Jennifer

Mmmm, NyQuil.......

:lol: I am counting the minutes until I can start on the champers. 8)

Now that's getting to the 'root' of the matter!

I have no idea about the snails but if the chemical it is known to kill snails, I would personally wait a week or so (and a good couple of water changes) to add them back - or you could add a bunch of carbon to remove any excess. Some others here may be able to offer better advice to you on this. Be aware, many parasite lifecycles involve stages that aren't easily killed with a single dose so you may need to repeat the dose in two weeks, or if you still see the parasites, or if you are worried that they will return. Keep in mind, any chemical can cause harm, no matter how safe we think it is. Also, if a worm dies in the body of the fish, and it is not passed, it can decay and cause sepsis (generalised toxicity) which can quickly kill the fish. Unfortunately, that is the risk of treatment. Fingers crossed all will be fine!

Excellent. 8) Is that with your DIY set up?

Are there any side effects to the algae rid?

8)

Yeah, you won't need much. Levamisole is most commonly found as a sheep dewormer so a large animal vet will be the best source.

I have heard the stock lense is actually much better than the stock lens. Hee hee :bounce:

Holy moly, that is so cool! How did you tame him!? Now you may hav broken me....I think I want one now....

Cool!! 8) Let me know how it turns out! Good point. It does depend on the size of the pores on the ceramic frit. I have one that works fine on a 40 micron frit but any smaller than that may require more pressure. Yeah, you would need buckets of yeast to get enough pressure and it would be difficult to get enough diffusion of gas into the water without a good set up. Would probably be worth it to invest in a pressurised system.

If the fish is not eating you can place it in a concentrated bath of 5 mg Metronidazole/litre of water for 4 hours repeating once a day for 3 days. However, metronidazole is not very soluable in water (it forms a suspension that sinks) and it also is not effectively transported into the blood stream through the gills so the oral route is best fed once daily for 3 to 5 days. A commonly used dose for metronidazole in fish is 0.05mg/g body weight. On average, a 4cm fish weighs 1 gram (although this varies with the diameter of the fish so it is always best to weigh the fish if you can using an accurate gram scale). To feed metronidazole it is easiest to inject a bloodworm with the medication. This acts like a small capsule that delivers the dose accurately every time. Firstly a single 200mg tablet of metronidazole will need to be crushed and made into a 0.1ml/0.05mg suspension. This is accomplished by very finely crushing the tablet between a folded piece of paper and adding the powder to 20mls of water or oil. It is best to put it in a small container that can be shaken well (and stored in a cool dark place). Then take a 1ml syringe with a very fine needle (such as a 27 gauge) and draw up 0.1ml of the metronidazole suspension (mixing well immediately before drawing it up). Then (carefully) inject a large blood worm with the medication. Feed one bloodworm per gram of the fish's weight. Your vet should be happy to supply you with the needle and syringe and once you get the hang of it this method is very easy and so effective. Do not keep the remaining suspension as it will degrade quickly. Also, be aware that metronidazole is very toxic to the organs (liver and kidneys) so avoid overdoses.

Fenbendazole is an excellent dewormer but is not very soluable in water so you will need to soak the food in it. If you are not keen on that, levamisole is also effective and is water soluable. Either dewormer will probably be most readily available from large animal veterinary clinics (farm animals).

I feel the labour pains starting... 8)

Pic is really not detailed enough to see much. Could it be a wound? Wounds will often appear whitish. Although it is an odd location for a wound - anything is possible. If he is otherwise well and eating I would try keeping very clean water (e.g. daily 50% water changes) and adding some salt. That will give it the best chance to heal. It actually works amazingly well if the fish are not too debilitated.

Happy holidays everyone. May you all have at least some time to relax and enjoy the lazy days of summer.

No fair! Do you know how many photos I had to take just to isolate 4 cardinals out of the 20 that are in the tank?? :roll:

Four cardinal tetras Three firebelly newts Two furry snails and a whistler in a pohutikawa tree!

:lol:

To my knowledge you can only buy praziquantel it at a vet clinic since it is a "Prescription Animal Remedy" but it is an over the counter drug so you don't need a prescription or veterinary consult to get it. You may have to try a couple of different clinics though since most clinics only carry Drontal, not Droncit. Again, don't accept Drontal, even if they recommend it - it will kill the fish. They can order in the Droncit for you if necessary. Also, make sure that you remove all the formalin before adding any other drugs since it can react causing toxic compounds - large water changes for a few days will be good as would adding carbon but be sure to remove any carbon before adding the dewormer. If the worm is attached to the fish, it will most likely be causing a wound that will need clean water to heal. If there is a delay in deworming it might pay to put the fish in a short salt bath to see if you can get the worm to fall off. The sooner you can do this the better as some burrowing species of worm can lay eggs in the fish's skin.

:roll: don't tell my partner that.... we already have two more tanks than I aniticpated a couple of months ago!

....you may have broke me.... I had been keeping them out of my mind for years now... now that you showed me that ugly adorable baby I am drooling for one....

Nice pics! That area is absolute paradise...

Do you ever get any Senegals, Meyers or Hawkhead parrots?

I was referring to the first post. Larval migrans just means that the larvae of the worm migrate throughout the body at some stage of the lifecycle. However, it sounds like your fish may have an external parasite (although this is just a guess based on your descriptions). If you assume that you definately have parasites than it would be good to treat with a proper dewormer such as praziquantel. Over the counter praziquantel is sold at vet clinics under the trade name of Droncit. There is a similarly named chemical called Drontal and while it contains praziquantel it also contains pyrantel which is very toxic to fish so do not use this drug. The dosage for fish is 2mg/litre of water (dissolve the medication in a small volume of water first and then add it to the tank). Make sure that there is no carbon in your filter during the treatment period and turn off the lights if you can since UV light will degrade the medication. In 24 hours, all fish will be treated. It is a good idea to do a large water change after that point and add carbon to remove the excess medication - this will help prevent parasite resistance to the medication. Retreat in 2 weeks time following the same procedure. It might be beneficial to add some salt after the treatment to help with wound healing (up to 1 gram per litre depending on fish tolerance). Good luck!