internal parasites?

[mandown123]

I bought 3 chromis last week. everything was great and they got along famously... for a week.

the other night one of them was separated from the school hanging out by a rock on the bottom. he looked just freaked out a lil so i said okay no biggie. next day hes still doing that and then i noticed hes having lots of trouble swimming. later on in the day he lost the ability to swim right and was blowing around with the current.. i felt terrible but didnt have the heart to flush him alive. came back home from a game and he was gone, i think my clean up crew devoured him.

okay, nothing i couldve done i figured. now however, another chromis is acting in the same way he was. he is still eating but is down in the bottom corner of the tank looking generaly freaked out. the other chromis doenst seem to like him anymore and will chase him away if he goes near.

i see a small strand of white trailing out of his butt, is this a tell tale sign? its barely noticeable but i am watching him carefully to see whats visibily wrong if anything. no ick spots, no noticeable loss of color, just the weird behavior so far.

should i freshwater dip, QT and antibiodic, or just watch and wait.

[Kurt_Nelson]

Quarantine tank for sure. I'd do them both. (Doing them all for 4 weeks before putting into your main tank is a great way to keep nasties out of your main tank.)

White stringy poop is normally attributed to internal parasites. Antibiotics or a fw dip won't do anything for that. I'd probably watch and wait with them in a QT. Others with more experience in treating sick fish will probably have different/better ideas!

[Innovator]

Praziquantel for cestodes and Fenbendazole (Panacur) for nematodes. These are just two of the many reasons I disagree with watch and wait qt procedures.

[mandown123]

so what should i do? treat with both? is this contageous should i treat all my fish now? can i treat the main tank or move all to hospital?

[Innovator]

You treat for both in a separate qt. I'll give you recommended dosages later on tonight.

[mandown123]

thank you innovator. i am now scared for my other fish.. i messed up, eevryone says QT or itll catch up with you. do you think i need to remove my old fishys and hospital them too? also, will the tank hold these parasites in it, will i need to let it go empty for a while?

[mandown123]

P.S. i am at work, but one chromis looked pretty dang terrible last night i doubt he survived the night. just hoping he didnt spread it

[Innovator]

It can be spread when you consider that all fish indulge in coprophagia (consumes feces). I'll post more tonight and/or you can Google or Yahoo a search on the information I provided regarding the medications.

[melosu58]

I have some flakes at home James that are for internal parasites. I wonder if they have those two ingredients in them. I`ll check when I get home. Never had to use it yet.

[mandown123]

shoot maybe i should use those mel... can u throw them into the main tank with corals and inverts? I dont want to remove all my fish if i dont have to