Internal parasites?

[andieb]

I got planaria in my tank about 2 months ago, not sure if that's related to my current problems. This weekend, one of my cory habrosus was swimming erratically and his stomach was concave. I'm thinking it's internal parasites. I moved him to a hospital tank. I'm in Canada so all I could find was Kordon Rapid Cure, which I gave a half dose of but he died the next day. 

Then my honey gouramis (all three of them) suddenly started having very long, hanging, brown/white poops. One of the honey gouramis looks bloated and I'm worried it's the same internal parasites affecting the corys. Although, I had been feeding mostly protein, so I thought that could be causing the poops. I fed shelled green peas unsure what else to do, and since have been feeding more spirulina flakes and omega algea wafers. The poops have actually stopped so maybe it was just too much protein but the one gourami is still bloated looking.  

Tonight I have another cory habrosus dying the same way as the other, he's in the hospital tank now getting treated with Kordon Rapid Cure. I also have him garlic infused brine shrimp, which he hasn't touched. 

I've put in an order for API General Cure that'll arrive Nov 23 - Dec 2. Is there a treatment available in Canada I could give in the meantime that wouldn't hurt my tank inhabitants: 12 corydoras habrosus, 3 honey gouramis, an apple snail, and then a bunch of animals that hitch hiked in (cherry shrimp, ramshorn snails, trumpet snails). - I could remove the snails into a snail tank but the shrimp would be impossible. 

I know that feeding medicated food is recommended but I'm worried that it's be difficult in my tank because it's not a feeding frenzy situation where all the food gets eaten.

Will API General Cure also kill the planaria? That would be a bonus.  

It's a 20 gal long. 

• pH: 7.0-7.2
• Nitrates: 0 
• Hardness: 140
• Nitrite: 0 
• Ammonia: 0 
• KH/Buffer: 60
• Water Temperature: 77

Please let me know if you think this is the right course of action, and whether there's anything I can do until the General Cure arrives. 

Thank you for your help! 

Edited November 11, 2021 by andieb
spelling mistake

[Colu]

Sunken belly is a sign of wasting disease you what to treat with Fritz expel p active ingredient is levamisole or fenbendazole general cure won't kill planaria worms  with the meds you have available in Canada theirs not anything I can think that would be effective against internal parasites you could add salt to slow the development of the parasites eggs as you have Cory's in the tank I wouldn't recommend using salt  you could keep treating with kordon rapid cure till you can get other meds 

[andieb]

Sorry to bump this topic back up but I wanted to give an update because my cory habrosus is actually recovering! In so many other disease posts, you never hear back from OP about whether the treatment worked, so I wanted to share exactly what I did. 

Hospital tank:

Exo Terra "Faunarium" (15.5 x 23 x 17 centimeters) - useful because it holds 10 cups or 2500 mL ~ 0.5 gallons of water, which makes calculating the dose easier.

I added a thin layer of sand substrate. I also put in plants for cover to give hiding spots to lower his stress (I used small clumps of subwastertang and java moss and a leaf from a broad leaf plant to make a hiding spot). 

I also added in a sponge filter (for 7 gal) and a small heater (50 watt) to keep nitrites and ammonia at zero and the water at 78 C (the upper range of optimal for cory habrosus - my thinking was to keep his immune system strong). 

Medicating: 

For the meds, I used Kordon Rapid Cure - which is for external parasites but it's all I had and it seems to have worked. The bottle says one drop per 1 gallon or 1 drops for 2 gallons if you're treating tetras. Since corydoras habrosus usually require half dose I used the 1 drop for 2 gallons recommended for tetras. 

I think in the past my mistake is to overdose - this time I was very precise with dosing. 

I started by filling the Funarium with 8 cups (2000 mL) water from the tank the fish lives in. 

Then I filled the measuring cup to 200 mL with tank water and added 1 drop of Rapid Cure, and mixed it until it was uniform. Then I poured out 100 mL, and then topped it back up to 200 mL with more tank water, and then poured out 100 mL again - this gave me 1/4 drop of Rapid Cure in the measuring cup. Then I topped up again to 500 mL and poured this into the hospital tank. 

At this point I suggest marking the level of the water on the side of the hospital tank so that you can top-up the volume to 2500 mL if water evaporates. This'll prevent the meds from getting more concentrated over time and it'll ensure your dosing stays accurate. 

Day 2 morning I added frozen baby brine but it went uneaten. 

Day 2 evening, I syphoned off 500 mL from the hospital tank, and used the syphon to remove uneaten food. I wanted to keep the sand as clean as possible. 

Then I repeated the dosing I described above - EXCEPT once I reached the stage when I had 1/4 drop of Rapid Cure in the measuring cup, I topped up to 500 mL and then poured out 400 mL, then topped up to 500 mL again with tank water. This way I can replace only the dose of Rapid Cure that I removed. 

Day 3 morning, I actually left for the cottage - I added some sinking northfin betta pellets in case he came around and ate something. When I left he was on his side looking pale and dead but when I nudged him he moved just barely. 

Day 5 evening - I came home expecting to have to flush a dead fish... BUT he's recovering!!! 

He's upright, swimming with coordination, energy back to normal level, even nipped up to the surface for air like corys do.

I repeated what I did on Day 2 evening - I want to make sure he's really cured. 

I added some fresh northfin betta pellets and now he's started eating again!! I'm very happy to say that his stomach isn't concave anymore. 

 

Edited November 15, 2021 by andieb
posted before finishing post

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

I like to see updates on these because it's nice to know for A) a positive thing to celebrate on the forum and B) for those who search before they post and find remedies that others have had success with!

[andieb]

As for my main tank - still waiting for the API General Cure - more stringy poop from the grouramis but so far not seeing anymore corys swimming erratically with concave tummies. - I'll monitor the tank closely and if I see any with the same sickness I'll be ready 🙂 

Here's a pic of the hospital tank and my recovering cory - same fish as the one in the pic above where he's lying on his side! Pretty remarkable eh! 

Edited November 15, 2021 by andieb