# Very sick large male flowerhorn. Is this hexamita?



## cHiBi_sCeNe (May 22, 2011)

Hi, 
My flowerhorn got internal parasites due to me buying another flowerhorn from Thailand and putting it in the same tank with a divider. I didn't have a quarantine tank, so I had no choice. I have had him for 2 years and he has been fine, and only ever got ill once with ich. His symtoms are: small pinholes in his head, thick white cotton wool type feces, a bloated stomach, he won't eat, he isn't breathing very well, he isn't very active, his colors are very dull, his head has lumps on it and has shrunk, he has lost 4 flowers, and he had a moving worm crawling on his head today, but there is worms in the tank. The other flowerhorn I paid £80 for, died with the same symtoms in 2 days after buying it. It has been 1 day since he finished being treated with some sera parasite stuff that i cant remember the name of, and he is still no better. The water quality is always good as well. I am very attached to this flowerhorn and would be very upset to loose him. Is there anything I can do for him? Is this hexamita? The medication is out of date. Would it still work? Many thanks.


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

Yup, sounds like Hexamita. I believe you treat it with metronidazole.


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## Aquaticfan (Oct 30, 2011)

mistergreen said:


> Yup, sounds like Hexamita. I believe you treat it with metronidazole.


Thats is Correct!!! metronidazole is the proper stuff. Seachem metronidazole is great or even API general Cure (its metronidazole) and some others. The SeaChem PARAGUARD is another good one with more then just the metronidazole. But very effective.


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## HighDesert (May 8, 2012)

Metronidazole is one of my favorite go-to's for reptiles and mammals. I'm glad it works in aquatic creatures, too!


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## lipadj46 (Apr 6, 2011)

Seachem metro is horribly overpriced, quick cure is not metro, paragaurd, no metro either. Buy metro from kensfish or angelsplus, 100g is around $13.


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## Aquaticfan (Oct 30, 2011)

lipadj46 said:


> Seachem metro is horribly overpriced, quick cure is not metro, paragaurd, no metro either. Buy metro from kensfish or angelsplus, 100g is around $13.


Umm. No... Your way off and incorrect. I'm looking at a box of API general Cure and it has 250mg per packet of metro in each one along with 75mg if Praziquantel. Treats 100 gallons. It specific to treat hole in head, internal parasites and more. It's very effective and reasonably priced. It will actually do better then just straight metro will. Paraguard has several things in it. If you look at seachems disease chart for hole in the head it highly recommends paraguard as a treatment. It made of aldahyde ( not formadihyde) and a buffered form of malachite green ( buffered with metro) and some other great stuff. 

If it were myself is treat with the API general Cure as the fish has hole in the head along with internal parasites.

Lipadj maybe before posting what something is like the general Cure you should check. Not sure where you got the idea general Cure has no metro

sent from my HTC EVO 3d


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## Aquaticfan (Oct 30, 2011)

To the op. Not being rude but the main causes for hole in the head is water conditions. If your seeing active parasites/worms you should be doing quality water changes and vacuuming the substrate to get them out. This is part of treatment for the issues. You must fix the water issues just as well as the fish issues. Medications along with water changes every other day to get things cleaned up may be needed. 

While the other fish you got possibily had some of these issues and it brought in its also possible water conditions aren't prime and what caused the other fish to get it. From reading your other thread on this issue your tank size is way to small for a flowerhorn. The fish is 2 years old and should easily be 12 inches roughly and he is not even close to that. A fish like this living in to small of a tank is hard on them. Then trying to add a 2nd one compounds it more. This fish really need a minimum of 125 gallons or more. Again not being rude. Just telling you what would be best for the fish and possible causes of the issues you have. You can treat and Medicate you guy, but you have to fix the real issues to.
sent from my HTC EVO 3d


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## cHiBi_sCeNe (May 22, 2011)

Thanks everyone. The fish is not mine it is my parents fish actually. I have tried to get them to buy a bigger tank, but they dont have enough money yet. I know he is not in the best conditions, but he has enough space to freely move around, and is not packed against the glass or unable to move much. The water quality is cheecked every 2-3 days with API test kits to be on the safe side, and weekly water changes are always done. There is also no substrate in the tank, but there is 2 large filters. The only reason he got ill is because of the other flowerhorn I bought from someone, and I later found out they originally bought that flowerhorn from a bad fish farm in Thailand, which explains the problem. Some of my angelfish and discus seem to be showing signs of hexamita as well but I'm going to put sera flagellol in to treat them. I have tried treating this flowerhorn with sera flagellol but had no success.


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## lipadj46 (Apr 6, 2011)

didn't see you were in the UK, isn't metro only available from a vet?


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## cHiBi_sCeNe (May 22, 2011)

I have heard metro is very good for hole in the head disease, but unfortunately I can't buy any in the uk that I know of. eBay sells it, but it would take too long for it to arrive from the USA. I'm thinking of selling most of my fish and starting again, because the way I have them currently isn't working out. I'm breeding Bettas and starting up a new planted tank, so I'm thinking of focusing more on that instead of my 2 large fish tanks that are not going so well.


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## cHiBi_sCeNe (May 22, 2011)

Update. I have did an 80% water change, raised temperature, and added more sera flagellol. He appears slightly less bloated, but now he has an ulcer on his dorsal fin. If the treatment doesn't work this time I will have to euthanise him with clove oil. 
The angelfish and discus still have hexamita as well, but hopefully the medication is working.


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## cHiBi_sCeNe (May 22, 2011)

UPDATE: he is looking much better, he is more active, his color is back to normal, his head has grown a lot, and he is looking really good. Apart from the fact he keeps getting white large cysts/ulcers on him with a fungus on them, then the cysts/ulcers turn into holes, which continue to go deeper until they go all the way through. I don't know what this is, but I'm guessing it is a really bad case of hexamita, or a secondary infection of some sort, so I'm treating him again. The tank always stinks as well because the filter is just not good enough. In the next for days I'm probably going to have to euthanise him, because my parents won't buy a bigger tank and/or a better filter. The angelfish, discus and other fish are looking a lot better after treating them all for hex, and I will be getting rid of a lot of them soon, so things are not all bad.


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## In.a.Box (Dec 8, 2011)

Lack of cleaning.
Poor water.

I went to this guy house and saw a 12inch flowerhorn male inside a 10g with an missing eye.
Feel sorry for the fish but nothing I can do. Tank smell, tank look cloudy.


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## LS6 Tommy (May 13, 2006)

If you're keeping angels with discus, I can almost guarantee the discus have worms... 

Tommy


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## cHiBi_sCeNe (May 22, 2011)

What kind of worms? There is many different types of worms for them to get, and angelfish and discus naturally carry various parasites(such as gill flukes), and I have had no problems in the 6 months they have all been together. I'm getting rid of my discus soon because there is too many fish in the tank anyway, so they won't be here for long. And they have no signs of illness or worms at all.


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## cHiBi_sCeNe (May 22, 2011)

Flowerhorn got worse he now has no bone in his ventral fin. My parents got rid of him to a fish store, which I think is a stupid thing to do, but hopefully he will go to a good home. I found out what was wrong with him, he had an infection and needed antibiotics to treat him, and I could of treated him, but my parents wouldn't get him a better filter and a bigger tank, so he had to go. At least he won't be in a horrible small tank anymore.


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