raven

I posted a similar question in the disease section under a thread with the heading Drontal, Droncit, Praziquantel, Adtape & Gill flukes I took that infomation to a local rural vet and even then i got the blank look and i must admit thought i was going to get no where. It turns out they had a visiting vet from Australia who knows quite alot about fish and 4 hours after i enquired about Metronidazole (which is a prescription drug only) (Also it should be noted its a drug for humans) I was given a prescription for the fish i needed to treat. The animal version of the drug i was given is called Stormorgyl 10, i was using it to treat discus, the method used was to set up a hospital tank, bath the fish using 1 x tablet (made up of spiramycin and metrronidazole) per 25l of water. I needed to bath them for 2 hours then dispose of the water. While the fish were bathing i was doing 50-70% water changes. I did this for 3 days and the fish are now healthy and show no signs of illness. I hope this info can help others avoid the hassle i had in obtaining the medication i required.

Thanks Jolliolli, No i haven't had angels for quiet some time, i got rid of all my other fish and only have a clown loach, 5 BN's and about 30 discus not counting either batch of fry. Tony

Thanks for the advice/replies I'll head out to a rural vet to see what i can get my hands on. As for symtoms. Fish stoped eating, then went dark, then get a skeletal look to them. Some but not all had white poo, and the last few that are alive at the moment have wee white lumps on them, mainly on their sides. I've been doing 30% water changes daily in a tank that has a couple of lotus plants and sand as a subtract. Temp was lifted to 30 degs Cel, and water conditions are the same as the other two discus tanks i have. I did buy some young discus but they weren't here at the time these guys started showing signs of infection so i can't blame the newer fish. Tony

I've just had the unforunate experience of losing all but one of my first batch of discus fry. (s/hes in another tank and is showing no signs of illness) What i found frustrating as hell was all the advice i needed was right infront of me, (thanks to all those who provided the answers )yet the local supposed friendly service providers down here were pretty disapointing to say the least. I know the fish had a parasite infection so i shot out to the local pet store who advised me to use Salt and that will help sort things out. I tried that and lost about 5 fish over night. I then returned with the first post from this thread and asked if they could supply anything of it. I received a blank stare and a look like i was off my rocker. I then went to the closest vet, they could supply drontal but nothing else as it was either not available or prescription drugs only i offered to go get a fish so they could prescribe me something another odd look. They told me to try a farm whole saler or the local petstore. I must add here that they did have drontal but i wanted droncit. Off i go again to the pet store and get, OH yes we have used drontal and it works a treat.../GRRRRRR $25 and two tablets later i arrive home, set up medication plans to cure these poor fish. Another couple of packets of drugs and still fish are dying left right and center. This would have to be the worst fish "thing" i have ever had to got through but i'm chalking it up to experience. My question i have is. .... ..... Does anyone have any, products, treatments, links to sites that will ship so i can treat the next batch of discus i have before they get to the same issues... i've looked on trademe, nothing there so i'm moving into prventive mode more so that this months reactive mode. cheers Tony

I had a pair of discus spawn about 8 days ago, at the moment the fry are feeding of the side of the male. I had to remove the female as she was getting frisky and wantiing to lay again. She wanted to eat the fry while the male was happy to protect them, so out of care for the parents i seperated them as they were fighting. Now the problem i have is, i'm off to Auckland for 4 days from tomorrow. Is the father going to be alright caring for around 40-50 fry by himself as this is normally shared between both parents i really dont want to come home to find his sides stripped due to over feeding, or should i reintorduce the mother and let nature take its corse? any advice is better than where i sit at the moment Thanks in advance. Oh yeah Tank if 4 foot with sand for a base, a few plants, 1 x male discus, 40 fry and a female BN for clean up. Father is an established breeder and mother has raised fry untill they were about 15 days old. (this wasn't a planned spawning)

Got home from work tonight to find the current fry eaten. So ill see how long they keep these ones for.

Are yours feeding off the sides of the parents? Yes the have for about a week now. Thats why i thought it was strange that they laid again while still having fry. Mum is very protective of the eggs and fry.

I'm just after some advise from those who are in the know, as i haven't read about this anywhere else. Is there anything i should/could/can do to make life easier for the parents? They have been spawning for 4 of the last 6 weeks and currently have 11 babies at nearly 2 weeks old. Then tonight i get home and find mum sitting over another 2-300 eggs? up untill about 4 days ago they shared the tank with 50 albino kirb babies and 7 other discus. Now the have the 250l planted tank to themselves and 2BN and 11 babies. Thanks in advance.

Daily water changes and rock salt it is... Thanks for the advice

About a week ago i moved my breeding pair of discus from my 3 foot planted tank to my 4 foot bare bottom grown out/breeding tank. They were abit nervious about the change so stupidy i put a piece of slate in there to give them something to hide behind. The result was this blew the ph of the tank which is normally around 7 to over 8.6 as the colour was way off the indicator chart. All the discus were listing to one side and i had a case of major split fin, I am currently treating this with metafix. I am on day 4 of 7 days and its working wonders, BUT now the main breeding pair have cloudy eyes. I have been doing a wee bit of surfing and they say its a result of bad water condition. So i did water tests, Alk 0-0.7 Ph is less than 7.4 (normmally its around 7.4 but i am suspecting the lower reading due to the metafix) and Ammonia is 0. The question i have is, metafix state do a 7 days corse of treatment then a 50% water change. They reading im doing says do a water change to help with the cloudy eye problem. Should i wait untill the 7 days of treatment is finished, or do a water change and then start with the metafix from day one again. Any advice is greatly welcome. Thanks in advance.

My wife told me i had to stop bidding. but i think $240 is a good price. Thats why i wimped out at $140 :lol:

i have 5 b/n in the tank. so to be wary i've kept the light on 24/7 either the brighter light or the blue glow, so i guess its a wait and see what happens now. thanks for the tips.

Mine have laid there second lot of Eggs this month. (The first lot disapeared after the wife got in the carpet cleaner to clean up after the tank cracked and flooded the room). So as i was going to replace the tank this weekend my plans have come unstuck (maybe touch wood). My guys are in a community tank, so far theres no white eggs and both parents seem to be doing a good job of keeping curious fish away as well as fanning the eggs. I'm not going to be able to seperate the eggs from the tank easily as the they have decided to lay on the main pipe out to the external filter. The other option is that i do have other tanks i can move fish around in (these are mainly gold fish) to depopulate the community tank. At this stage ANY advice is going to be great advice so if anyone can, advise away. Thanks.

Sorry, i've been very busy with a new baby and work over the last few weeks. Let me know the time etc and ill be there, i even think i can get another couple of people along.

Just got some fish sent down from Auckland, i got them sent via post haste as the promise next day delivery. The buggers charged me $25 per 5 kgs so my latest purchase ended up costing $90 for the fish and $75 for the freight :lol: Ps i did find out courier post will deliver through PACE COURIERS at a meazley $125 per box.