Another loss :(

[Dave76]

Hi all

Lost another discus from my main tanks this morning - same symptoms as previous losses see http://www.discusforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2987

Have two discus hiding - the other two seem fine & look like they are getting ready to spawn!

About to do an 80% water change again. I was thinking of dosing the entire tank with prazi as one of my other discus (never been into this main tank) had tapeworms after treatment.

My concern is the tankmates - cories, bristlenoe, loaches, rams, rummynose & lemon tetras - would they be ok wih the prazi ? Or should I look at setting up another tank pulling the discus & just treating them.

Regards

Dave

[mtchye]

Prazi is completely harmless to other fish as well as filter bacteria so I would not hesitate to treat the whole system. Good luck.

[axelfaz]

dave i just treated my whole system with prazi and it did not harm my cories, bristlenoe, loaches, rams, rummynose and cardnials are you using aged water for this large water change.

[leanne31]

I would suggest taking your catfish and loaches out as prazi can harm them not in all instances but I treated my tank and for the first dose they were ok but when I repeated it in 7 days like you should they died and the same thing happened to my sisters the problem is they are bottom feeders and as prazi does tend to settle a lot on the bottom they get a much stronger dose but this is my opinion its up to you.

Leanne

[mtchye]

I've never had this problem and the only thing about taking any fish out and treating the tank and then putting the untreated fish back in is the fact that if in fact you have flukes or tapeworms you will be reintroducing the pathogen right back into the system..

I guess as with any med your mileage will vary and if you see signs of discomfort do a large water change asap. Also treat the tap water with a good water conditioner such as prime because during winter the rains can wash lots of undesirables into our dams and the water corp can also sometimes beef up their doses of treatments to cope.

Good luck

[Dave76]

Thanks all for the responses & advice.

I have always used tap water & prime for my water changes - no problems until recently - I've ordered an RO unit & big storage tank - they should all be here next week.

I've had to go down the different tank route for now - a 4ft 50 gal - don't have enough prazi to treat 240gal and haven't been able to get anymore today.

I'm just about to set it up now and move everyone over - will be doing a big water change on main tank as well.

Depending on the outcome of the discus treatment I'll look at doing the whole tank next - the discus are the only fish effected that's the strange thing....the panda corys are going at it like rabbits & the discus are dieing.....

Regards

Dave

[Dave76]

I don't understand these darn fish - one of the females is starting to lay *sigh* - should I leave those two in & remove the other 2 perhaps for treatment ?

Ironic that the 2 who are spawning are the 2 who wouldn't spawn in a smaller breeding tank and were moved to the main tank for a pair who would always spawn in the main tank but haven't done a thing in a breeding tank.

Dave

[Merrilyn]

Okay Dave, we've got to get to the bottom of this problem, so let's do the prazi treatment for tapeworms first, then do a follow up treatment with levamisole to really clean them out. You'll need to treat all the tankmates too.

The trouble with having tankmates in with discus, is that they can carry a parasite with no ill effects, but the discus can get it, and it can be serious or sometimes fatal.

Most of the purists won't have anything in their tank with discus.

Good luck Chris.

[Dave76]

Well after 2 days of prazi one of the fish expelled quite a few tapeworms.

I'm having trouble getting hold of levamisole - i think I ang or visited every petstore / rural store in Perth on Saturday - can anyone point me in the direction of someone who stocks it.

The fish that had the worms is now VERY skittish occassionly jsut swimming around in circles flipping out etc.

I've kept the tank covered with a blanket & started doing 60-70% daily water changes.

Anything else I can do ?

Regards

Dave

[mtchye]

Hi Dave,

Last time I bought some, I actually went to city farmers and they said they could order it in for me. However the guy there was really helpful (City Farmers High Road in Willetton) and he suggested I go to a rural supply store somewhere near Kenwick as they would be cheaper and on the shelf. Now of course I have forgotten what that store is called but perhaps you can call in to your local city farmers and ask or browse the yellow pages for rural supply stores and ring them.

What you want to ask for is Big L pig and poultry wormer but they may have heard of a similar more famous product called Nilverm Pig and Poultry wormer.

The avian products that contain levamisole also contain another wormer and looks a little cloudy, may contain glucose or some other additive which is why I did not use it. Also it was more expensive.

HTH
Vincent