Not sure what is wrong with my clown.

Orcus Varuna · Feb 5, 2017

Thanks guys and @abbas.jaffer5 see above.

abbas.jaffer5 · Feb 5, 2017

Thanks guys for the help will keep all of you updated

melypr1985 · Feb 5, 2017

Boy. I'm sure late to this party. Sorry guys.. had to work. Looks like Humble had you covered though!

Humblefish · Feb 6, 2017

melypr1985 said:
Boy. I'm sure late to this party. Sorry guys.. had to work. Looks like Humble had you covered though!

I think my online habits have unknowingly synced up with your work schedule lol

melypr1985 · Feb 6, 2017

Humblefish said:
I think my online habits have unknowingly synced up with your work schedule lol

That's pretty lucky!

Orcus Varuna · Feb 6, 2017

melypr1985 said:
That's pretty lucky!

@Humblefish & @melpyr1985 thoughts on infusing food with mag sulfate. I know this study was done on trout but interesting as a possible treatment none the less. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4502860/

Orcus Varuna · Feb 6, 2017

Since my fish is coping well with the parasite. I figured he would be a fantastic test for this treatment since I'm not worried about him dropping dead tomorrow.

Humblefish · Feb 6, 2017

@Orcus Varuna That would be an interesting experiment to try. You would just need to fully dissolve the magnesium sulphate before mixing in his food.

Here is also a recipe (Table 1) for gelatinized food, which can be used to deliver oral medication (or in your case Epsom salt): http://articles.extension.org/sites...gement_of_hexamita_in_ornamental_cichlids.pdf

Humblefish · Feb 6, 2017

@melypr1985 @Brew12 If nothing else, I believe @Orcus Varuna has discovered a new option to help relieve constipated fish: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4502860/

Brew12 · Feb 6, 2017

Humblefish said:
@melypr1985 @Brew12 If nothing else, I believe @Orcus Varuna has discovered a new option to help relieve constipated fish: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4502860/

Epsom salt? Isn't that interesting!
I wonder if it would have the same impact on marine parasites. Treat popeye and parasites at the same time!

Humblefish · Feb 6, 2017

Brew12 said:
Epsom salt? Isn't that interesting!
I wonder if it would have the same impact on marine parasites. Treat popeye and parasites at the same time!

I can see how Epsom salt would "flush the parasites out", but they would then be in the water column to infect another fish. Metro supposedly kills them inside the intestines and then the fish poops them out.

melypr1985 · Feb 6, 2017

Humblefish said:
I can see how Epsom salt would "flush the parasites out", but they would then be in the water column to infect another fish. Metro supposedly kills them inside the intestines and then the fish poops them out.

Which could be useful if the infected fish is alone in the QT and moved do another, sterile QT right after. Though I think metro would still be needed to be fed. The likelihood of flushing all the parasites in one go is pretty low wouldn't you think?

Humblefish · Feb 6, 2017

melypr1985 said:
Which could be useful if the infected fish is alone in the QT and moved do another, sterile QT right after. Though I think metro would still be needed to be fed. The likelihood of flushing all the parasites in one go is pretty low wouldn't you think?

Yes, you'd have to transfer the fish every time you saw him take a white crap. And what about nighttime?? You'd have to use night lens on your phone to video him and have an alarm go off every time white poo is "seen" in the water. Is there an app for that?!

Orcus Varuna · Feb 6, 2017

Sorry for not responding work got the best of me today....

Due to the concerns raised over Epsom salt flushing out live parasites, my new plan is to treat him after I move in 2 weeks. I am coincidentally using this move to set up a larger tank, which is going to have a refugium that I can completely drain into a micron filter. I am confident this should catch any parasites he poops out. Thus I will isolate him there and feed him a mix of Epsom salt infused food and NLS Hex Shield. The fish is a pig so I'm quite sure I can get plenty of both foods in his system at a time.

What are your thoughts on a pretreatment with metro prior to performing the Epsom salt cleanse? If you think I should pretreat any reccomendations on duration would be helpful. Finally, will any store bought Epsom salt work or is there a specific brand I should buy? Thank you for all of your help @Humblefish @melpyr1985 @Brew12

Orcus Varuna · Feb 6, 2017

Wait are you guys saying the fish runs the risk of pooping out live parasites and reinfecting it's self of not removed after every poop? If so then a separate qt would be required [emoji848]I wonder would copper kill these parasites once they were free floating? [emoji90]

melypr1985 · Feb 6, 2017

Orcus Varuna said:
What are your thoughts on a pretreatment with metro prior to performing the Epsom salt cleanse? If you think I should pretreat any reccomendations on duration would be helpful. Finally, will any store bought Epsom salt work or is there a specific brand I should buy?

You can use the pure epsom salt from the pharmacy portion of the store. You don't want any that has dyes or fragrance added to it.

Orcus Varuna said:
Wait are you guys saying the fish runs the risk of pooping out live parasites and reinfecting it's self of not removed after every poop? If so then a separate qt would be required

I wonder would copper kill these parasites once they were free floating?

I'm not sure copper would kill them. It doesn't kill things like flukes, so if it killed some it probably wouldn't kill all. I think the safest thing to do is to just feed with metroplex and focus (or hexsheild if that contains metroplex) and kill the parasite in the gut before it get's pooped out. It doesn't seem feasible to flush live ones from the fish only to have them or another fish eat them again.

You would plan to feed them once a day for a minimum of 10 days but probably more like 2 or even 3 weeks since some of these intestinal parasites can be stubborn.

Orcus Varuna · Feb 6, 2017

melypr1985 said:
You can use the pure epsom salt from the pharmacy portion of the store. You don't want any that has dyes or fragrance added to it.

I'm not sure copper would kill them. It doesn't kill things like flukes, so if it killed some it probably wouldn't kill all. I think the safest thing to do is to just feed with metroplex and focus (or hexsheild if that contains metroplex) and kill the parasite in the gut before it get's pooped out. It doesn't seem feasible to flush live ones from the fish only to have them or another fish eat them again.

You would plan to feed them once a day for a minimum of 10 days but probably more like 2 or even 3 weeks since some of these intestinal parasites can be stubborn.

Okay will do! And yes NLS Hex shield's active ingredient is metronidazole. I have used it on my cichlids I have at work for years, the best thing about it is they would never eat food infused with metroplex but readily eat the Hex shield. I brought it home today and just fed it to my tank. All fishes readily ate it (2 clowns, clown goby, six line, algae blenny & chromis veridis). Also, see below for a picture of the ingredients, who would of known but it already is infused with magnesium sulfate....