Announcement

[Round Head]

In recent years our beloved FH has an increasing ailment that is still not clearly understood.
A few things we know about this disease is it can lead to a lost of weight and eventually death.
How do you know if your fish is suffering from this disease?
There are 2 absolute indicators for you to pinpoint this disease:
1. Signs of "THE LONG STRINGY WHITE POOP".
2. A total lost of interest in all forms of foods.
These two indicators must go together in order to confirm the symthom of hexamita.
If your fish has the white poop, it may be just the diet. Raw market shrimp/prawns sometimes will produce white stringy poop. So if your fish has the white poop and still retains his appetite, don't freak out; he's OK.
On the other hand if the fish does not have the white stringy poop but is not interested in food, it may just be poor water quality or something else you may need to look into.

What is Hexamita?
Hexamita is a flagellated protozoa that lives in the intestinal tract of the fish.
Not much is known about them but my theory is. They are ever present in the intestinal tract of fish very much like a certain strain of E. coli bacteria found in our own intestinal tract that helps our digestion. So in my opinion, Hexamita coexists with the fish and may benefit the fish's digestion system.
You may ask, how the hell is this possible that Hex can be good and bad at the same time?
Again my opinion and theory is this. Hex may be beneficial to aid digestion and nutrient absorbtion, an over population of hex will overwhelm the fish's intestinal tract. So the fish's immune system may be the key to control the hex population. Hex mostly occur due to poor water quality, a sudden change in water temperature, and a long haul shipment of the fish which are all stress inducing situation that would cause the fish's immune system to be weaken. Once the immune system is weaken, it can not keep the hex population in check. And like all simple cellular organisms, they multiple very quickly. The over-population of hexamita protozoa will cause irritation of the intestinal tract. Within days, the raw intestinal tract is shed and excretes out the fish's anus. Hence the product of "THE LONG STRINGY WHITE POOP".
Being in this condition with a sour stomach, the fish may try to eat but the food is causing more pain to the intestinal tract. This pain may cause the fish to totally avoid all forms of food.
There you have it. My personal opinion and theory of this dreadful disease.
Now how can we help our fish?
Again, this is my personal method and there may be other methods out there that you can also try.
I have to admit, my method hasn't failed me yet from treating all of the cichlids that I ever owned and raised.

This is my 10 day treatment for Hexamita:
1. Use a small hospital tank around 10gal.
2. Add a small sponge filter or just an air stone.
3. Raise the temp up to 90F or a little more.
4. Add half cup of salt per 10gal.
5. 1 capsule or 1/4 teaspoon of metronidazole, mix it with a small amount of acetone to create a slurry and dump it in the hospital tank. If you can find dimetronidazole, it is much better and don't require acetone.
6. Do 50% water change daily, dose metro daily, and replenish with 1/4 cup of salt daily. Make sure your water change is also 90F or a little hotter than the tank temp.
7. Treat for 5 days. Do not feed him during this treatment. But you can try to give him just one pellet on the 6th day if you like. If he eats, do not stop the treatment, just feed him very little from the 6th day to the 10th day.
8. On the 11th day do a 50% water change as always with the same temp of 90F or more but you will need to lower your heater back down to 82F or whatever temp you like to keep your fish. This will complete the treatment.
9. Once you are satified with the overall health of the fish, you can move him back into his home.

Some explainations:
. The usage of a small hospital tank is for the ease of water changes and a conservation of the expensive medication.
. The lack of filter or any filtration is because you are going to do a 50% water change without any feeding so the amonia level is very low.
. The demand of a high temperature is because metro is only affective at high temperature. Most heaters don't go to 90F or more but some do such as the Ebo Jagers and a few others.
. The use of salt is because salt will increase the osmotic pressure in the water which helps the absorbtion of metro through the gills of the fish. And it also sooths the slime coat.
. The use of a small amount of acetone is to dissolve metro in water since metro is insoluable in water; dimetro is water soluable so no need to use acetone with dimetro.
. DO NOT heat up your hospital tank before you introduce the fish!!! You should get your hospital tank ready and at the same temperature of the fish's environment. Then transfer the fish to the hospital tank and increase the temperature.

Best wishes to you and your pet and please provide any feed backs.

[Pantherlax]

Dr. Roundhead does it again!

[spyder]

RH what about the PH of the water? Most FH keepers keep the fish with a high PH but in a hospital tank this will fluctuate what do you think is the best way to transfer a ph from a high PH environment to the hospital tank?

[vittleking]

GREAT info Lane. You need to learn how to use the "Pin" function Broham!!

[Round Head]

RH what about the PH of the water? Most FH keepers keep the fish with a high PH but in a hospital tank this will fluctuate what do you think is the best way to transfer a ph from a high PH environment to the hospital tank?

Great question.
I think a small fluctuation in pH is not going to cause alot of problems.
Using the same household water won't cause too much of a drastic change.
But what you can do is this. Lets say you are using coral to buffer your water, you can use a filtration with coral in the holding tank to make your water changes. That way the pH will be very close.

One additional small piece of suggestion. Wipe the interior of the tank everyday because metro is a sugar base and that will create a bacteria bloom inside the tank.

Thanks Joe.

[jing2x87]

Hexamitiasis (Hexa)



Treatment A:

1. Transfer your fish to a 5 gallons hospital tank.

2. Put Furasan Furan 3 into tank. 1 sachet is equivalent to 4 dosage. Put 1 part into 5 gallons tank.

3. Daily water change of at least 20-25%.

4. if you have a heater, set it at 30-32 C degrees.

