New Discus Not Eating

[mark4785]

It was a small packet of Kusuri Wormer Plus with the small blue scoop that I used and which contained the flubendazole. It wasn’t effective for some reason, but as I said, having tried sterazin I found this had wiped body and gill flukes out after 2 cycles of treatment.

I’ve got Sterazin in the main tank now and have noticed just 2 days in that all scratching has stopped though I will keep watching them closely and complete the treatment course.

The fish in the quarantine tank has just eat 5-6 bloodworms. I had swapped metronidazole with Waterlife Myxazin which seemed to perk it up:

Its fins are no longer clamped. I’m hopeful it will keep its appetite once I’ve completed the course of Myxazin.

 

[Lajos_Detari]

The ingredients of Sterazin:
Formaldehyde 0.4%, Malachite Green 0.17%, Piperazien citrate 0.66%, Acriflavine Hydrochloride 0.11%.

The combination of Formaldehyde (Formalin) + Malachite Green is very effective against external parasites (eg. fluke).

Some Discus breeders will use Formalin or Potassium Permanganate to treat flukes.
These two medications will give you immediate results as they will kill most of the flukes in "swimming stage".

But take note that :
1)The eggs of the flukes may take longer time to hatch. The 10 days treatment may not be enough.
As I mentioned earlier, I treated my tanks for many rounds(10days per round) and yet they still returned.
And when they returned, the medication seemed to lose its effectiveness.
You can read some "research papers(from the internets)" on treatments of medications on parasites.
It will help you to understand how the parasites respond/react to the medication.

2)If you have plants in your tank, they will absorb the medication and reduce its effectiveness. So, it may not fully kill all the flukes.

3)Also, as I mentioned earlier, I find that most Waterlife medication are mild. They are very safe for fish but I find them to be too safe and not strong enough for severe infection.
Hopefully, you can prove me wrong.

Myxazin is an anti-bacterial. It's useful for external bacteria.
But I'm not sure about it's effectiveness for internal bacteria.
Probably, you can write email to Waterlife to ask for advice.
When the fish's bowel is clogged due to parasites and/or bacteria infection, you will need medications to treat the bowel (internal).

All the best.

 

[Lajos_Detari]

I just realized from the video that you sent, there are white dots on the Discus' tail.
Are they white spots(ich infection) or just some particles/debris in the tank?

 

[mark4785]

I just realized from the video that you sent, there are white dots on the Discus' tail.
Are they white spots(ich infection) or just some particles/debris in the tank?

They are gas bubbles. I filled the tank from the bucket pretty quick so there’s a few more bubbles on the glass and the fish itself than normal. They have dissolved now.

I will switch to formalin / potassium permanganate if I run into issues with Sterazin. It could be that flukes respond differently to Sterazin in different water chemistry and that is why we have different outcomes when we have used it. Right now I’m using what has worked in the past as gill/body flukes are pretty devastating so anything that works against it, within reason, is good for me.

 

[Lajos_Detari]

Oh I see.

Actually, I like Sterazin due to the combination of Malachite Green + Formaldehyde (Formalin). It's very effective against any parasite.
Furthermore, Sterazin contains other ingredients that can remove the mucous from the fish gills.(if I remember correctly)
When the fish's gill is infected with flukes, it will produce much mucous that cover the gills, and as a results, it may prevent the medication from reaching to the flukes that are hooked to the gills.

Sterazin's medication will remove the mucous/slime and allows the medication to penetrate through the mucous/slime and reach the flukes to kill them off.

Probably, you will have better success in your bare tank.

When I first treated the flukes, I had a planted tank which might reduce its effectiveness.

 

[Lajos_Detari]

Some additional information for you:

From the famous Wattley Discus:

Metro Discus Medication (metronidazole) - Wattley Discus

Learn how to use Metro Discus Fish Medication to treat internal parasites (Hexamita). If your discus are having symptoms Metro and this article will help.

wattleydiscus.com

Simply Discus Library:

SimplyDiscus.com: Tapeworm Experience by Al Sabetta

I recently bought enough Praziquantel to treat all my fish in the fishroom. I have not done this before, except when I first get the fish in or if they are sick. I was interested to see how many of my fish had tapeworms or other worms they would pass.

www.simplydiscus.com

SimplyDiscus.com: Emaciated Discus and Capillaria Worms by Ardan Huck

When a fish exhibits signs of emaciation, (i.e. caved in sides, eyes sunken in) it is possibly being starved by intestinal flagellates (a protozoa such as Spironucleus or Hexamita) or intestinal worms (tapeworm, nematode, capillaria, oxyuridia).

www.simplydiscus.com

SimplyDiscus.com: Nematode (Roundworm) Infections in Fish by Roy P. E. Yanong

Nematodes, or roundworms, infect many different species of aquacultured and wild fish. Small numbers of nematodes often occur in healthy fish, but high numbers will cause illness or even death.

www.simplydiscus.com