Using Clout in my African cichlid tank

[cocoloco]

Can I treat my main tank and all of the cichlids in it with Clout? I am positive that all of them have been infected with an internal parasite. I had a Red Zebra die a couple of weeks ago in the tank. All of the other fish are now acting the same as that one did.

Some are not eating at all, and others are definately not eating as they were before. They all now have the clear like feces. And about 1/2 of them seem bloated.

This is a 40gallon assorted African cichlid tank with no other fish.

A total of 8 fish, all under 2.5 inches. All of the water parameters are ok, and I do a at least a 20% water change weekly.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much..

Andrea

 

[JSchmidt]

Andrea, I would only use Clout as a last resort. It is very strong and you will likely lose some fish within 24 hours of adding Clout.

When your fish have bloat, the first thing to examine is diet and maintenance. You mention your water levels are alright, but I'm concerned that 8 cichlids in a 40 sounds pretty heavily stocked, esp. if you're doing only 20% weekly water changes.

What do you feed the fish and how often? This is the biggest cause of bloat, IME. Because of this, the first thing I'd do when bloat is spotted is to put my fish on a 4 or 5 day fast, with 30-50% daily water changes. Then, I'd introduce low-fat, low-protein foods slowly (ideally, fresh veggies like zuchinni) first.

If your fish are showing bloat, they're very sick and you're likely to lose many of them. A powerful med like Clout may hasten that...

Good luck,
Jim

 

[Raf]

I hate Clout.....for internal parasites, I use Metronidazole.

 

[cocoloco]

Metronidazole

Where can I find the Metronidazole?

I feed them Tetra tropical fish flakes. I was feeding them twice a day, because that is what someone told me to do so that they grow faster. I do place dried seaweed in the tank with a vegie. clip about once every two or three days. I cut back to feeding them once a day just in the past 2 days. I am sure that I have been over feeding them. Should I be feeding them something else?

Zuchinni, how often, just raw? What else? I am going to immediately begin daily water changes. Thank you very much guys. I appreciate it.

Andrea

 

[Raf]

Hex-a-Mit has Metro in it...so does a Seachem product...i think they just call it Metronidazole powder...it is also a human drug and used on many animals...so a trip to your vet or doctor may land you some at a much cheaper cost.

 

[JSchmidt]

Zuchinni can be raw or blanched (boiled just 60 seconds). Either way is OK.

You have to be careful with things that generically call themselves cichlid food (e.g., Cichlid Flakes). There are lots of different cichlids with widely varying nutritional needs. Mbuna and other herbivorous cichlids have widely different nutritional needs from carnivorous cichlids.

If you have suspicions of bloat, a 4-5 day fast is really helpful; a couple days won't be enough to clear their guts, assuming there is no significant internal bacterial infection. Give the a week or so without food. They'll probably tolerate that better than strong meds.

Jim

 

[Tiger15]

Do you know that Clout is a mix of two ingredients, Metronidazole and Malachite Green. The first one is a medication for internal parasites and the second one is for external parasite. Treating the entire tank with any medication is always hazardous to the healthy fish. If you have a hospital tank, you can take out all the sick fish and treat with Clout or Metronidazole. For the healthy fish in the tank that are still eating, the best preventive medication is to soak pellet food with Clout or Metronidazole and feed to the fish. Metrondidasole works better if it is ingested than bathing with the medication.