Internal Parasite Treatment

I figured I'd start a new thread on this...

Others have suggested I may have internal parasites in my tank. This may explain my sudden losses of fish that exhibit no particular 'symptoms'. (I had some previously poop white) many seem completely fine one night and then are dead the next morning.

Here's the thing... I just recently restocked my tank since so many had died. I only have about 3-4 fish left from my previous stocking left. (I have a 55 gal, 2 guppies, 4 platties, 6 tetras, 1 molly, 1 pleco) (only the 1 guppie and 2 platties are original).

1) How contagious is internal parasites? Is it passed from fish to fish or is it present throughout the tank and any fish could get it?

2) Others have recommended medicated food. Is it worth treating my whole stock at this point with medicated food? As I doubt the new stock are diseased... unless it's terribly contagious...

Any thoughts would be helpful! Thanks!

*As a side note / question... My tap water is not usable for water changes (high sulfur content toxic to fish, slight ammonia reading in it). I also can't go buy 55 gal of freshwater each time. So I go to our local spring and get water from there. Is it possible that the parasites are being picked up from this water source, or are parasites something that kind of grow through the bacteria in the tank? Is there a way I could test my water source for anything but the standard ammonia, nitrites, etc etc etc?

 

I think the real question is that your LFS might have some bad stock. If all the fish came from on store it’s quite possible that the fish you purchased already has parasites and they didn’t treat the fish or didn’t know of it.

A good LFS will not sell bad goods. They should be selling you good stock.

If this LFS is the only place you have then I would look at QT your fish before you put them in the 55g. If you put them in a 10 gallon tank you can treat them better this way and save more money this way as it only takes one pack of API General Cure (APIGC) to do a 10 gallon vs 6 packs for a 55g.

I don’t think internal parasites are contagious. I have a JD that had it but the others didn’t. If it were a bacteria problem that might be a different story.

You could Medicate the food. There are instructions on YouTube on how to go about it. You can also buy medicated foods as well.

It wouldn’t hurt to treat your current stock. Think of it as a QT period for your current fish.

 

Very helpful! Thank you for your thorough response!

 

Internal parasites really really suck. I recently lost a few fish as well. (Platy, Oto, guppy) Usually the parasites are intenstinal, and you must "flush out" the said parasites, otherwise they can and will find hosts rapidly, and they also spawn unnoticeably and very quickly. I use API's General Cure, Seachem's Metroplex, a bit of epsom salt and raising the tank's temp to 85-86 degees farenheit; both are very good. In addition, gradually raising the tank's temp will accelerate the parasite's "life cycle". And while Metroplex won't flat out kill the parasite, what it will accomplish, is aid in "flushing out" any parasites from the fish's digestive system, if it is an internal parasite. I also use Seachem's Paraguard and Sulfaplex to prevent any further outbreaks. If you have a QT/hospital tank, you can also administer some type of medicated food to help accelerate the remedy procedure. Otherwise, if you do not own a QT, you can directly administer the Metroplex and General Cure in the entire tank. Usually I opt for that option, just to cover all bases for any pending and sporadic infection.

I recently got some parasites from some Amanos, which I kinda had a hunch that it coulda been possible..and unfortunately...I was correct in that respect. : (

 

Internal parasites really really suck. I recently lost a few fish as well. (Platy, Oto, guppy) Usually the parasites are intenstinal, and you must "flush out" the said parasites, otherwise they can and will find hosts rapidly, and they also spawn unnoticeably and very quickly. I use API's General Cure, Seachem's Metroplex, a bit of epsom salt and raising the tank's temp to 85-86 degees farenheit; both are very good. In addition, gradually raising the tank's temp will accelerate the parasite's "life cycle". And while Metroplex won't flat out kill the parasite, what it will accomplish, is aid in "flushing out" any parasites from the fish's digestive system, if it is an internal parasite. I also use Seachem's Paraguard and Sulfaplex to prevent any further outbreaks. If you have a QT/hospital tank, you can also administer some type of medicated food to help accelerate the remedy procedure. Otherwise, if you do not own a QT, you can directly administer the Metroplex and General Cure in the entire tank. Usually I opt for that option, just to cover all bases for any pending and sporadic infection.

That's super helpful, thanks.

So I'll try and go ahead and treat in this manner. If I could ask, what is your 'timeline' of treatment? I'll obviously follow all directions, but...

API General Cure, Metroplex, epsom salt, temp raise all at one time?

Then AFTER the treatment course of those are done, you then use paraguard and sulfaplex?

Yes, I have no QT setup at the moment. And even if I did, I have no idea which fish to even put IN the QT!!! They are just randomly dieing displaying NO symptoms (except for the ones pooping white... but that only happened to one fish...) the rest are fine... then the next day they are on the bottom...

 

1. Temp: GRADUALLY raising the temp will accelerate the life cycle of the parasite, therefore flusjing it out to frickin' DIE. (in most parasites, anyway...) 2. Epsom salt will also give the fish a bit more comfort in their suffering, but do NOT add TOO much salt though lol Usually about 1 tb. per 10 gallons is more than enough. However I usually do a bit less, and only add about a half dosage of that stuff. 3. API General Cure should ALWAYS be kept on hand, in order to "catch" or red flag any suspicious behavior and/or symptoms ASAP, before they potentially become a disasterous outbreak etc. 4. I would recommend Paraguard after any issues. Or, you can use Sulfaplex--either or. Usually Paraguard works well, because when you purchase it, you get a LOT of it! lol And also, do keep in mind, that Sulfaplex is VERY strong stuff, therefore Paraguard is generally a bit milder. Point and case being, as a gross generalization: no matter the size of the tank, age of tank, or it's current inhabitants, API General Cure should be prominently regarded as the "911" safety net for any suspicious signs of any possibly negative issues. A really good back up, as well as ICH-X and Erythromycin as well. Stop bad things before they start.