5. After 3 days, if you observed that your fish is eating already, still continue with the medication.

6. If the feces turns into it's original color, then it's time to reduce the dosage. Put Furan 3 every other day for at
least another week.

*** It's best to put your fish in a small tank because it will give more concentration of the medicine, plus you don't have
to use a lot of it.

Where to buy?

- Furassan Furan 3 is available in your nearest pet shop.


Treatment B:

1. If you're using an overhead filter (OHF), remove the carbon if there's any.

2. Do a 50% water change. Siphon your tank until it's half empty. Replace with 25% chlorinated water and 25% conditioned
water. (must be aerated for at least 48 hours and dosed with Sera Aquatan)

3. Dissolve the Metronidazole tablet/s in a cup of warm water. It works best when dissolved at a temperature of 32+ degree celsius . A cup with 50%-60% "cofee-hot" water plus 40%-50% tap water would be fine.

4. Let the tablet/s dissolve for 5-10 minutes. Afterwards, mix well.

5. Drop the Metronidazole solution in your tank. the required dosage would be 500 mg. per 10 gallons.

6. Repeat steps 2-5 after 48 hours. You'd need around 7-8 doses of Metronidazole. Usual treatment would be from 10-15
days. Observe the waste of your fish on a regular basis. If your fish shows improvement before 10-15 days, there's nothing
wrong in finishing the entire cycle. extend treatment if neccessary.

7. If you have a heater, set it at 30-32 degrees. Hexamita thrives in cold water. While the medication used to kill them
works best in warm water. For those with no heaters, don't worry. Its not absolutely neccessary to use one. Just be sure
to dissolve the Metronidazole in a warm water.

*** If you've got more time to treat your fish then you could apply the following protocol:

1. Again do steps 1 through 5.

2. After 24 hours, implement a 20-25% water change.

3. Drop your Metronidazole solution but this time at 250 mg. per 10 gallons. Repeat steps 2 and 3 everyday until the fish
recovers.


NOTE: from mypalhs.com

This post has been edited by jing2x87: Mar 26 2009, 07:12 PM

[FlowerhornNYC]

Thanks great info again Lane
Does adding salt make the PH drop???

[choyadgreat]

Thanks great info again Lane
Does adding salt make the PH drop???

I believe it makes the pH Higher bro... :-)

[FlowerhornNYC]

I believe it makes the pH Higher bro... :-)

Really Choy
I've recently noticed that my 150gal PH drop as low as 6.0 don't know why? Average is around 7.8 to 8.2 the only thing I've add is salt to it cause one of my fish have a pimple on the head. I usually do 50% water change weekly on all my tanks but PH drop only on this tank

[Round Head]

Really Choy
I've recently noticed that my 150gal PH drop as low as 6.0 don't know why? Average is around 7.8 to 8.2 the only thing I've add is salt to it cause one of my fish have a pimple on the head. I usually do 50% water change weekly on all my tanks but PH drop only on this tank

Sodium chloride is neutral. A saturated solution of sodium chloride is around 7.
So your tank shouldn't have a pH crash with the addition of salt.
Anything different between this tank and the other tanks?

[FlowerhornNYC]

Sodium chloride is neutral. A saturated solution of sodium chloride is around 7.
So your tank shouldn't have a pH crash with the addition of salt.
Anything different between this tank and the other tanks?

For this one I used a big (300gal) wet dry system, the other tanks I used canister & AC 110 filter. I just put the PH up to 8.5 since yesterday. I'll see what happen, this time I'm not putting any salt in the tank.

[Round Head]

What do you use to get the ph that high?

[dl88dl]

Great info

[bud]

Does anyone have apicture to show us what this poop looks like.May help us in the future

[Round Head]

Does anyone have apicture to show us what this poop looks like.May help us in the future

Looks like a clear noodle about the size of a tooth pick; usually an inch or so long but can be longer.

[sonpogi]

great info!

[Round Head]

Thanks for sharing your information jing.
Next time I will try your recommended treatments.
Not that I'm looking forward to treat my fish ( ) but I will most definitely study your meds and utilize them.

[khoa]

well day 7 on the treatmean
my fish doesnt want to eat
grrrrrrr, frustration and stress is killing me

[ajc1970]

5. 1 capsule or 1/4 teaspoon of metronidazole, mix it with a small amount of acetone to create a slurry and dump it in the hospital tank.

What's the purpose of the acetone? Is it a solubility issue?

I've found metronidazole but can't find dimetro. Other than my wife's fingernail polish remover (which concerns me... what else is in it besides acetone?), I'm not sure where to find acetone.

[ajc1970]

What's the purpose of the acetone? Is it a solubility issue?

I've found metronidazole but can't find dimetro. Other than my wife's fingernail polish remover (which concerns me... what else is in it besides acetone?), I'm not sure where to find acetone.

5. 1 capsule or 1/4 teaspoon of metronidazole, mix it with a small amount of acetone to create a slurry and dump it in the hospital tank. If you can find dimetronidazole, it is much better and don't require acetone.

. The use of a small amount of acetone is to dissolve metro in water since metro is insoluable in water; dimetro is water soluable so no need to use acetone with dimetro.

Question withdrawn... saw the find print at the bottom after-the-fact.