Metronidazole - anti protozoal

Hi Prof Bellstedt,

I would like to enquire regarding metro. I did some research on the med, and they advised that I soaked the med in water as it is not very water soluble in advance, then added it to the granules and left in the fridge until it was time to feed. ( I didnt give full breakfast or lunch so they were very hungry and ate all their food with the meds in.) the problem is I only gave one dose 1mg with normal feed (1 feed) and not sure if this was sufficient as they do advise not more than thrice. I have noticed that in their stools its not like white stringy poo, it is almost like spiderweb threads, not in all the discus, I was planning to deworm as I havent as yet, Should I deworm first or should I rather do another metro dose?? I have seven Juvenile discus. Could it be caused from their diet?
Your time and advice would be greatly appreciated.
Regards
Jane

 

Hi Jane,

Before I answer this, I need to know what you are feeding your fishes.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

goodluck jane...

i don't know about discus at all but when i dose with metronidazole i use a 400mg tablet to every 80litres and do soak some food and the meds too...and then i run a 7 day course and re-dose on day 3 and 6 with water changes....and it works...

i got two fish in hospital at the moment...one over ate(kadango) and the over is a bit soft and stress got to him(azureus)...they on day four and i see an visible improvement

i never shorten the course just because the fish look better....they must go the distance....

know this was directed at the prof (which i am not) so im willing to be wrong here but this is the method i learnt from @Altum and it works

goodluck

 

Hi dragon,

In the 23 years that I have kept discus, I have seen more discus killed by medication than by actual disease and it is for this reason why I asked what the feeding was that Jane had used.

Medication of discus should be the last consideration and you should plan for health and not for treatment of symptoms after disease. If you are treating your fishes repeatedly with Metronidazole there is a reason for the flagellate organisms getting the overhand and this is directly related to nutrition. That is also why I asked Jane this question.

dragon it is not clear from your message whether you are dosing african cichlids or discus. If you are dosing african cichlids you should not even compare them with discus as they are completely different.

If you get this problem repeatedly also in your african cichlids then it indicates that your diet has an acute shortage of vitamin C. The shortage of vitamin C in the diet limits the immune system in how it can attack the organisms and without the vitamin C in the diet you will get repeated infections. Then you should treat the cause and not the symptom. SO, what are YOU feeding? I actually think that you have a real problem.

I would still like to know what you are feeding Jane, because I am not convinced that your problem is in actual fact flagellates, I think that you may have a dietary problem that we can solve without medication. However, if you delay dealing with this you will lose fishes, as this is the nature of discus, respond to problems too late and you loose some.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Hello doc

i keep malawi's

i don't have a bloat problem my fish are very healthy, so there is NO ongoing or real problem...i aquire wild caughts often and the first part of their QT is metro...since i've done it this way i haven't lost fish again...

at the moment i have two fish that i'm treating since i aquired him and i know that stress got the better of one and greed the other...

i feed hbh veg flake and hbh cichlid attack(higher protein)

Doc, where or how can i boost the vitamin c in their diet? and thank you for the advise

 

Hi Dragon,

Ok, so this is Jane's thread on which she has asked a question about feeding discus and I do not want to get this confused.

Malawis are completely different fishes and as their requirements are radically different we should start a separate thread for this.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

ok and thank you

 

Hi Prof

Thank you for your advice, I did think it was their diet, they are aggressive eaters,they always seem hungry and everytime I walk past they're there, they are fed three times a day. I feed Tetra granulates, flakes and Brine shrimp.

 

Hi Jane,

You confirm my worst fears about what you are feeding. Please consult the feeding advice for discus on this subforum.

Feeding with what you tell us WILL lead to problems, there is no doubt about it. However, as I said before, I would not advise medication, I would advise that you change and improve the diet.

I assume that these are young and perhaps smaller discus and then you need to feed many more times than just three times per day. The more food you can get in when they are smaller, the bigger they will eventually grow. Small discus should be fed up to 10 times per day, which may be difficult if you are working, but certainly they should be fed more than three times per day.

I have received your PM to which I will reply later as I have lectures shortly again, but I would be glad if we could get your discus on a better diet.

Kind regards,

Dirk