Parasite Problem

HI all.

Not sure what to do with this! I treated my tank with PraziPro in the water and then again in their food about a week and a half ago.

Everyone seemed to improve rapidly after I fed them treated food. All was good until today. I did a major clean on the tank, ornaments, glass, everything. My orange Platy got spooked and then hid in her favourite rock the whole day. I assumed this was from disturbing her surroundings but then when she finally came out around dinner there was a thick white/translucent poop coming from her. Is this still the parasite?

Should I dose the tank again or maybe food for her? I also have Paraguard, would that work better? I'm afraid she is going to end up like my poor blue Platy that died before I could complete the treatment

Any help would be great.

 

I would dose the Prazi-pro again.

 

Hoping someone can help! I dosed the tank with prazipro last night. Wake up this morning and my poor fish is now sitting at the top of the water in the corner. Same exact behaviour as my blue Platy before she passed three days later. I've ordered medicated food from angelfins with prazI in it. Likely won't get here till Wednesday. Is there anything I can do in the meantime? Really don't want to loose all my Platy's. I have only four left!

 

UPDATE: she is no longer eating. She was eating like her normal self last night when I took those photos and this morning, nothing. She actually left the frenzy of the top of the water to hide behind a rock. Is the medicated food a mute point now? Should I feed my other platies with it to be safe? Any help would be great.

 

UPDATE: she is no longer eating. She was eating like her normal self last night when I took those photos and this morning, nothing. She actually left the frenzy of the top of the water to hide behind a rock. Is the medicated food a mute point now? Should I feed my other platies with it to be safe? Any help would be great.

Now my tuxedo Platy is flicking against my driftwood and ornaments. What do I do? I also found this odd worm looking thing floating in the water. Hard to get a pic of but it looks like it has a head and notches along it's body.

 

KimberlyG TexasDomer I know you've bothed helped me in the past. Any thoughts?

 

It's hard to tell from the pic, but I doubt that's a parasitic worm.

Can you list water parameters, tank size, and tank mates, just to rule out other issues?

 

The worm that you have a picture of, and how you described the little notches along its body, looks like a Detritus worm...which is harmless. But the worm that is coming out of your fish is something else.
Detritus worms are harmless compost worms, like aquarium earthworms.
I am trying to do some research to find what worm is inside your fish!
I'm so sorry

 

What's coming out of the fish is like feces or the inside lining of the intestine, not a worm itself. This is often caused by internal parasites, though.

 

When my JD had a parasite I used API General Cure. It took me about 3 treatments to completely finish it off. I QT him in a tank with no substrate so I can see what he's pooping out. He was indeed pooping a lot of white stuff and eventually it turned brown but took me a few weeks to completely get it healthy.

It sounds like you only treated one time...you need to do multiple treatments, water changes and more treatments. I had to treat the tank, wait 48 hours, do a 25% water change...that was one treatment.

 

It's hard to tell from the pic, but I doubt that's a parasitic worm.

Can you list water parameters, tank size, and tank mates, just to rule out other issues?

I have a 60 gallon aquarium. 4 Platy and 10 peppered Cory's. Cory's seem unaffected. Just starting out my stocking of this since I upgraded but was able to do an instant cycle using old media to start this tank. Below is a picture of my parameters. Did a fresh one to be sure the water change yesterday didn't hurt anything.

 

The worm that you have a picture of, and how you described the little notches along its body, looks like a Detritus worm...which is harmless. But the worm that is coming out of your fish is something else.
Detritus worms are harmless compost worms, like aquarium earthworms.
I am trying to do some research to find what worm is inside your fish!
I'm so sorry

Thank you so much for taking the time to research! Look forward to hearing from you.

 

When my JD had a parasite I used API General Cure. It took me about 3 treatments to completely finish it off. I QT him in a tank with no substrate so I can see what he's pooping out. He was indeed pooping a lot of white stuff and eventually it turned brown but took me a few weeks to completely get it healthy.

