13 replies to this topic

[Den]

The main purpose of this post is to ask the committee if they can do something to really highlight this horrible disease because there are a lot of sick and dying fish out there and the majority of people don't even realise they have hexamita in their tanks.

 

Since Ive become more alert at noticing Hexamita Ive been seeing over the past several years that the majority of people I encounter keeping "natural" cichlids have hexamita in their tanks, in fact the last 6 hobbyists I have met in the past 3-4 weeks keeping south americans all had hex in their tanks. Its a problem especially people who are keeping central and south americans- its a must that you learn about this disease. I have also seen it get spread by bristlenose catfish which are hard to treat and if you leave them untreated in the tank they will keep reinfecting all the other fish.

 

I think its already become or becoming a pandemic for 3 main reasons;

 

1. Its highly contagious.

2. Lack of awareness, most hobbyists dont even notice it infect, sicken and eventually kill their fish.

3. The cure is not easily available, the only cure seems to be metrodonizole which you need a prescription for it, Im only aware of one shop in the whole of WA that sells a form of it (DMZ).

 

Hexamita is eventually a fatal disease and the fish suffer while they have it, it will stunt growth and they will never show their best colours or be at their full health potential.

 

Everyone needs to learn the symptoms to look for, especially people keeping things like oscars, pbass, green terrors, and other common central and south americans.

 

Ive not put all the details about how to cure this disease or the symptoms to look for because Im short on time and theres already a lot of info on the web if you google it, if any members want to do it feel free otherwise please just google hexamita and you will find lots of information and photos of what it looks like and how to treat it. 

 

I hope your club can do something about bringing this terrible disease to peoples attention and help wipe it out of the cichlid hobby.

 

 

Cheers

Den

Edited by Den, 24 October 2013 - 10:16 PM.

[jeffblack]

http://www.ebay.com....=item43bf1c82ee

 

 

Not hard to get if you need it

[Westie]

Check out this youtube video. Different treatment than DMZ
http://www.youtube.c...h?v=-OB471wIq7A
3% epsom in distilled water and administering internally through the esophagus

Edited by Jason82, 13 December 2013 - 09:59 PM.

[bigjohnnofish]

a quick description of hexamita

http://www.fishhelpl...h/hexamita.html

[Den]

Ok a couple of posts already point out the problems we have in this hobby with this disease; 

 

http://www.ebay.com....=item43bf1c82ee

 

 

Not hard to get if you need it

 

That ebay listing is from the US, they can sell it without a prescription over there, if you order that from the US it takes over a week to get here, and its most likely going to get seized by Australian customs anyway if your parcel gets inspected, its not what I consider easy to get.

 

Check out this youtube video. Different treatment than DMZ

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=-OB471wIq7A

3% epsom in distilled water and administering internally through the esophagus

 

 

 

This treatment will not work in my opinion as a permanent solution, and I can tell you from experience that I have helped a lot of people get rid of hex. Firstly force feeding is very risky, its very easy to do internal damage, its basically a life threatening procedure, and its a waste of time when you have a tank full of fish and force feeding fish like BScatfish isnt really possible and I would wager money that hex will return to that guys tank - unless you treat the whole tank(water), because the hex will be lying in feces on the floor and hex can live on the outside of the fish so you treat the gut one time and its just gonna creep back in again and slowly overtake your fish and make them sick again down the track. To really get rid of it completely you need to feed the fish with metro soaked food for 10 days and even then it can come back so I also recommend to treat the water too at the same time with metro to get rid of anything thats in the water or on the outside of the fish otherwise it will creep back into your tank and take over again.

 

anyway I hope this club can bring it to peoples awareness and guide people to the proper treatments because it is either a pandemic already or well on its way to becoming one.

[jeffblack]

Actually it took a month to get here, and it didn't get seized by customs.

 

Customs have bigger fish to fry

Edited by jeffblack, 25 October 2013 - 09:23 PM.

[Bombshocked]

Ok a couple of posts already point out the problems we have in this hobby with this disease; 

 

 

That ebay listing is from the US, they can sell it without a prescription over there, if you order that from the US it takes over a week to get here, and its most likely going to get seized by Australian customs anyway if your parcel gets inspected, its not what I consider easy to get.

 

 

 

This treatment will not work in my opinion as a permanent solution, and I can tell you from experience that I have helped a lot of people get rid of hex. Firstly force feeding is very risky, its very easy to do internal damage, its basically a life threatening procedure, and its a waste of time when you have a tank full of fish and force feeding fish like BScatfish isnt really possible and I would wager money that hex will return to that guys tank - unless you treat the whole tank(water), because the hex will be lying in feces on the floor and hex can live on the outside of the fish so you treat the gut one time and its just gonna creep back in again and slowly overtake your fish and make them sick again down the track. To really get rid of it completely you need to feed the fish with metro soaked food for 10 days and even then it can come back so I also recommend to treat the water too at the same time with metro to get rid of anything thats in the water or on the outside of the fish otherwise it will creep back into your tank and take over again.

 

anyway I hope this club can bring it to peoples awareness and guide people to the proper treatments because it is either a pandemic already or well on its way to becoming one.

so you offered nothing but doubt and negativity on the actual posts that are informative? and suggest the already linked but "to hard to get" medicine?

Metronidazole?

 

Confused:S

Edited by Sir_Anubias, 26 October 2013 - 02:45 AM.

[Den]

I cant believe I have to have this conversation, but here we go;

 

easy to get = available at your local fish shop up the road at a affordable price

hard to get = has to come from the other side of the world, takes a month to get here and may get confiscated by customs in the process. In that month while your waiting your fish will be either dead or close to it.

 

Theres no need to be confused, the other post as I explained will not cure the problem.

