Prazzi Pro Treatment

[kribensis12]

Hi, I have a pigeon blood discus and it has a internal parasite because it has not eaten for weeks. I just started treating with prazzi pro and I wanted to know if that was the right thing to do.

 

[crazie.eddie]

Was this a new discus that you had?

Was it eating well at the place you bought it from?

How do you know it has an internal parasite?

What fish are in the tank?

What are your water parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, pH)?

What temp?

How big is the tank?

What do you feed it? How often?

How often do you perform WC? How much?

 

[kribensis12]

Yes I have had it about 2 and a half weeks. No it wasnt eating at the petstore. I have ruled everything else out from gill flukes to eye infections. A female krib who is in conditioning. The nirates are 10, there is no trace of nitrites, there is no ammonia, the ph is 7.0, and the water hardness is medium. The temp is 85 degrees. The hospital tank is a 20 gallon flat hexagon. I feed the krib frozen and freeze dried food every day and feed her flakes, the discus wont eat but if it wants to there is food for it. I do a water change every 2 days and about 20% to 25%. It has visible stress bars and has a little bit of colouring. I know that I shouldnt have bought it but I couldnt stand to watch it suffer in the tank.

 

[crazie.eddie]

Rescue fish, especially discus isn't the best idea. Discus commonly starve themselves to death if they are ill or have some kind of parasite. I have heard metro treatment for discus not eating and have white feces. Unfortunately, it is common for the discus to have feces if they do not eat, so it would be hard to tell if it's just hardly eats or has an internal parasite. Metro must be taken internally by the discus and one of the unfortunate side effects is loss of appetite.

 

[kribensis12]

It poops like once every 2 days and just a small piece.

 

[paulf]

When I got my first discus it took them nearly 2 months to start eating.

Personally I wouldnt touch Prazi if you paid me.....

 

[kribensis12]

What is wrong with Prazzi Pro? He wasnt eating at the petstore or at my house and the petstore uses the same food as the discus supplier.

 

[paulf]

What is wrong with Prazzi Pro? He wasnt eating at the petstore or at my house and the petstore uses the same food as the discus supplier.

I have had this discussion on another forum and the outcome of that is still pending, so its best left as a personal opinion I have.

 

[Tolak]

What country are you located in kribensis12? This will affect the meds available to you.

 

[kribensis12]

I live in peoria, Il that is in the U.S.

 

[Tolak]

Put the angel in a quar tank, I usually use a 10 gallon. Increase the temp over a day or so to 90-94F. Treat daily with 40 mg/gallon metronidazole, with 50% water changes daily. If the fish isn't eating, don't feed for the first 3 days. After 3 days, get some frozen brine shrimp. Take a portion about the size of a few match heads, and sprinkle on some metro. You have to eyeball this one, make the shrimp look kind of like a tiny powdered donut. Once it thaws, mix it in & feed. Sometimes they still don't eat for a few days, but once they start to mouth the food & spit it out, the meds seem to get in their system real good. Continue medicating the water & food for 7-10 days.

Metronidazole is sold as flagyl, het-a-mit, and a few other names I can't recall offhand, used to treat hexamita & hole in the head. They usually suggest 20mg/gallon, this often isn't enough. Metro deteriorates in 8 hours, so you could do twice daily water changes. I've done this on the weekends when I have time.

Don't let the high temp scare you, angels can handle higher than that. I've had them as high as 98 due to a broken heater. Just make sure to have only angels in the tank at that temp. Make sure to have plenty of aeration also, as warmer water holds less O2.


I've also added epsom salt while using metro, this helps with any constipation issues, cleans out the digestive tract. I start with 1 teaspoon per 10 gallons of water, increasing by 1 teaspoon daily for 2 more days to bring it up to 3 teaspoons per 10 gallon. You will have to adjust how much you use when doing water changes. You may want to give this a try.

If you have a hard time finding metro let me know, I'm only a couple hours north of Peoria, and I know members of the club I'm in know some aquarists down that way.

 

[kribensis12]

This is a discus and that isnt avalible because my favorite lfs said that the manager said that it dosent sell well.

 

[paulf]

This is a discus and that isnt avalible because my favorite lfs said that the manager said that it dosent sell well.

So find a different LFS that will sell it for you? its not hard to get over there by the sounds of it

 

[kribensis12]

Th eonly other lfs are petsmart and petco and they said that they dont carry it and they wont do a special order.

 

[paulf]

Th eonly other lfs are petsmart and petco and they said that they dont carry it and they wont do a special order.

Mail order then? otherwise I would use the prazi and see how it goes