Need Help With Making Anti Parasitic Fish Food

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Splishyfishy

Splishyfishy

Registered Member
Mar 30, 2012
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In a dry desert which I hope to escape one day.
For a while now I've noticed one of my balloon belly mollies being way thinner than the others (when a balloon belly molly is not a balloon anymore, it's noticeable) and sometimes swimming oddly, hanging out/swimming at the top of the water, having cloudy eyes and body on and off. Also, the other mollies as well as the one molly often have thin stringy poo. This has gone on for so long, I don't think it could be a bacterial infection.

I tried API General Cure but it didn't seem to cure the stringy poo and made the clouding eyes worse and seemed to be harsh on all the fish, especially the guppies with them. I tried helping out the bacterial problems after with kanaplex and so far everybody seems to have gotten better yet they still sometimes have that stringy poo so I wanted to make up some medicated fish food since treating them externally didn't seem to help as much.

I've read about making some with Seachem's Focus, Garlic Guard and Metronidazole but I was wondering if I can use the API General Cure instead since I already have it. It says it contains Metronidazole and Praziquantel. I tried researching whether you could or not and only got one place saying not to mix Metronidazole with Praziquantel but if that's true then why do they sell medication with them together? Or are they just not good for making food with?

Also, has anyone used these Seachem products to make food? What are your methods for making it? Are fish flakes better to use than frozen food for guppies and mollies?
 
Byron Amazonas

Byron Amazonas

AC Members
Jul 22, 2013
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Pitt Meadows (within Greater Vancouver, BC) Canada
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Byron
There could be more at issue here than just food. What are your water parameters, meaning temperature, pH and GH (general hardness)?

Leaving that issue until we have the numbers, to the food. What foods have you been feeding regularly, and how much/often? There is nothing wrong with a good flake/pellet food so these should be your staple foods. Mollies being partly vegetarian need the veggie-based foods like spirulina/algae flakes included. I use the Omega One veggie flake and sinking disks as one of my main foods even for other fish.

If you are feeding a lot of frozen foods, particularly "worms" like bloodworms, this can be trouble. Once a week, or at most twice, is sufficient for any worms. They contain a lot of protein and fat, much more than fish need. For mollies this would be even more of a problem.

On another issue, water changes: how often, and how much of the tank volume? And what is the tank size, and how long has it been running?

I am not a microbiologist so I won't comment on the mix of drugs, but I can say that not all fish will react similarly to such things. It is wise not to feed any drug food unless it is needed for a specific issue. I am not convinced this is the case here, from what you've mentioned so far.

Sorry for so many questions, but we can't diagnose problems without all the facts. BTW, the "balloon" variety is malformed and often develops internal problems with the swim bladder and digestive system leading to premature death; there are many who feel that this practice should not be encouraged by purchasing this form of the molly.

Byron.
 
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