 

This is why this problem is spreading so big, this natural cichlid hobby is pretty clueless,

 

we in the flowerhorn hobby are organised and onto this problem and dealing with it, just about every single flowerhorn keeper knows about hexamita and how to cure it. Ive noticed that the fish in your hobby are in serious trouble and Im hoping to bring it to your attention.

Edited by Den, 26 October 2013 - 09:27 AM.

[Jeff]

Hmmm...I've often wondered if there is something wrong in my tank and this could be it.  I had a GT die recently for unknown reasons with the only symptom appearing to be a loss in colour (he was roughly 7 years old).  I also had an Oscar die earlier in the year but he did have symptoms (blew up like a balloon over a few months then died).

 

My Texas also has been going through phases of eating and not eating although he looks great??

 

In the article bigjohnofish posted it said that some fish can carry hexamita for years with no problem at all other than spreading it to other fish.  So what's the best thing to do if I suspect it may be in my tank?  Do I try and treat my fish now even though they all seem healthy at the moment?

 

This hexamita thing has got me paranoid now!!!

[jeffblack]

Naturally prevention is better than cure but one would think it would be prudent to have some on stand-by, in the event you need to administer.

 

I didn't try and source it here, i suspect most of the shops wouldn't openly advertise that they stock it, nor would they be impressed should anybody post it across these pages, if it is indeed a prescription medication in Australia.

 

Fish medication is pretty innocuous and in the big scheme of things wouldn't even raise an eyebrow imo.  I doubt anyone contemplating bringing it over has anything to worry about.

 

If you have trouble sourcing it here, its not that hard, click to buy, pay money, wait.

Alternatively go to a vet for a script.

[Brett]

Just out of interest Den,

How are you diagnosing Hexamita ?

 

Cheers

Brett

[Mr_docfish]

Not all Vets understand fish diseases - you will have to find yourself one, or contact Dr Loh (The Fish Doctor) - trouble with some Vets is they often want a fish to check... the less stress you put on a fish the better....

 

The only way of confirming a flagellate infection is by looking at faeces under a microscpoe (and knowing what you are looking for)... but generally, through experience, the tell tale signs are there - stop feeding, lethargy, emaciation, white stringy faeces.... and then secondary problems in the last lap.....

Nearly all fish carry flagellates of some sort, but never cause a problem until the fish is stressed or immunodepressed (even due to old age) or secondary to previous infections like white spot... Cichlids and livebearers are prone to it more than others, but all fish can carry it.

 

Dimetridazole is more effective than metronidazole (and more soluble - Metro was designed to be ingested, DMZ was designed to be diluted in water for birds)

 

Postal customs dont have the time or man power to check every single package that comes in or check every single product they find - so hit and miss - but by all means, buy it from overseas if you have to - but research the disease and the treatment properly before you treat - this is why it is a prescription product, so you are forced to talk to someone that knows the product and the treatment requirements - it was only recently delegated to prescription due to the possibility that the product may cause birth defects..... or at least in fruit flys.... so you have to understand that it cannot be used in food fish (for human consumption) or taken by yourself.... unless you dont intend to have kids - which would probably be good for some of those in our society.... but lets leave that discussion to Bigjohonnofish.....

[Hooked]

Hi Den,

 

A med you and your fellow hobbyists may wish to look into if you have not already is the Huey Hung brands of medication. I've had various illnesses with my Discus and have found it very very good. 

 

http://www.hueyhung....&SNo=01&FNo=101

 

Rather than repeat myself I'll put up the following link to a post I made on another forum as it has some very helpful info on doses when used with other fish in the tank such as scaleless fish etc.

 

http://www.discusfor...pic.php?t=23680

 

I find it works fast and is very gentle on fish. With Discus often they come into the country, get a couple of weeks quarantine, then can end up in your tanks soon after. Quarantine isn't treatment, its just a period to allow potential diseases to show themselves. Often fish appear healthy and  can be carriers. Its very common for such diseases to come in with these fish and infect your other fish after the new fish become stressed, lowering their immune system etc allowing the diseases to take hold.

The frustrating part for me with these meds is it doesn't say what is in them. I like to know and understand how things work. But they do work.

I quarantine all my new Discus for a min of two months when they arrive in a separate tank. It may seem a long time to have your new fish separated but it saves a lot of headaches and hard work.

I have the greatest respect for Ollie from Aquotix and am very thankful for the advice that he has given me in the past. I have not come across anyone in the local hobby with as much science based knowledge and advice. If you have any frustrating illness concerns definitely go in and have a chat with him.

 

Hope the extra info helps,

 

Cheers

[Den]

Hmmm...I've often wondered if there is something wrong in my tank and this could be it.  I had a GT die recently for unknown reasons with the only symptom appearing to be a loss in colour (he was roughly 7 years old).  I also had an Oscar die earlier in the year but he did have symptoms (blew up like a balloon over a few months then died).

 

My Texas also has been going through phases of eating and not eating although he looks great?

 

It wouldnt surprise me if it had hex, GTs with hole in the head are common, I seen a lot of them with it lately.

 

Just out of interest Den,

How are you diagnosing Hexamita ?

 

Cheers

Brett

 

 

Pooh under the microscope is the best way to be sure, I practically have a mini lab in my fish room with microscope, meds and all equipment needed to deal with just about any problem, but after being very observant you can notice when a fish is showing signs of having hex without need of a microscope. MrDocfish has mentioned most of the symptoms, the stringy fecal matter it the biggest giveaway, when they get it early stages you will notice gaps in the pooh, as the fish gets more infested the pooh casings come out more emptier as the parasites seem to rob all the nutrients and fish loosing appetite you end up to the point where there is no pooh coming out the fish - all that comes out it the clear pooh casing, as they get more sick the holes in the head start to appear, by this time the fish is fairly sick and in serious trouble

 

Cheers

Den