Help me please :( Angel not eating, water is perfect
- Thread starter bigmarc
- Start date
Are your ammonia and nitrite EXACTLY at zero?
I would go with what Davis and star_rider have said.
I would go with what Davis and star_rider have said.
Hex is commonly found in angels and discus, its supposed to be pretty hard to treat, even with metro. You can medicate your angel's food with metro, but I'm not sure if it'll do anything when he's not eating. Dose metro in the tank water and in his food. You can read more about hex here http://www.simplydiscus.com/library/disease_medications/internal/hexamitiasis2.shtml
I've never had it, but I've heard many tales of discus owners coming home to find their tanks infested with hex and even with treatment, unable to save their beloved fish.
Good luck to you and your angel.
I've never had it, but I've heard many tales of discus owners coming home to find their tanks infested with hex and even with treatment, unable to save their beloved fish.
Good luck to you and your angel.
I went to a very knowledgeable LFS this old guy who has been doing this his whole life. He said it is internal parasites and if hes not eating, theres nothing you can do. He said the only meds for internal parasites must be fed to them and if the fish isnt eating it will probably die. I asked him about giving him the meds with a dropper in my hand and he said that wont work, and you will wipe the protective slime off of him and he will get so stressed out. He basically told me to let nature take its course. The angel looks fine now, hes so beautiful. I just tried to feed him but he wouldnt eat. I guess its just a matter of time 
ok bigmarc buddy this is the thing and i am not calling your LFS person out hes an old timer and like all old timers there going to say let it take its course and usually right so, i am not a fish vet but i am a sergeant in law enforcement my dept is fish you can call me a game warden or fish police but i have been working in the fish dept local fish and fisheries enforcement and pet shop regulation for 12 years, i have been a hobbyist for 21+ years, if it is internal parasites you can hold a fish in hand while administer meds with a syringe if you squeeze hard than yeah your going to hurt the fish and the protective slime coat, sometimes you have to cause stress to actually help a fish, the drugs you need will more than likely be prescribed from a vet, if you have that service available to you in your area, if not than likely there will be nothing you can do about this and allow nature to take its course, yes it sucks but this is the hobby most pet shops and distributors look at fish as a profit and rarely taken into account that fish are living creatures, so yeah its tough and i have lost fish before that made me sad as well, like my frontosa they can live for 25 years thats a long time for a cichlid and would be sad to see them die such a short life, thats why i made the comment of med soup most hobbyist dump chemicals and meds in there tank when the slightest occurence happens and often so more harm is done when this occurs, those med flakes are not going to work if the fish will not eat than your at a loss on that issue, hence the forced fed route with the meds you can syringe, there are meds that say they will cure parasite by just adding to the water sometimes these work most of time they wont, but when you start to talk about high medical prices when it comes to a vet service with a fish most hobbyist will say have a good life fishy and buy another, i know crazy aye, but this is what happens aye, good luck my friend..
Some pointers to use Metro:
1. Tank temp needs to be around 30-32 degree centigrade for metro to work effectively. It does not work at lower temperatures
2. If you are using metrogyl in the liquid form you can dose the tank directly
3. If you are using metrogyl in the form of tablets, then understand that it does not dissolve easily in water. Use a cup of warm (not hot) water. Powder the tablets mix it in warm water and pour the warm water from the cup into the tank. One cup of warm water will not affect your tank's water temperature.
4. When you are using Metro, do not feed fish for the first 3 days of medication.
5. Use an air pump for heavily areating the tank, do not depend on surface agitation form power head as the current will weaken an already stressed fish.
6. Start feeding from the 4th day a little at a time.
7. WC 50% daily while replacing lost medication.
8. Concentration should be about 6-8 ppm in water.
Start treating when your fish do not eat for more than 2-3 days. If you wait any longer before treatment, then there are chances that your fish won’t make it.
This is from my experience using metro
Metro is used for protozoal infections, Fenbendazole is used for worms and parasites.
1. Tank temp needs to be around 30-32 degree centigrade for metro to work effectively. It does not work at lower temperatures
2. If you are using metrogyl in the liquid form you can dose the tank directly
3. If you are using metrogyl in the form of tablets, then understand that it does not dissolve easily in water. Use a cup of warm (not hot) water. Powder the tablets mix it in warm water and pour the warm water from the cup into the tank. One cup of warm water will not affect your tank's water temperature.
4. When you are using Metro, do not feed fish for the first 3 days of medication.
5. Use an air pump for heavily areating the tank, do not depend on surface agitation form power head as the current will weaken an already stressed fish.
6. Start feeding from the 4th day a little at a time.
7. WC 50% daily while replacing lost medication.
8. Concentration should be about 6-8 ppm in water.
Start treating when your fish do not eat for more than 2-3 days. If you wait any longer before treatment, then there are chances that your fish won’t make it.
This is from my experience using metro
Metro is used for protozoal infections, Fenbendazole is used for worms and parasites.
bigmarc
lets stop with all this medicine with everything you are using it can do more harm than good.
use a lot of carbon get clean his water. then add some salt to the clean water.almost all parasites and bacteria that live in fresh water can not tolerate even a little salt. In all my years in this hobby I have never had any thing in my tanks that could not be cured with clean water and salt.
now get some live brine shrimp and some garlic treated fish food and see if we can get him to eat.
you said it your self that if he doesn't eat he's going to die.
Fish have incredible healing power if you can get him to eat you will see him get better very quickly.
lets stop with all this medicine with everything you are using it can do more harm than good.
use a lot of carbon get clean his water. then add some salt to the clean water.almost all parasites and bacteria that live in fresh water can not tolerate even a little salt. In all my years in this hobby I have never had any thing in my tanks that could not be cured with clean water and salt.
now get some live brine shrimp and some garlic treated fish food and see if we can get him to eat.
you said it your self that if he doesn't eat he's going to die.
Fish have incredible healing power if you can get him to eat you will see him get better very quickly.
I agree with Draal remove existing meds and rethink treatment.
do a large water change.
I do not think the salt will be effective on internal parasites.. they have the fishes body as a buffer from changes in salinity of the water by adding salt.
while salt is an effective treatment and may indeed wipe out the off spring of the parasite. the adult is protected by the host when it is in the digestive tract of the fish.
two meds effective for the treatment of nematode parasitic round worms like caplillaria is also effective on camallanus .
both of these parasites are known parasites affecting angel fish.
these two meds are Fenbendazole which must be used in the food to be effective and Levamisole hcl which can be administered as a bath.
do a large water change.
I do not think the salt will be effective on internal parasites.. they have the fishes body as a buffer from changes in salinity of the water by adding salt.
while salt is an effective treatment and may indeed wipe out the off spring of the parasite. the adult is protected by the host when it is in the digestive tract of the fish.
two meds effective for the treatment of nematode parasitic round worms like caplillaria is also effective on camallanus .
both of these parasites are known parasites affecting angel fish.
these two meds are Fenbendazole which must be used in the food to be effective and Levamisole hcl which can be administered as a bath.
