internal parasites - AGAIN

[SeymourFRESH]

last week i purchased my final 2 african cichlids at my LFS, thus completing the stocking of my 55 gallon. i tried to examine them at the store and pick out the healthiest looking ones. but unfortunately, i failed to realize that they had sunken bellies when i bought them, and when i got home, i also realized that my other africans seemed to have sunken bellies too.

since i realized this i have been treating with metro+ (an aquarium solutions product with metronidazole as its main ingredient). it is a 55 gallon, and the only fish with any symptoms are my cichlids. i have also made up my own food with metro+ mixed in with it and have been feeding nothing but that.

it just frustrates me because i have been battling internal parasites ever since i've started this hobby. i don't know if they're coming from the store i buy my fish from or if they've been in my tank this entire time, but hopefully treating the entire tank will make a difference

my water parameters are all normal (ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 10). how can i stop this once and for all?? i have read numerous posts on here about ich, popeye, and premature demise, but not too many about internal parasites. has anyone had this big of a problem with internal parasites before? i would really be happy if i could finally conquer this problem and not have to deal with them ever again. any advice would be appreciated

 

[Apocalypse_Gold]

There are several things that can lead to the sunken bellies. Internal parasites is one, but there are many internal parasites. Another is bacterial infections like TB. One way to isolate the cause is to place a dying fish in a small container and place it in the fridge (not freezer) until the fish dies. If you have worms, they will flee like rats abandoning a sinking ship. Many parasties like camallanus will also cause inflamation of the anus. They also like to "hang out" -literally. Levamisole is the treatment of choice for cammalanus if you can find it (try farm or veterinary supply stores). I've had good success with medicated food (jungle or gel-tek). What other fish do you have in this tank?

 

[SeymourFRESH]

geez, do you really think i could have fish TB? my fish do not seem like they are dying, in fact all are acting quite normal, except for these symptoms. i have not seen them poo, which is rather quite strange as well.

as far as inflamation of the anus, i have not noticed any fish showing signs of that, but i'm not sure if i can really tell or not lol

as far as other fish in my tank i have clown loaches and synodontis cats, as well as a red tailed shark and orange bristle nose pleco

 

[Apocalypse_Gold]

It is unlikely that all your fish would have TB, and is impossible to diagnose without doing a post-mortem. Remove any fish that seem to be on their way out as cannibalism is the major way TB is spread.

If it is parasites (more likely) and you have been giving them medicated food and you still have parasites, I would blame your pleco. If he doesn't eat the medicated food he will continue to re-infect the other inhabitants. I couldn't eliminate it until I added the gel-tek stuff to some algae wafers for my pleco (imagine an 8" pleco producing 3 feet of stingy poo every night-what a mess) while feeding the jungle food to the others.

I feed all newcomers medicated foods while in qt. I haven't had many problem since I started that.

 

[plecoperson]

Levamisole is the treatment of choice for cammalanus if you can find it (try farm or veterinary supply stores).

This worked very, very well for me on the internal parasites my fish had. You can get it at Valley Vet Supply online if you can't find it locally--