# Medication for white stringy poo in discus



## langer!

Hi guys, just wondering what
You guys suggest for white stringy poo in discus. I've tried octozin and it's not worked? Should I try a double dose as I've seen suggested elsewhere, just after alternatives. Thanks in advance 


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## Tim Harrison

Hope this helps...

http://www.nationalfishpharm.com/fish_diseases/fecal_disorders.html

The feces is long, white and stringy.  The feces contain elongated eggs with champagne-cork-like covers


Your fish are affected with Capillaria Worm Larvae

Treat with: Paracide-D.

The fish is bloated up, has a reduced appetite and also has clear to white feces

Your fish is affected with Hexamita.  Very common in Discus and African Cichlids.  This is referred to as "Malawi Bloat"

Make a medicated frozen food with Metronidazole. Use 1/4 tsp. per 4 oz. of food.  Feed to the fish once a day for 10 days. Or try treating the water with Parinox


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## Bhu

Metronidazole is what you need.  I've had this problem and it's a real worry. The discus will stop eating and hide and face the back of the tank. I ws at my wits end as no will sell it to you here in the UK. Vets insist on seeing the sick creature by statute before they will prescribe any. In the end I bought API called general cure which has metro in it. Had to purchase it from US and took 6 weeks to get here. I was so worried as my discus didn't eat all this time. It's a 3 day cure and it worked  I was so relieved. It's the brown one in my avatar  good luck I hope you find a cure...

For the record octozin and hexamita are rubbish they just don't do it for discus..

Edit it's called General Cure found it on amazon.


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## AverageWhiteBloke

I had the exact same problem but luckily my mates mother worked as a receptionist at a local vets and managed to convince him to let me have some on the strength I knew what I was talking about. 

If that stuff from the States works I would strongly advise Discus owners get some before they need it and keep some on stock. From back in my Discus days it seemed liked a quite commom occurence with the species. I think I remember turning up the heat a couple of degrees helps but is not a cure. 

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## langer!

Would this stuff be any good? http://www.seapets.co.uk/products/a...m-118ml.html?gclid=CNLwmq2QuMECFQjItAodXzcAwg

Or am I better off getting the api general cure shipped over? Thanks for your help 


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## Bhu

It's good to have in for other things but won't get rid of this flagellate. You defianately need something with the active ingredient metronidazole in. It's a strong antibiotic. Do you make your own food? If so there are some dog medicines that have it in that can be mixed in food which is the best way to treat them. Adding metro to the water is a bit hit and miss as it doesn't disovle well and fish don need to drink much. I was lucky as mine ws in a small grow up tank so didn't have to dose huge amounts. Noticed improvements on day 3 and never looked back... Hope it works for you!


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## langer!

How about this from ebay? 

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/191361718364

Thanks for all your help so far 


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## langer!

Also I don't make my own food? Would it be possible to mix in with the frozen food?? Do you know which dog medicines have it in? Sorry to be a pain.


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## Tim Harrison

I'm not sure but I think the active ingredient in octozin is Metronidazole. Though perhaps it's not of sufficient strength to cure your Discus. Maybe that's why double the dose for twice the duration is often recommended. Just a thought and obviously not a recommendation but perhaps worth researching nonetheless.


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## langer!

How about interpet no9?

http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/interpet-anti-internal-bacteria-no-9-p-2706.html

Sorry to be a pain but just trying to find something locally available, obviously if this won't work I'll get the api general cure, but would like to get this sorted before it get too bad!


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## sciencefiction

The best and also harmless for any species cure for hexamita I've found is explained in the below link and I've used it successfully myself.
It involves soaking/damping fish food in 3% magnesium sulphate(Epsom salt) solution and feeding the fish with it twice a day for 5 days. It's pretty damn easy 
3% solution can be achieved by dissolving a table spoon of magnesium sulphate in 500ml distilled water or even tap water. Then damp the food with the solution as much as it can take but without excess water and feed immediately. Please note that dumping the magnesium sulphate in the water column instead has no such effect.
The solution doesn't need to be refrigerated and one solution is more than enough for the entire treatment. So no need to make one each day. I make mine in a 500ml plastic bottle that has a dropper.

Do not increase temperature or fiddle with the tank in any other way. If it's hexamita, it can only be killed with temperatures above 34-35C, so unless your fish can handle that, there's no point.

I had a fish that was so far gone it already had a caved in belly and had lost balance and it not only got cured but fully recovered, although the recovery process took a few months. She was still eating though. Sometimes with hexamita they lose appetite and then the only option is to treat with meds such as metro or octozin in the water column. Octozin contains dimetridazole which is as effective as metronidazole but hexamita is best treated internally. I am not sure if the strength in octozin is enough. I have read myself some double the octozin dose for larger fish but the point is it's the same thing as metronidazole.

Here is the link explaining the treatment.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?339362-Treating-Hexamita-aka-Spironucleus

If this doesn't work, then your fish may have some other sort of internal parasites or worms and not spironucleus/hexamita.


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## langer!

Thank you so much for all your help!


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## Bhu

langer! said:


> How about this from ebay?
> 
> http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/191361718364
> 
> Thanks for all your help so far
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


That is the antibiotic. I haven't used that one. But should work ok. Sounds like the hexamita works if you can get your fish to eat it. I only dosed the tank as he wasn't eating at all. Also the octozin sounds success if you double dose which I didn't want to (or know to do this) so maybe these 2 methods can work for you. Is your discus eating? If not I'd try the metro. Disovle it first then dose the tank. Good luck hope you win the battle I was so relieved when mine suddenly after 6 weeks of non eating picked up and chose to live! Metro did it for me  most in the US are using it also.


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## langer!

Yeah I currently have 2 discus like it unfortunately, I'll try a few of the suggestions and let you know how it goes! Wish me luck 


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## Bhu

Are they eating? It's such a worry when they won't even eat and the rest are. It is contagious as its an intestinal worm and spreads. Defianately raise the heat as that helps, I took mine to 32'C but in my research some (in dedicated discus only tanks) went to 34'C which really helps them out. Would kill all your plants and most other fish mind you.


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## langer!

Yeah are still eating ATM, will have a with interpet no 9 and feeding Epsom salts, and will order that api general cure so if no change can use that ASAP 


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## Bhu

Good luck, I know how you must feel. I'm glad it's feeding. That's a good sign. Let us know how you get on.


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## langer!

So, soaked some frozen beef heart in magnesium sulphate solution for a few mins and then fed, and added 25ml of interpet no9 tonight. Will carry on feeding with soaked food and dose interpet no9 again on wed and see how it goes. Wish me luck! Thank you all for the help, it's really appreciated 


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## Bhu

So you use beef heart...

I think that you need to watch this...

 

Changed my ideas completely about what to feed my discus. 

If you watch it all he slowly leaks his secret recipe and it's amazing what he creates!


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## langer!

Hi, reviving an old thread, as I promised to let you know how things turned out I thought if give you an update, I tried soaking the food to little prevail, and then moved into the api general cure and as far as I know this seems to have solved the problem. By as far as I know I mean, I haven't actually seen them poo, but as I work 12 hours a day it's normally when things take a turn for the worse I notice as the stringy poo seems to take longer to pass and be more frequent.  So thanks for all your help everyone 


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## sciencefiction

Thanks for letting us know langer. The magnesium sulphate only works for hexamita/spironucleus sp. so if the meds worked, which I see contain praziquantel and metronidazole, then your fish may have had a parasitic or bacterial problem and not hexamita.


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