slightest sweet odour, DO NOT USE IT....

I used Aristopet "poultry wormer" and IT KILLED ALL BUT ONE OF MY DISCUS....

Be careful,
best of luck

Benny

[Merrilyn]

Thanks for that reminder Benny. Some of the small bottles of wormer used for cage birds have now got glucose added to them to make it more palatable. This is fine for budgies, but it causes a huge bacterial bloom in your tank, which as Benny says, can be fatal to fish.

Make sure the Levamisole you get has nothing else added. The best one is the Pig and Poultry wormer from the Feed and Grain Store.

[marg]

Poor Fish, I feel sorry for him. I hope you can find out what is wrong with him Sammi - he really doesn't look too good does he?.

Good luck, I will be thinking of you.

[sammigold]

well he is still alive!!! :)

He is upright although considerably darker in colour, bulge is still there and epsom salts haven't seemed to fix anything there so now its on to the tetracycline... we will do that a little later on today and see how that works over the next few days... after that its the worm treatment.... and then......well we will cross that bridge if we come to it!! :(

[sammigold]

still alive!!! :D Colour is really clean and clear pastel blue, can't see bulge anymore and found a little bubble of what could possibly be pooh.. I took it out yesterday and it looked like a clear jelly like bubble with a big brown pooh inside of it... the bulge on discus didnt look so big and then this morning the discus seems to have no bulge and another one of the large bubbles with a pooh enclosed is there... (do you think this could have been the problem or am I just over analysing.) I will try and take a photo later but he is now quite skittish if I approach the tank... which must be a positive because he wasn't reacting at all before. Anyway I still am a bit unsure of the tetracycline treatment as in... do I need to change the water again today and then redose or do I leave the water with the medication in for a few days and then Just do a change and observe the fish over the next few days without medication and then pop him back in main tank.

[sammigold]

Well, he is still alive... today we did 50% water change and re dosed with tetracycline as per advice from LFS. He seems to be alot better although panics abit when you approach the tank... Have fed a little bit but can't tell if he's actually eating as he won't eat while i am there... :? anyway I am continuing with another treatment of tetracycline in 2 days and then I will be leaving that for 2 days then I will do water change with no meds and watch him for a further 3 or 4 days, see if I can coax him to eat in front of me.. (or I'll hide myself flat on the floor and watch as long as I have to :lol: ) Then I think I will put him back in main tank and see what happens. Thanks Ladyred for your advice it has been very helpful.

[Merrilyn]

That's good news so far Sammi. I hope he keeps improving.