Angelfish Hunger Strike

[DiscusKeeper403]

OK....I`m sure I`ll be harassing you all with more questions. Thanks for all the info. I`ll give him his first meal on Monday....that will be 3 days from the beginning of treatment. Does that garlic guard stuff actually work. I`m keeping my fingers crossed that he eats!

Seems to be working fine for me. A good friend of mine and experienced aquariast (bred and kept African Cichlids for 10+ years, now keeps Discus) swears by the stuff and soaks his flake in it every day. Jack Wattley, a world renowned Discus breeder also swore by the stuff and claimed to have cured parasite infections with garlic alone.

 

[missgingersnap]

I guess if I put hot water and let it sit until it comes down to the right temp that should work. The only extra heater I have doesn`t have a temp dial. It just tops out at 79 degrees. I normally use a python so I don`t age my water, but then I`m not doing a huge water change like I`ll be doing here. I`ll just have to do the best I can with what I have for now. Thanks

I`m going to buy some garlic guard then. I`ve heard good things but it`s hard to find around here for some reason.

 

[missgingersnap]

So today was day 3 of treatment. I think he's getting better. He was pretty excited when I put the brine shrimp in and he managed to eat a few of them. He swallowed most of them and spit some out. This is a good sign right? How long should I treat for? Just until he gets his appetite totally back? It says on the bottle to treat for 5-7 days. Thanks in advance!

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

So today was day 3 of treatment. I think he's getting better. He was pretty excited when I put the brine shrimp in and he managed to eat a few of them. He swallowed most of them and spit some out. This is a good sign right? How long should I treat for? Just until he gets his appetite totally back? It says on the bottle to treat for 5-7 days. Thanks in advance!

I would do the 7 day course. Did you put the Metro in the brine shrimp? Make sure to sprinkle metro into the brine shrimp. If you put some into a small container of water and let the food sit in it for 5-10 minutes, you can feed him that and it will speed things up.

 

[Tolak]

Even if the fish mouths the medicated food & spits it out it is on the road to recovery. Once I see a fish doing this I know things are headed in the right direction.

I would feed for at least 7 days as well.

 

[missgingersnap]

The first time I fed him the shrimp I didn't medicate but I have been ever since. He really ate well today and even ate just flakes and freeze dried bloodworms. I wanted to see if he would eat other stuff too and I'm pretty excited that he did. He even comes rushing to the glass and wiggles when he sees me like he used to. I hope he's better soon so I can get him out of that little tank. Plus I think my other angel misses him. She's kind of been sulking. lol thanks guys! I'll keep ya posted.

 

[missgingersnap]

Tonight was the 7th dose of meds. I have enough left for one more dose tomorrow. He's eating better but still not like normal but I wonder if it's because he's not comfortable in that little 10 gallon. He really doesn't have much room to move around. I finally saw him poop tonight...almost normal poop. Not white and stringy. So, I'm wondering if you guys think he should stay in QT? Should I keep dosing meds?...if so, I need to go buy more. Or do you think I can put him back in the main tank? Thanks guys.

 

[Tolak]

You might get away with stopping the meds, I would keep the fish in that tank another week. Keep up on the water changes & brine shrimp, flake should be fine as well, avoid feeding bloodworms for a while.

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

Agree with Tolak. Keep dosing the garlic guard as a follow up.

 

[missgingersnap]

I haven't been dosing with garlic guard. Didn't know I was supposed to. Do you mean soak the food in it?

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

Ah sorry, it must have been a different person I recommended it to then. Yeah I would dose garlic guard personally. I give it to my Discus once a day, it can be used with treatment and from there on. Great flavor enhancer and it works to ward off any parasites. You can use it to soak flake in before you feed it to them, flake should be soaked before hand anyways, to help prevent bloating.

 

[missgingersnap]

So I need to do water changes everyday still? I was doing about 75-80% water changes everyday before dosing. Can I do smaller water changes now?

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

If you can do the water changes it won't hurt. If you are finding it too much you should be fine doing every other day for the next week just until he is out of quarantine. Fresh water is a great medication itself!


Just to add I would probably drop down to about 50% per water change at this point.