Symptoms Of Internal Parasite?

I have a 20gal tank with guppies only. My tank is completely cycled Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0 Nitrates right around 20ppm

With that said I had 3 adult female guppies with white/clear ribbon like poop and swollen abdomens; 2 of the 3 gave birth to fry (60-80 total from both) so I thought the ribbon like poop was from the onset of labor however they both died 2-3 days after giving birth.

There are still signs of ribbon like poop, swollen abdomens and limited activity in a couple of my other fish, however the fry are active and eating fine.

I treated the tank with API General Cure for internal parasites and removed the activated carbon from the filter. I am due to complete a 25-50% water change at the end of the medication cycle which is tomorrow evening, however I lost another fish this morning so I am not sure it has helped.

After I do the water change and replace the activated carbon how long should I wait to see if there is an improvement and what else should I try that is safe for the fry?

 

I would wait a few days to see how the meds do. The fish that died may have just been too far along to save. Do as frequent water changes as you can, daily if possible once the meds cycle has finished. White stringy poop can be parasites or bacterial infection. Also, internal parasites can cause bacterial infections where they latch onto the intestines. That is why GC is good. Is has metro for infections and prazI for parasites.

The only other suggestion I would make is a round of levamisole. It covers some nematodes that prazequantel does not.

 

OK thank you. I put the first dose of GC in Friday and the second dose Sunday and will do the first water change Tuesday evening as suggested on the instructions on the GC packaging, Where can I get the levamisole and when should I put that in the tank?

 

Are you in the US? Here is a link for what I get. A 1/4 tsp treats 100 gallons. So I just eyeball ten equal piles that will treat 10 gallons each. For your 20, 5 equal piles would be good. Treat after as large a water change as possible with lights out and plenty of aeration (air stone or lower water level so outflow churns good) removing carbon for 48 hours. I cover tanks with a towel jus leaving some light at the bottom.
Remove with another large water change and add carbon back.
Retreat 2 weeks later. Very important because any eggs will not be impacted and can hatch and reinfest.

 

Thank you I looked that up and it is not safe for snails, I have 1 snail in the tank. I guess if the GC doesn't work I can put the snail in a 1 gallon tank for a couple days but it is not heated or filtered, what do you think?

 

Its best to put GC in food. Its for stomcah parasites, so, food is the best way. In fact, it can bind to hard, calcium in the water, and become useless in hard or Alkaline (high PH) water.

They make GC flake, along with de-worming flak, either levimasole, or fenbendazole

They make antibiotic falke too, imagine this, it dosent kill your Good bacteria in the tank. NOt to mention that these medicated flake is ALOT cheaper than going to petsmart and spending 20 dollars on general cure antibiotic powder.

 

Good point Whitewolf. This only works if the fish are eating good though. I have had issues where they just were not eating enough to be effective turning their nose up at the medicated food. I have used it after the first in tank treatment though when they are feeling and eating better. So, definitely an option that should be considered. I keep medicated flakes on hand as well as focus to help bind medication to regular food.

As far as snails go, I left all mine in a few years ago when I had an outbreak of camallanus because I had several tanks to treat. I did not lose one. They did get slower though. Since then, when I treat prophylacticly, I do remove my snails. No snails in the quarantine tank which is where I treat new fish. If you could at least put an air stone and keep in a place where temp will stay close to normal, two days should be ok. You could do daily water changes to be sure.

As far as the cost of GC, I agree with Whitewolf that those little boxes of packets cost too much for so little. It consists of metronidazole and praziquantel. I buy those meds separately and dose both at same time if needed. A tub of metro powder from angelsplus website and prazipro from just about anywhere like amazon or drsfostersmith go a long way and I am always ready for whatever and can treat my larger tanks.

I hope the round of GC does the trick for you!

 

Its best to put GC in food. Its for stomcah parasites, so, food is the best way. In fact, it can bind to hard, calcium in the water, and become useless in hard or Alkaline (high PH) water.

They make GC flake, along with de-worming flak, either levimasole, or fenbendazole

They make antibiotic falke too, imagine this, it dosent kill your Good bacteria in the tank. NOt to mention that these medicated flake is ALOT cheaper than going to petsmart and spending 20 dollars on general cure antibiotic powder.

Thanks for your help!! Do I need to get specific type of food or can a soak what food I have in the GC powder I already have with some tank water?

 

Its probably best to order some flake, or else you might risk overdosing praziquentel. It can be overdosed easily.

 

I will do that thank you for all of you help!! The fish seem to be much better now but I am going to get some flake just to be sure

 

Keep up frequent water changes in the meantime. So glad they are doing better.