Bloat? Parasites?

[muuunkeeyy]

I just set up a 75 gallon with peacocks and haps. I picked up 5 yesterday to add to my existing 5 for 10 total. One of the new ones I picked up does seem to be eating and just floats around. Not sure if I should let him go with the flow because they are still new to this (cycled) tank. The other option is to medicate the whole tank with parasite guard or metro to basically clear any internal parasites they all have since they are new. Other fish seem active and swimming around though. I really do not want to lose him because he's a bicolor 500 with amazing color! Let me know if you guys have any suggestions.

[mnemenoi]

Try feeding some garlic, it is a natural anti-parasitic and most fish love garlic. It should alleviate many minor issues and have a beneficial effect on all the tankmates as well. I'd suggest waiting and watching. Keep an eye on your water parameter numbers and water change if anything looks out of line.

[SunnyHouTX]

Re: Bloat? Parasites?

Treating with metro and parasite guard is a good idea

[muuunkeeyy]

Try feeding some garlic, it is a natural anti-parasitic and most fish love garlic. It should alleviate many minor issues and have a beneficial effect on all the tankmates as well. I'd suggest waiting and watching. Keep an eye on your water parameter numbers and water change if anything looks out of line.

how would i go about feeding garlic? do i crush it then use the juice that comes from it or something? or put small pieces of garlic in the tank. the fish is not eating currently. he swims around the tank but slowly and not as aggressively as the others.

[muuunkeeyy]

i forgot bout the possibility of the fish not used to eating nls cichlid formula yet. i got 5 of them at once and 2/3 males are eating. the females dont seem to pay attention to it either yet.

[mnemenoi]

Yeah, either crush it or buy the minced garlic and feed it to them like that. Its what fish crave...lol. We soak out Fahaka's shrimp in garlic and Vita-Chem. She will eat the garlic alone though. Puffers are notorious for some hardcore IP's and the garlic alone alleviated most of the symptoms, though we still treated with Parasite guard. I thought she might not enjoy the taste of the meds, but garlic to the rescue. She ate it without a second thought.

[muuunkeeyy]

Yeah, either crush it or buy the minced garlic and feed it to them like that. Its what fish crave...lol. We soak out Fahaka's shrimp in garlic and Vita-Chem. She will eat the garlic alone though. Puffers are notorious for some hardcore IP's and the garlic alone alleviated most of the symptoms, though we still treated with Parasite guard. I thought she might not enjoy the taste of the meds, but garlic to the rescue. She ate it without a second thought.

i think i will try some garlic tonight and then use parasite guard later. will peacocks being african cichlids be able to digest garlic normally?

this is the type you used right?
[img]internal_parasite_guard.jpg[/img]

[mnemenoi]

Yeah, I see many folks use it on their africans and peacocks have a certain amount of vegetarian aspects to their diets if I am correct.

Here are a few threads detailing it for African Cichlids
Feeding
Do a Google search for "aquarium fish garlic internal parasites" as there are a ton of threads discussing its effectiveness in that regard

[SunnyHouTX]

Re: Bloat? Parasites?

Meds work faster than garlic and anti-parasite meds are usually harmless to fish. Use garlic as a everyday prophylactic but if you suspect your fish have a parasite problem, it's usually to much to handle with garlic.

[mnemenoi]

Yeah, but we had the fizzy tabs. It should all work just as effectively. Sunny might have used that, he has far more field knowledge of getting Wild Caught stuff in and that is usually where IP's come up in the industry. Tank Raised or farmed fish usually don't have the weird plethora of oddball stuff gunking up their innards. I think all WC puffers are packed with them

[SunnyHouTX]

Re: Bloat? Parasites?

Even if they've been in a a tank for a while, if the fish had a parasite problem to where it isolates itself from the group and hangs out in a corner, garlic won't do much. I consider garlic to be homeopathic at best for treating parasites and can't keep up with them in order to effectively rid your fish of them.

[SunnyHouTX]

Re: Bloat? Parasites?

PS: I use the fizz tabs as well. They're great

[muuunkeeyy]

PS: I use the fizz tabs as well. They're great

so i should use the parasite clear fizz tabs right? i went to walmart earlier today and they didnt carry anymore. maybe i have to stop by petsmart to grab some.

[muuunkeeyy]

PS: I use the fizz tabs as well. They're great

where do you usually get the tabs from? also can i just drop enough to clear the whole tank so i can make sure they are all rid of parasites? or do i have to soak the food in the fizz tab and then feed. (the main guy isnt eating)

[SunnyHouTX]

Re: Bloat? Parasites?

City Pets sells them: Tetra parasite guard. Yes, you can treat the whole tank. Go through at least 2 cycles, follow instructions on the box.