It sounds like you only treated one time...you need to do multiple treatments, water changes and more treatments. I had to treat the tank, wait 48 hours, do a 25% water change...that was one treatment.

Yes with PrazI you are supposed to wait seven days I believe before treating again. Everyone had healthy brown poop after that so I thought the problem was solved. Little did I know (after further reading last night) that most require multiple treatments to kill the active parasite and then the eggs. That was likely my problem.

 

I agree, for now, I would continue treatments. Hopefully this one pulls through!

 

Thanks all. I'll keep treating the tank to be sure the problem is 100% gone. Hope it's not to late for Eve (my orange platy). Has anyone used Prazipro before? It doesn't mention if I should do a WC in between doses.

 

When did you firat added meds?
How long did you continue?
As mentioned by Fashooga you should treat them until their poop looks brown as regular. Will take around 3 treatments.
White poops indicates one or many parasitic infection. (Saw it in a vid of some fish veterinary expert) and most common is parasite causing diarrhoea resulting in loss of energy and vital minerals, lack of appetite, and then death.
Also doing treatment (at least once) on other fishs in same tank was recommended (by the fish vet) as there is a chance of other fish getting affected by it, specially if you have scavengers or bottom dweller fish.

 

You can do a water change between doses.

 

When did you firat added meds?
How long did you continue?
As mentioned by Fashooga you should treat them until their poop looks brown as regular. Will take around 3 treatments.
White poops indicates one or many parasitic infection. (Saw it in a vid of some fish veterinary expert) and most common is parasite causing diarrhoea resulting in loss of energy and vital minerals, lack of appetite, and then death.
Also doing treatment (at least once) on other fishs in same tank was recommended (by the fish vet) as there is a chance of other fish getting affected by it, specially if you have scavengers or bottom dweller fish.

Probably Richmond Loh, fish doctor...awesome channel.

 

Thanks all. I'll keep treating the tank to be sure the problem is 100% gone. Hope it's not to late for Eve (my orange platy). Has anyone used Prazipro before? It doesn't mention if I should do a WC in between doses.

I hav never used meds but in any case,
I would surely do a 20~50% wc and gravel vacc (very imp) just before adding every new dose of prazipro.

 

When did you firat added meds?
How long did you continue?
As mentioned by Fashooga you should treat them until their poop looks brown as regular. Will take around 3 treatments.
White poops indicates one or many parasitic infection. (Saw it in a vid of some fish veterinary expert) and most common is parasite causing diarrhoea resulting in loss of energy and vital minerals, lack of appetite, and then death.
Also doing treatment (at least once) on other fishs in same tank was recommended (by the fish vet) as there is a chance of other fish getting affected by it, specially if you have scavengers or bottom dweller fish.

I last dosed on Feb 20th and then dosed their food again 6 days later. That seems to clear up the white poop but yesterday things took a turn for the worse.

Thanks for the tip on dosing the tank. I read the same, that the parasites will likely spread so make sure they receive some meds as well. Since more than one Platy is showing symptoms I will continue to dose the whole tank.

I did order medicated food. Should I try that in tandiem of the treated water or just try the water for now?

 

Probably Richmond Loh, fish doctor...awesome channel.

Probably. Thanks for name, I will check it again. It is too advanced but out of 100 new things I can always remember 1 thing atleast.

 

Make sure you're not overdosing. If you're doing medicated food, I wouldn't treat the water.

 

I last dosed on Feb 20th and then dosed their food again 6 days later. That seems to clear up the white poop but yesterday things took a turn for the worse.

Thanks for the tip on dosing the tank. I read the same, that the parasites will likely spread so make sure they receive some meds as well. Since more than one Platy is showing symptoms I will continue to dose the whole tank.

I did order medicated food. Should I try that in tandiem of the treated water or just try the water for now?

And also give one extra dose after all fish are healthy. Just a precaution. We do not see it doesn't mean they are not there.

 

Make sure you're not overdosing. If you're doing medicated food, I wouldn't treat the water.

