# Meds toxic to otocinclus



## spleenharvester (29 Apr 2021)

I've got some kind of bacterial or parasitic infection spreading amongst my guppies. Stringy white poop and unstable swimming. One was symptomatic for two months before worsening (I know, I believed he had constipation at the time - silly mistake). By the time I realised it was actually an infection it was too late, he passed a few days into anti-parasite and anti-bacterial treatment.

I've now got a second one that has just started displaying symptoms. Caught much earlier so I am hoping he will survive. I've isolated him for anti-parasite treatment but I'm aware you really need to deworm the whole tank. The problem is I've also got 14 otocinclus and 7 kuhli loaches in there, and given otocinclus' reputation for dropping dead out of nowhere I'm a bit wary of doing this.

I'm aware otocinclus are often dewormed on arrival though - does anyone know what medication is usually used for this? I've got many at my disposal (flubendazole, cupramine, formaldehyde/copper sulfate and many others) so hopefully something in my collection would work, I just don't want to dose something deadly if I can help it.

Thanks in advance!


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## zozo (30 Apr 2021)

spleenharvester said:


> given otocinclus' reputation for dropping dead out of nowhere I'm a bit wary of doing this.



This is true and I guess this statement could make people cautious of giving any advice with a guarantee... 

Personally, I have very positive experiences with FlukeSolve also on Otocinclus.








						Specialists Fish Treatments & Medicines | Fish Treatment Ltd
					

The specialist fish treatments company set up by veterinarian Dr Fiona Macdonald to develop and supply fish medicines. Fluke-Solve™ and Lice-Solve™.




					www.fish-treatment.co.uk
				




It's a very effective but mild Praziquantel based dewormer in powder form that can be used for long term treatments. I contacted Fisch Treatment ltd with my problem and they were very helpful asking lots of details about fish and tank I was advised to treat the tank with the recommended dosage fluke solve and leave this in for 14 days and then perform a water change.  All infected fish cured and everything else in the tank from fish, shrimps to snails never showed any negative effect.

I would say drop them a message and give them tank dimensions, fish species etc and symptoms and worries. In my case, I received a very swiftly reply within 24 hours from Dr Fiona personally. Not sure about weekends tho, it's Friday...


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## spleenharvester (30 Apr 2021)

zozo said:


> This is true and I guess this statement could make people cautious of giving any advice with a guarantee...
> 
> Personally, I have very positive experiences with FlukeSolve also on Otocinclus.
> 
> ...



Cheers for the reply  Last night I decided to take a risk and treat the tank with flubendazole, on the basis that this was recommended in passing as an otocinclus de-wormer on WetWebMedia, so I suspect it's probably safe. So far no signs of distress from either O. vittatus or O. macrospilus, nor from any other fish in the tank. I'll update progress in a week's time in the name of science so that others know whether this is safe.

Also moved the sick guppy to a bucket and hit it with flubendazole and an anti-internal bacteria treatment. So far it seems less stressed, the dark stress patches on its body have gone pale again. I've attached a picture of the original deceased guppy's questionable poop if anyone is curious.


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## Majsa (30 Apr 2021)

Hope your guppy gets better! I’ve used flubendazole in a tank with CPD fry (When to worry?) and later also in a tank with otocinclus without any ill effects. I believe it’s generally gentle for fish, but absolutely toxic to snails.


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## spleenharvester (2 May 2021)

Thanks all - no signs of distress in main tank still so flubendazole does seem to be oto-safe. Sick guppy has now developed yellow patches on his head though (apologies for rubbish pics). Could this be a medication side effect or something more sinister?

Edit - found an old pic, he's always had a lil bit of yellow so it might be normal


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## spleenharvester (6 May 2021)

Pleased to report that after a week of being hammered with flubendazole this guppy has gotten much better, finally passing solid waste again and looking much perkier. I believe it may have been a capillaria infection based on this video, and supposedly flubendazole is 99% effective against capillaria at least in chickens, so it's entirely possible that is why it worked.


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## spleenharvester (17 May 2021)

Hi everyone, want to pick your brains again as I'm still not rid of this. The "cured" guppy suddenly died a week later, I didn't see any evidence of worms but he became very bloated in a short space of time. Unsure if it was from being hammered from medication or if the damage was already done from the infection.

I dosed the whole tank with flubendazole several times for a week as a precaution. Unfortunately I've now got a third guppy _possibly _symptomatic - white looking poop but not quite as suspect as the other two. I've now dosed the tank again. Unsure if there's any point isolating him as it didn't make a damn bit of difference the last few times, I feel like there are probably eggs in the tank somewhere.

What would you all do?


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## spleenharvester (22 May 2021)

Apologies for the bumping, but unfortunately guppy #3 has died, this time tried flubendazole for a few days followed by praziquantel for a few days when it arrived. I'd also tried raising to 28*C at the recommendation of others in the hopes that it could possibly kill the parasite. Really bothered now, I feel like I'm going to wind up losing all my livestock. It's odd that it's only affecting the guppies too, not anything else in there.

A lot of egg-like things under the microscope when looking at the white stringy poop at 320X, but no obvious signs of tapeworms etc.


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## spleenharvester (1 Jun 2021)

Apologies for bumping again. I've lost 6 guppies now, of 5 remaining two are sick. I'm considering euthanising the remaining guppies and selling the tank, because so far this has a 100% fatality rate and I'm running out of options.

Since the previous posts I've tried praziquantel, levamisole, flubendazole individually and also all three simultaneously. Either I have a severely drug-resistant parasite or it's a different type of pathogen. Problem is if it's bacteria I am basically screwed without antibiotics. I've tried an internal bacteria treatment already, but if anyone has any medications to recommend, please let me know.

It's still odd that it only appears to be affecting the guppies. Neither the bettas, nor the tetras, nor the loaches are sick. I've had a lot of otocinclus deaths but they are probably unrelated, because they are... well, otocinclus.

Below is a picture of the most recently deceased guppy. Red streaking and bloating on the abdomen. Is this any kind of clue or just general septicaemia?



Spoiler


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