New Longnose Hawkfish not eating in QT

[FunWithFishes]

Yeah it's a real catch 22, since the only way to treat intestinal worms is food with medicine, but the symptom of intestinal worms is not eating...

Dosing the water column with medicine will most likely not do anything since it wouldn't get to the worms in enough dosage to do anything. Tube feeding would be very difficult on a small fish, made even harder by the long nosed hawkfishes.. long nose.

Your best bet is to hope that the garlic entices him. Otherwise there's sadly not much you can do.

 

[FunWithFishes]

Actually re-thinking, do not dose medicine directly into the water column if you used prazi. It should not be mixed with other meds. Metro with food and focus is okay since focus binds it to the food, but otherwise don't mix medications since you can never know how they will react with one another.

 

[lolmatt]

Metro and prazi are OK to dose together...that's what the api general cure is. I'd not mix anything else with the prazi.

Edit this is a lie, see humblefish's response below

 

[Humblefish]

Just to clarify, it's liquid Prazipro you have to be careful mixing with other meds. Prazipro contains Oxybispropanol and that is the culprit which can cause bacterial blooms when combined with other medications.

Powder praziquantel is no more or less dangerous to mix than any other med, but being it is not easily water soluable presents a certain challenge. I recommend pouring it into a brine shrimp net, partially submerge, and gently knead so fine particles drift out into the aquarium. Continue until all has been expressed into the water.

The above would be a wise course of action for dosing General Cure as well, IMO.

 

[lolmatt]

TIL. Thanks.

 

[Shadowbass]

It may just be coincidence as I would usually try to get fish to eat 1st before treating but after losing an angel and a lion that are commonly known to come in with parasites. I now immediately treat with prazipro as soon as they go into qt. Since I started doing that even difficult species like a flagfin angel, leopard wrasse, and black ribbon eel; I got to eat in just a few days. Ghost shrimp is a good idea and I would dose the prazipro.

seems alot of the reason many fish perish is internal parasites which would make sense with fish like moorish idols that finally start eating but keep losing weight

 

[lolmatt]

Yeah, I think prazi will be something I treat every fish now with, too. Assuming LNH does not make it, this will be my second loss to suspected internal parasites or other unknown thing that prazipro *may* have helped with. It's my understanding that prazipro is only marginally effective against internal parasites, though, so treating earlier may not have helped in this case. /shrug

 

[Humblefish]

It's my understanding that prazipro is only marginally effective against internal parasites, though, so treating earlier may not have helped in this case.

Greatly depends upon exactly which internal parasite the fish has.

 

[lion king]

More and more I think of it such a high percentage of fish comes in with parasites of some sort. It does no good to recommend mixing meds with food when a fish is not eating, and prazi pro does work for a number of parasites and has proved to be effective. After a pp treatment and if the fish developes an appetite, if you are still concerned you can then follow up with metroplex in food.

This is what just happened to me: I got a goldflake that wouldn't eat, I waited until he started eating to dose with prazi pro. Then when i went to use metroplex in food after he started eating it was too late. He had a pinched stomach one day, dead the next; this happened within 3.5 weeks. So I got a flagfin angel in not eating; I immediately dosed him with prazipro. He started eating by the 3rd day. I think pp works with mild infestations but may not work when it is more severe, so the sooner the better.

 

[lolmatt]

Just wanted to give you guys a little update...he did not care about the garlic food at all (just frozen mysis soaked in garlic guard). No change in his condition so far, other than looking thinner, stomach looking somewhat pinched today. Prazipro been in there for nearly 48 hours so if he had something external it should be providing some relief by now. I agree with you guys that it's probably just too little too late. Honestly I'm surprised he's lived this long without any food...he didn't eat from day 1, who knows how long he's been without food if he didn't eat at the LFS.

 

[FunWithFishes]

Sorry bud! I know it's always a painful experience to lose a fish (I've lost a fair few). But usually it's also a learning experience. Now you'll know the steps to take if this ever happens to another fish of yours. But like you said, if he hasnt eaten since day one, this problem may have existed long before you got him. My fingers are still crossed for your little guy.

 

[swensos]

I, personally, would dose the water with Metro, if it's not eating. Marine fish actually "drink" the water, unlike freshwater fish, because osmosis pulls moisture from their gills. So at least some will get to its digestive tract. Food is more targeted, but if it's not eating, the food just fouls the water. Follow the instructions and be careful not to overdose, because it's been linked to kidney failure in fish.

Unfortunately, by the time the fish has completely stopped eating, it gets precipitously worse.

 

[lolmatt]

Prazipro should be out of the water tomorrow afternoon (72h)...I'll change some of the water and dose with metro...can't hurt at this point I suppose.

 

[lolmatt]

Well the little guy is still kicking despite not having eaten a morsel for 12 days. I dosed the QT with slightly less than a level scoop of metroplex (I have ~9-9.5g in my 10g QT) since it has been roughly 72 hours since dosing with prazipro. I ran carbon for a short time today just to remove whatever pp could have been left, and did a decent water change. The vial says I should re-dose every 48 hours - can anyone confirm this is accurate? Do I need to run carbon between doses at all to remove any residual, or does this medication become inert on its own after 2 days?

 

[Humblefish]

The vial says I should re-dose every 48 hours - can anyone confirm this is accurate? Do I need to run carbon between doses at all to remove any residual, or does this medication become inert on its own after 2 days?

Yes, you can redose metronidazole every 48 hrs. No water change required beforehand.

 

[lolmatt]

Think it's worth picking up some api general cure so I can have praziquantel in there in tandem with the metronidazole? dang now that I think about it, that would probably have been a good option instead 3 days ago when I first dosed the prazipro...

 

[Humblefish]

Think it's worth picking up some api general cure so I can have praziquantel in there in tandem with the metronidazole? dang now that I think about it, that would probably have been a good option instead 3 days ago when I first dosed the prazipro...

It's safer to use API General Cure than mixing liquid Prazipro with metro. Prazipro contains Oxybispropanol which doesn't always play nice with other meds.

 

[lolmatt]

Little weekend update here...somehow this fish is still alive, officially hit the 2 week mark of no apparent eating. He was quite a bit more active today, dosed the 2nd round of metro, and he MAY have eaten a tiny sliver of mysis...I didn't SEE him eat it per-say, but he was active around where the food was, and I lost track of a chunk that his eyes were following...who knows.


He's been in this QT for 2 weeks and shown no other signs of illness aside from the lack of appetite. I'm planning on releasing him into the DT next weekend @ 3-week mark if he is still in the same state or better. Would anyone say this is a bad idea? Should I give it another week totaling 4?

 

[lion king]

Have you tried some live black worms. I like them to be at least nibbling on something. Once I've decided that a fish isn't carrying anything more serious I have released them into the dt in as little as 3 weeks. I've had a couple fish that may have been stressed in a smaller qt and just nibbling on food, once they went into the dt they really took off. Acclimating into captivity can help when the fish are with other fish so sometimes getting into the dt can be the best thing.

 

[lolmatt]

I have tried black worms but not in a while. I still have a little bit in a cup in the fridge (MAN those things last a long time!) so I'll try that today. I had the same thought regarding the other fish...hopefully he makes it to the weekend and maybe picks on a little food between now and then.