What meathod do you think would be most effective? I'm worried that Eve is now not eating that I should continue with the water?

 

If she's not eating, that may be the best option for her. You could also QT her and treat her tank with the PraziPro, and feed the main tank the medicated flakes.

 

If she's not eating, that may be the best option for her. You could also QT her and treat her tank with the PraziPro, and feed the main tank the medicated flakes.

Thanks. I just picked up a 10 gallon on sale for a QT but unfortunately don't have any seeded media for the filter. If I need to treat the water how would I go about keeping the water parameters in check while doing so? I had planned to start seeding the media this past weekend before I purchased any new fish but when I had to start treatment again I didn't want to taint the filter media with parasites. Is that a thing?

 

Depends on the parasite. Macroparasites like flukes and tapeworms usually need intermediate hosts to infect new fish, so you wouldn't need to worry much about them infecting the media. Roundworms and microparasites could have direct life cycles though. Since you're treating the main tank anyway, no harm in getting filter media from that for the QT though.

 

Thanks! I will see if I can cut some sponge from my canister to use as an immediate solution. I should also use water from the tank correct? Or does that matter? Sorry I'm new to QT tanks.

 

No, if the tap water is the same as the tank water, you can just use new dechlorinated tap water.

 

No, if the tap water is the same as the tank water, you can just use new dechlorinated tap water.

Awesome. Thanks for your help.

 

No, if the tap water is the same as the tank water, you can just use new dechlorinated tap water.

Sorry one more question! Should I do a 50% WC on the main tank before feeding them the treated food in order to avoid an OD? Or will it have diluted enough by then to just feed them directly? Let me know. Looks like I might have the food tomorrow as they got it shipped today

(Angelfins has quick service for Canadians looking for an online option!)

 

It won't be diluted unless you dilute it through water changes, so I might go ahead and do two 50% water changes before you feed the medicated food.

 

I've used PraziPro a few times. It is absorbed through the fishes body. Imo there's no need for medicated food. My dose schedule was the entire tank. The chances that most if not all have been infected is very slim. Large water change dose with PrazI pro, 24hrs after 1st dose, there should be a good amount of waste expelled. Vacuum it up and dose again for the amount of water lost during vacuuming, wait 2 days vacuum again and do a large water change, at least 50% and dose for the tank.
The most important thing is the oxygen in the tank lowers dramatically. First morning I woke up my fish were pale, sickly pale. I quickly put a huge airstone in my tank just below my powerhead and pointed it up. So to break and fill the tank witb oxygen. In less than 10 min they gained color and where active again. I turned it off to test to see if it was just a coincidence, nope they became pale and lethargic. PrazI pro is excellent but removes oxygen to dangerous levels and fast, so upping oxygen is extremly important while using.
Just wanted to share since it hadn't been said. Good luck!

 

I've used PraziPro a few times. It is absorbed through the fishes body. Imo there's no need for medicated food. My dose schedule was the entire tank. The chances that most if not all have been infected is very slim. Large water change dose with PrazI pro, 24hrs after 1st dose, there should be a good amount of waste expelled. Vacuum it up and dose again for the amount of water lost during vacuuming, wait 2 days vacuum again and do a large water change, at least 50% and dose for the tank.
The most important thing is the oxygen in the tank lowers dramatically. First morning I woke up my fish were pale, sickly pale. I quickly put a huge airstone in my tank just below my powerhead and pointed it up. So to break and fill the tank witb oxygen. In less than 10 min they gained color and where active again. I turned it off to test to see if it was just a coincidence, nope they became pale and lethargic. PrazI pro is excellent but removes oxygen to dangerous levels and fast, so upping oxygen is extremly important while using.
Just wanted to share since it hadn't been said. Good luck!

Thanks! I did a small vacuum tonight to pick up what my filters hadn't and add d an airstone. I have a fair bit of agitation from my HOB but better to be safe. My orange Platy actually started eating today so that's a great sign. Thanks for everyone's help.