sharn

im unsure if treating discus is any different to treating other fish. i assume, if anything the discus treatments would be lighter due to them being 'sensitive'? there are so many dosages for treatment it gets very confusing :lol:

shoulda been a pm :oops:

if the fish is eating administer it via food, its so much easier, less stressful on the fish and doesnt mess up the tank. if not, i havent used any of the above methods. i used a method which was commonly reccomended on a discus forum (thats what i was treating) and seemed to work for most people. i like to pick treatments which are commonly used, that way you can have a little more faith that its gonna go ok. im not sure if these may be of any help or not- http://www.simplydiscus.com/library/dis ... asis.shtml http://www.simplydiscus.com/library/dis ... mita.shtml http://forum.simplydiscus.com//showthread.php?t=23678

too far up to be from digging? is it possible he got scratched from a sharp piece of stone when he was digging and its got a bit infected? im not too up on geos so i dont know how tough their noses are :lol:

thats the dosage i use too ryan (400mg/40L but every 8-12 hours with 30-50% w/c before each new dose), thats for fish with severe infestations that arent eating. if they are eating i read 250mg/40L was to be used, i would reccomend making up some food with it though as thats going to be more effective. the dosages i have read of were generally for discus (thats what i was treating), im not sure if that makes any difference.

timtam- thats around their wild size, they can hit 60cm easily in home aquaria but i have seen 80cm specimins grown in insanely large tanks so they can still get alot bigger than most people think if housed properly. they really shouldnt be sold, and heaps more people are educated about them now but you will always get those going 'oh, pirahna!', if they are still for sale there will always be someone buying them. the hard thing is stopping them being bought, if there is no market they wont be bought in. if we educate as many people as possible we are saving at least a few from an insanely uncomfortable life and possible untimely death.

oscars rule! remember though they get big (12-14" on average) and are very messy, need at least 250L for one oscar alone, 350L min for two. they are definatly like puppies in a tank- when my boy was out in the lounge i wasnt allowed to lie down on the couch near him with a certain blanket otherwise i would get charged at and have rocks thrown at me thru the glass :lol:

sorry to hear it didnt go so well there are heaps of articles out there on the net, perhaps have a read and try and find something that suits you? what works for one person may not work for someone else. i have only treated discus for hex and it went well. how did you dissolve the tablets?

many people will refuse to take pacu even if you pay them :lol: most people dont like the idea of using their massive tank for an 'ugly pacu' (i happen to love them though). you could try the national aquarium but im not sure if they would take them or not. if you cant find a home it may be better to euthanaise them then have them in a tank that is too small, they require alot of room to be happy. best of luck rehoming them!

you little rebels :lol: sorry i couldnt make it guys!

IMO tattooing should stay on people

it coats everything in a white layer (sorta slimey), dunno if it does that for everyone or not but it did for me :lol: i treated in barebottom tank. im not sure if it effects the filter system to be honest. would all the fish be able to fit into a standard two footer for treatment comfortably? if so you could perhaps borrow one from a local, fill it up 40L (ten gal) and treat like that? just need a small heater and sponge filter. pollution/spikes shouldnt be a problem as the large w/c's will keep everything in check (id think doing 50% a time would be a good idea though if you were to use a brand new filter with no exisiting media/bacteria just incase). finding a heap of poops in a tank with substrate, plants etc might be quite hard. i beleive there are quite a few articles out there on hex, a google should return enough to fill your brain for years :lol: i like to advise researching treatment methods/dosages and picking the one that is best for you (i normally shoot for the most common one), the treatments above are for discus but i would assume the treatment dosages are all the same, might pay to check if cats are sensitive to it or not though.

mr bristles went right thru to the bottom (he didnt get any loving looks/words for a few days after that one). his pit was around 15cm long and 4cm wide :evil: i dont have any stones on top though (1cm aquatic mix, 2-3cm of sand) so thats why it is so easy for it to be exposed in my tank so i was asking for it haha. luckily hes given up digging in new spots, only digs in his cave now which has no aquatic mix anymore :lol:

collect a piece of their poop to take in with the fish, it stays intact and nice in a little bit of water. they may want to check it under a microscope or something. dosage is (this is what i do anyway) 200mg/40L every 12 hours (w/c of 30-50% or so before each retreatment) for fish that arent too bad. treat for around 5 days (you need to see their poops become normal) but up to ten is ok. for heavily affected fish the dosage is 400mg/40L every 8/12 hours (i did every 12 cause i need more than 8 hours sleep) with the 30-50% w/c in between for up to ten days, usually a week is sufficient though. i cant remember the dosage for the food sorry up temp a few degrees if you want. i advise treating in a seperate tank, it really messes it up when you use the pills, barebottom will help you keep track of their poops really well. apparently metro loses its effectiveness in water after 8 hours which is why the w/c's are so frequent.

hrrrm, thats quite a big lump, i dont think its lympho cause as far as im aware they are small pimple like bumps (not too sure though). im not sure what it could be sorry

in theory if you kill off heaps of snails and leave their bodies in there, they will rot and you may get an ammonia spike which will stress the fish and possibly leave them open to something (whitespot etc). many beleive that snails act as intermediate hosts in a few parasites/illnesses but i havent read much about that so i cant really offer any advice on that one

this: courtesy of a naughty male bristlenose with a possible algae bloom to boot afterwards from the nutrient spike :lol:

i think some atrocious amount like 70% die in the dying/tattooing process and many die shortly after

im guessing biozyme is like bio-spira? we cant get that either but ive heard great things about it!

the only 'bump' thing i know of is lymphocistis (or somethign like that), i dont think its overly common though. any chance of a pic?

:lol: @ alan every now and again i see garlic mentioned to help prevent it, but im not sure how it would go with curing- ive read a few accounts which say they used garlic alone but that took over 6 weeks and sometimes fish dont have that long. it definatly wont hurt so do keep up with the garlic feedings, its better than nothing furan-2 will not help as far as i am aware. do you know anyone that keeps discus? they may be a good bet as hex is common in discus. are you friendly with your doctor? i hope someone can help you out with finding it

bummer, you got camallanus there bud its a nematode that sits in the lower intestine, what you see hanging out its rear end are the females behinds which are constantly dropping live young out. they are red because they are full of blood and they are securely anchored by little grinder looking things inside so dont try and pull them out. make sure you dont use any of your equipment on any other tanks if you have them without sterilising them first- its extremely easy to contaminate other tanks with it i battled it for a while- rams were the most suseptable to dying off from it, their tummies went hollow then theyd die. i did two treatments and i havent seen it back since i used levamisole for treating, it worked wonders and it doesnt kill your bio filters. it is also ok on sensitive fish- my wild apistos were in the tank and they were fine. pm me if you would like to try it, i can try and get some for you (its not that easy to get but my vet sells it and its cheap as chips!), i can also give you my dosing method if you wish- a few others have used that dosing method and it worked well for them and their fish. as far as i know the only other meds that have a decent effect on camallanus is fenbendazole (not that readily available) and piperazine (dont even know if we can get that).

with my gold sev i have an Oscar, Silver dollars, RT black shark and a plec- all get on well.

PP or perhaps formalin?

drontal has prazi? is that the one you were thinking of? prazi is effective on flukes/tapeworm and a few other things, im not sure how it would go with hex