Quick! Need advise on internal parasites

König Löwe · Post by **König Löwe** » 21 May 2003, 21:26

Today i found one of my LDA-33 dead with a very bloated stomach, and my Parancistrus auranticaus seems to have the same problem. My regular Ancistrus allso seems to have the problem. What should i do? What kind of drug can i use? Bear in mind that the only aquarium type fish-drugs i get around here are the ones produced by Tetra.

Please help!

Plec0maniac · Post by **Plec0maniac** » 22 May 2003, 06:20

u sure its bloat? wat type of foods have u been feeding them?

Try to raise the temp to 32c to make there digestion faster, stop feeding them for a while, and as for me, I use chloromycetin, this is a drug for people, and this is very effective in my experience

König Löwe · Post by **König Löwe** » 22 May 2003, 06:25

I feel very sure they have som parastie. I've had the LDA-33 for more than six months, without much change in feeding habits.

What is chloromycetin for? digestion or parasites? Where can i buy it? How much does it cost?

DeLBoD · Post by **DeLBoD** » 22 May 2003, 06:40

CHLORAMPHENICOL-also known as chloromycetin, enicol, levomycetin, sintomycin, chlorocid, detreomycin, paraxin, chloronitrin, kemicetine, mychel, amphicol, farmetitina, tevocin, intramycetin, synthomycin and kamycetin. A broad-spectrum antibiotic. It is active against a wide spectrum of gram-negative and gram-positive organisms such as Escherichia coli, Moraxella lacunata, staphylococci including S. aureus, streptococci including S. pneumoniae and S. hemolyticus, Proteus, Neisseria, and Klebsiella/Enterobacter spp. In vitro, chloramphenicol is active against the lymphogranuloma psittacosis group and Vibrio cholerae. Susceptible are several anaerobes, such as Bacteroides fragilis, as well as Rickettsia and Chlamydia spp. Of special note is the efficacy against many Salmonella including S. typhi, Hemophilus influenzae and the resistance of most strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Plec0maniac · Post by **Plec0maniac** » 22 May 2003, 06:45

thnx for the info

delbod

dude just try to water change every other day, find antibiotics from ur local lfs about internal paracites. Raise ur temp.. try to find my med, from local drugstores.. And hope that ur plecs will do fine

gudluck!

DeLBoD · Post by **DeLBoD** » 22 May 2003, 07:17

KÃ¶nig LÃ¶we. You said Tetra was the only avalable medication where you are, try looking for Anti-Parasite Medicated flakes, apparently there very good for internal bacteria problems .

Good Luck.

König Löwe · Post by **König Löwe** » 22 May 2003, 13:37

No chance of me getting hold of that medicated food, the mostly sell the staple food here.

So is it safe to use this Chloramphenicol? What dosages should i use?

Plec0maniac · Post by **Plec0maniac** » 22 May 2003, 13:43

i use 3 500mg in a 200liter tank..

DeLBoD · Post by **DeLBoD** » 22 May 2003, 13:52

Just a thought ,is Chloramphenicol going to knock the Bio filters out ?.

Plec0maniac · Post by **Plec0maniac** » 22 May 2003, 14:12

im not sure cuz im more on mechanical filtration rather than biological... I tend to change the filter media every week rather than wash them. Im talking bout the white cotton like media in the overhead filter. But i was my sponges with old water so that the old bacteria wont be gone

König Löwe · Post by **König Löwe** » 23 May 2003, 06:20

When i got home from school yesterday, the Parancistrus aurantiacus was dead.

DeLBoD · Post by **DeLBoD** » 23 May 2003, 08:48

Sorry to hear that ..

Plec0maniac · Post by **Plec0maniac** » 23 May 2003, 12:23

sorry to hear that my friend.. This willl serve as an experience to u.. Sheer up and gudluck next tym on

edward · Post by **edward** » 23 May 2003, 13:51

all

Thought I may add a footnote to this thread. It seems one of the few occasions when my proffesional knowledge will be of use with fish keeping.

The situation in the UK is that chloramphenicol (the generic name; it is available as a number of trade names) is only available with a doctor (or vetinary) prescription. I should imagine that this situation is simular within the European economic area, and possibly in the US.

In the UK chloramphenicol is seen mostly as eye drops at 0.5% w/v strength, although I am not sure of its utility with fish as the formulation contains lots of other products such as preservatives etc.

capsules and injections are also available, but again hardly appropriate as a dosage form for fish!!!

You would probably need to visit the vet to gain access to this kind of meds in the UK.

hope this is of some help

Post by **Barbie** » 23 May 2003, 17:20

When did you add the most recent addition to the tank? That sounds very much like a problem that I had with a shipment of fish I received a year ago. I lost fish in4 different tanks before I realized how big of a problem it was. I hadn't ordered any plecos, so none of the new fish died, but I lost some I was very attached to in other tanks, just from contamination with the python.

The only fish I successfully treated for it, weren't bloated yet, just off their feed, and I used flagyl (metronidizole) at a strength of 400mg/10 US gallons, added after a daily 50% water change, with water at a temperature of 86 F. or above for the fish that could tolerate it. I treated for 5 days, then 3 days off treatment, then another 5 days, if the fish didn't start eating well. Juvenile S. petricola also can be susceptible to it, from what I've seen, and heard from fellow aquarists.

I haven't had access to a vet that could do a post mortem for me, but if I encounter the problem again, I'm definitely going to try that. I'm not actually sure if the problem is protozoal, or bacterial, and the flagyl will require a prescription from a vet, or even from your family doctor, if you are on good terms.

Chloramphenicol used to be fairly easy to obtain from vets in the US, but in the last 10 years or so, it's been mostly phased out. I worked as a vet tech for a clinic that still had some, but the vets that worked there never prescribed any in the time I worked there. You'll definitely need a prescription to get your hands on any, if you can find it.

Sorry this information is so late in the thread.

Barbie

König Löwe · Post by **König Löwe** » 23 May 2003, 17:57

The now dead Parancistrus was my latest addition, apx. three weeks ago.

TKP · Post by **TKP** » 24 May 2003, 15:35

It is too bad to hear that your Parancistrus aurantiacus was dead

. if next time your fishs have the same problem, you can try waterlife---Octozin.

L.Z · Post by **L.Z** » 25 May 2003, 11:11

England's waterlife---Octozin is good drugs.