1 of my tanks got struck with some hell of an internal parasite. Fish are fine until... I first found out when my Gourami had an ALIEN come out his stomach, like the movie. I have tried to identify which parasite, but can't get answers anywhere...
So I tried chloramphenicol to help the tank mates left, deal with any problems & all seemed fine until my tetras developed little black spots in their tails at random places.
The tank features 5 Sterbai, 1 baby bristlenose, 2 golden barbs, 14 tetras & HAD 2 (now 1) Gourami...
At the stage when I lost one of my Sterbai (about a month later) I really got cranky. I could see that this thing wasn't going. I'd already being trying Pimafix & Salt treatments & neither had caught the bug. Desperation crept in "what if they all go 1 by 1??"
Somewhere I found a reference to Piperazine, working in pharmaceuticals I could obtain it cleanly, so;
I didn't want to kill my fish- priority
Killing bug - second priority
Research found the dosages considered acceptable for human consumption (& the drugs containing it) & you might think i'm mad, but I tried it myself...
Being well aware of the highs & lows (& the fact that Piperazine is sold as a fake exstacy) I then proceeded on a mostly horrible journey. Piperazine does give a high, but what I was studying was the end of the ride. The side affects to humans are; extreme headaches, limbs shaking, inability to control body temperature, temporary sterility & more...
See you might think i'm mad, but i'd prefer to test on me than my fish...
Safety evaluation done I then proceeded- I based my dosage on the affects to my tetras & quite simply on the look in the eyes of my fish.
I added very slowly until I basically saw their little eyes open in a suprised look -dilated pupils!?!?
I believe from my research that, this is the only accurate way of obtaining a safe dose appropriate to tank size, is to monitor your most fragile fish & their reactions.
So I watched them look surprised from their reaction & then within ten minutes I watched them start pooing out LARGE worms for the size of the tetras. The things that came out were basically a tape worm (& piperazine is sold as a dog & cat allwormer) the tetras pooed them out & the bristlenose (who was not apparently sick) pooed out a worm as long as he was...
I left the tank as was for 24 hours & then did a 75% water change (adding water from my other tank to help biological filter). The fish did not suffer from the experience & had obviously cleared out a lot... The meds did affect the tetras but I noticed absolutely no reaction from the Sterbai or the barbs & the bristlenose only reacted in what he passed, but also seemed unaffected by the experience overall.
The affects to my Biological filter were inconsequential... Even the bloodworms in the strata were fine for the experience.
I did manage to kill the bug & I am reserving that method as a desperate measure for the future- but I thought I may as well share what I had found
I would not recommend this treatment to anyone who wants to breed their fish, as the sterility affects in fish could be more than temporary.
