# Internal parasite treatment?



## paperlilies (Aug 31, 2014)

I'm fairly certain Sammy has INTERNAL parasites. Over 11 weeks he has been declining very slowly despite great care. Loosing weight although he has a healthy appetite, color fading a lot, sometimes lethargic, and within the past 4 days slight redness on outside of gills. I don't see dark feces when I siphon the water so it may be white.

I really want to get to the bottom of this. A specialty fish store worker recommended Prazipro. I made it clear he shows NO signs of EXTERNAL parasites. The store did not have Seachem Focus which I was going to mix with 1% metronidazole, .4% levamisole and frozen food (Recommended by a helpful member of this site.) 

It's hard to know if it's working. It's only been 3 days, but if Prazipro isn't the right treatment I need to know and make changes. I considered APT General Cure, but decided to try Prazipro first. Anyone have experience overcoming internal parasites?


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## Tolak (Nov 13, 2012)

Focus is from the nitrofuran family of drugs, nitrofurazone is available online. I've dealt with internal protizoans in angels, they're a pretty common issue with cichlids, discus & angels in particular. Metronidazole clears them up pretty good, it's one of the few meds I keep on hand due to the volume of angels I work with.


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## paperlilies (Aug 31, 2014)

So does internal vs external parasites need to be treated differently? For example, internal needs medicated food to ingest and external can be mixed in the tank water? I'm thinking about getting API General Cure (metronidazole and praziquantel) to mix in the water unless it's ineffective for internal parasites.


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## paperlilies (Aug 31, 2014)

Ok so I've been searching online and I see API General Cure (praziquantel and metronidazole) can be soaked in fish food. Below are instructions that I don't completely understand the terms. 

"General Cure can be used as a medicated fish food soak by using 1/2 a packet for an average 60 gallon bio load medicated fish preparation. Fish food should be soaked for 15 minutes
After soak, pour entire contents into aquarium. (Additional medication can be added for a full tank treatment; for example with a 30 galloin aquarium, use 1/2 packet in the food soak and use the other half plus two more packets in the aquarium.)"

What does "60 gallon bio load" medicated fish preparation mean? It sounds like this is a LARGE preparation and may not work for treating 1 betta. It's frustrating the Jungle/Tetra medicated fish pellets and Ultra Cure PX gel are discontinued! It would be so much easier!


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## paperlilies (Aug 31, 2014)

It's been 2 weeks after finishing API General Cure Treatment. He seems to be doing better - gills look to be functioning normally. I'm trying to help him gain weight gradually since he was wasting away. He has a healthy appetite, but doesn't seem to be thickening up. So I wonder if the internal parasites are still working away in his organs. It's only been 3 weeks since his diet changed to NLS and has been fed more. I'm watching his belly and see no signs of SBD so I think the amount is ok. (3 pellets in AM, 3 pellets in the afternoon. Which I'm sure someone will tell me is WAY TO MUCH, but I'm watching him and the point is to help him gain weight.) This seems like a less common problem since the web is filled with info about SBD and over feeding, which I understand is detrimental to their health. Since this change in diet his fins are growing longer, but that's about it.

I think either he has tuberculosis, the internal parasites are killing him slowly, or he's on the up and up it takes months to recover. I've done everything I know and I'm waiting to see what happens.


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## Tolak (Nov 13, 2012)

Pick up some plain metronidazole. Bring the tank up to the mid to upper 80's F. Dose the metro at 40mg/gallon with a daily 50% water change & redose.

Get some frozen brine shrimp, sprinkle a little metro on it, feed this once daily. Keep this treatment up for 10-14 days. Make sure there's enough surface motion in the tank, warmer water holds less O2. This will rule out any internal protizoans.


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## paperlilies (Aug 31, 2014)

Would a betta with internal parasites make a bubble nest? Sammy made his first nest! Yay! You can see it in the picture and also how skinny he is from an over head view. He's eating well but not putting on weight. I haven't made the medicated food yet and was planning to this weekend. But if he's building a nest maybe he's not sick anymore. I don't know... I imagined his overall appearance would look drastically better after a few weeks, but that's not the case.


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## paperlilies (Aug 31, 2014)

I decided I will go ahead with the medicated food. I was hesitant because of warnings that it is easy to overdose, damage the organs, and kill the poor thing. However, I need to try before the parasites damage his internals beyond recovery. 

I ordered Seachem Focus online. I already have frozen brine shrimp and can use the API General Cure I have (praziquantel and metronidazole powder). I read online it can be used with food.

I read on Hikari's website how to make medicated pellets. http://www.hikariusa.com/articles/medicated-feed/ 
The directions say to bind the pellets and medicine with 190 proof grain alcohol and let it dry up to 24 hours. Everclear? Isn't that illegal in California? I only need 1/4 teaspoon so I'll stick with Seachem Focus.

So why use frozen food verses pellets? I'm thinking pellets would be less messy and faster.


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## kittenfish (Dec 1, 2013)

I think they want you to use frozen food because of the larger volume fed vs pellet food, and also because it's more palatable (to balance the nasty tasting meds). However, pellets are fine too if he eats them. You can add some garlic juice to make the pellets more appealing.


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## paperlilies (Aug 31, 2014)

kittenfish said:


> I think they want you to use frozen food because of the larger volume fed vs pellet food, and also because it's more palatable (to balance the nasty tasting meds). However, pellets are fine too if he eats them. You can add some garlic juice to make the pellets more appealing.


By "larger volume fed" do you mean a larger aquarium with other fish? or you feed 1 betta more volume of frozen food than pellets?


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## kittenfish (Dec 1, 2013)

Well the frozen food has water in it, so I feed more if I'm using it. One frozen bloodworm is the size of several pellets.


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## paperlilies (Aug 31, 2014)

I finally received Seachem Focus in the mail. Mixed it with API General Cure powder and frozen brine shrimp with spirulina following Seachem manufacture instructions on dosage. I gave him the first dose of food yesterday and increased the tank temp to 82 degrees. 

Currently, his behavior and appetite are still good and physical appearance the same (wasting and faded color.) Is it super important to treat the water with medication at the same time to be effective? To kill eggs and larva in the gravel or something? I can't see them, but maybe that's because they are not visible to the naked eye. I want to knock this out, but don't want to be too aggressive with medication if it's not necessary.

Or would epsom salt be necessary to add to the water instead? To help expell the dead parasites from his body? He's not bloated and I see a few cinnamon roll poos per week, but since he's still wasting. Maybe he's not pooing often enough.

I'm really trying to figure this out.


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