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  1. #1
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    ? Protozoa in discus

    I thought I'd put up a few pics for you all.

    These pics i snapped at work using my new $20K capturing scope at work.

    One of my fish has been passing fluffly white stools, this is what i found when i did a squash prep of the stools.

    Andrew, any chance you can ID it for me? I assume the 2 flat regions of the top and bottom of the cell wall are where flagella attach. The only photos I can find of Spironucleus vortens are 3D electron micrographs.

    I'll try and post more pics of other bugs as i find them
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails protozoa_125x.jpg   protozoa_1250x.jpg  

  2. #2
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    I have no experience with microscopes (not yet anyway) but this thread on another forum has scope pictures of something that looks very similar - could it be the same?

    http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...ght=microscope

    Mod's please remove this post if it's inappropriate to link to the "other" forum

    Here's a link describing capillaria, and a photo of the worm with eggs inside, the description is "typical barrel-shaped eggs with a polar plug on each end"

    http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/FA091

  3. #3
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    Looks like them DIYjunkie, that would explain why i couldn't find the organisum in my protozoa referance material LOL.

    they just had a dose of big L sunday night (I guess thats why I cant see any adult worms) will have to give a repeat treatment every 2 weeks I think to get rid of them?

  4. #4
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    Sounds reasonable to me, eggs take 3 weeks to develop at 68-73°F, so maybe 2 - 3 more treatments at 2 week intervals to be sure?

    Pretty cool , thanks for posting the pictures - I didn't get the Microscope on evilbay I was looking at earlier, but this thread makes me still consider getting one!

  5. #5
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    Tank specs are 4x2x2 (430L)
    filtration eheim 2028, eheim 2228, 36w jebo UV DIY FBF (70cm tall 3kg of sand) temp 30C 50% water change daily

    NH3/NH4 0
    NO2 0
    NO3 <5
    kH~1
    gH 60ppm
    pH 5.5

    at those temps i assume the eggs develop faster so I'll treat @2mg/L every 2 weeks for 2 more rounds that should get rid of them.

  6. #6
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    Super photos ILLUSN, and the second link was a good read too DIY
    Why me ?

  7. #7
    Eternal Moderator Merrilyn's Avatar
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    Fantastic photos and really great information.

    Well worth becoming a sticky.
    Thirty-five years keeping and breeding discus, and I'm still learning :P

    Merrilyn has passed, but will not be forgotten - Goodbye dear friend

  8. #8
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    Just a thought ILLUSN, do you have any pics of the "fluffy white stools" from this discus you can post?

    Could be handy to correlate different types of "white" poops (err I mean stools ) to actual parasites

  9. #9
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    Way ahead of you mate, unfortunately I used all the stools to make the slide, now it's pooping yellowy stools at the moment that look totally differant any way at least he's eating again, will add photos to this thread when my fish start again.

  10. #10
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    slow response and i would have suggested trichuris or capillaria as worm egg's - obviously i'm thinking mammalian so likely to be some other species
    nematode so should respond to the usual options

    protozoan flagella should be visible at the second power of magnification you show, sometimes taking the condenser down increase's edge enhancement in non-stained preperations, very nice images though

    was the fish tank reared?

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