Kaylen's Discus Blog: Treatment: Intestinal Flagellates/Hexamita

Before the diagnosis, I was getting really worried about the pair's refusal of food. I brought it up to the discus store owner the two times I visited the store. He said if the discus is not eating, treat them with Metro+. The second time he mentioned this medicine I decided it might be a good idea to get it just in case. It has been three weeks that the pair have stopped eating, and my main concern was that they will starve and waste away, which is the terminal stage - death due to hunger. Whatever it was, I must figure it out soon...very soon.

That Friday evening when I returned home, I decided I should dose the breeder tank with some Metro+, hoping whatever it is, this medicine may help. It was the next day when I saw the white string feces hanging from the discus's anus that I confirmed they have Intestinal Flagellates or Hexamita.
After constant research on the internet on how to treat this illness, all sources pointed to one single drug: metronidazole. Now I'm glad I bought the Metro+, because Metro+'s active ingredient is metronidazole. Bingo.

Metro+ Treatment
There are two ways to administer metronidazole: oral or bath.
Oral: Medicating the food if the fish is still eating (most effective).
Bath: If the fish is not eating, the medicine can be put in the water as a bath.
This antibiotic will be for every 24 hours for a period of 5 - 7 days. Temperature should be raised to 90-93 degrees as the drug is more effective at high temperature. Importantly, 50% of the water must be changed before each dose.
Also the ammonia and nitrite in the hospital tank should be kept at zero.

That was exactly what I did for the next 7 days, I completely used up the Metro+ bottle that treats 100 gallons. Plus I decreased the water line down to 1/3 less in the 20gal hospital tank to save on medicine. Each day during the 7 days period, I put in a little bit of the medicated frozen blood worms to see if any of the three are eating, but sadly they refused to eat. That was fine, because I have to do a 50% change of water every day before each dosage, which I then vacuumed out the uneaten food. All I can do now is wait until things starting to turn around. Part of the treatment process are monitoring the feces and feeding sparingly to see if they will start eating. I hope I caught this sickness early enough to save these three or lessen the mortality rate.

In the mean time, I moved some gravel from the display tank to the breeder tank hoping to fight off ammonia. Since I have to change 50% of the water everyday for the next 7 days, I was having a little bit of ammonia in the hospital tank. I placed the matured gravel in a open container inside the breeder tank to help with the beneficial bacteria growth. This seems to help keep the ammonia at bay.

Day 9th, Yellow and snake skin pair are eating again! I fed them the medicated frozen blood worms soaked with metronidazole and some drops of VitaChem (fish vitamins). They ate when I moved away from sight. From the corner, I observed them...and indeed they ate aggressively! This was such a break through for me! Then I saw from one of the snake skin pair a long thin black feces hanging! Hallelujah! The worst is over! These guys are turning around. I couldn't be happier! Now I just need to keep them hospitalized a little longer so they regain their weight before they can join the display tank. Speaking of which, that's a whole new entry on its own - an upgrade!