# not eating and scratching HELP PLEASE!!!



## tompillen (May 15, 2010)

Hi, my parrot fish, bully, is around 7 years old. He has stopped eating completely. He had hole in the head a few years ago which was cleared up but left scars. 1 of the scars looked like its open again and he has been flicking against ornaments but all around his eyes aswell as the top of his head. I put a dose of octozin by waterlife in last night, the 1st of 3 treatments. I have just checked on him this morning and now he has a load of red 'blood' looking marks around his eyes where he was rubbing against things and also on his bottom lip. most of them look like its where he has rubbed against things but a couple are open and about 2-3mm deep into his skin but not raised like a spot, flush to his skin. My water is as good as it always has been for the last 7 years and nothing has upset him or the water as i lost my other 7 year old parrot this year and have been EXTRA cautios making sure his tank is perfect for him. he's in a 240ltr tank all by himself. I have included some pics. PLEASE help as i WILL NOT lose this fish. He is scratching around his eyes rather than on his'forehead' where the h-i-t-h is. Do i carry on with the octozin for hole in the head or try a parasite medicine? Plese help[/img]


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## tompillen (May 15, 2010)

hi, i have a 7 year old parrot cichlid that has just stopped eating and completely ignoring any food that he normally jumps out the tank to eat! ammonia-0 nitrite-0 nitrate less than 40ppm ph-6.5-7 temps 26 degrees celsius in a 240 litre tank on his own with an internal and external filter and an 18inch air stone. he is fed hikari cichlid gold medium sinking pellets and thawed, shelled peas from time to time. today is tuesday and he has not eating anything since saturday night. i lost a fish to bloat and know what bloat is and know this is not a case of bloat. he has no poo at all coming out and is still responsive to me and not hanging in 1 spot for periods of time. he had hole in the head a few years ago but was cured. then on sunday i notcied 1 of the scars was open like a hole in his head but with no worm coming out. i am on day 2 of treating with waterlife octozin (dimetridazole 8.5%w/w) with no sign of improvemet. he keeps scratching around his eyes and now has red pin prick size dots around his eyes where he has been scratching. he always has a scratch every now and then as most fish do but he never does himself damage. i have dosed the tank with aqua tonic salt too to help the meds along. he seems to be scratching everywhere BUT where the hole on his forehead is. i have waterlife sterazin as my next med to try. would hole in the head explain the loss of appetite and the scratching around the eyes or does this sound like external parasites? i cant see any parasites externally and have had them plenty of times before to know what they look like. PLEASE help with any advise/experiance you may have, many thanks, tom


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## tompillen (May 15, 2010)

is bloat bacterial or parasitic? i have been treating with octozin for 3 days now with no change at all and have been told that bloat is internal bacteria which i should be treating with interpet anti internal bacteria. is this right? i can not get clout as i am in the uk so what should i do? i need help fast please


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

Bloat is a catch-all for many intestinal diseases, and the bloat symptoms can be caused by bacteria, protozoans, parasites, or other creepy crawlies as far as I can tell.

I can't decipher the ingredients in Clout, but I've only killed fish using it. :roll: Some folks swear by it, but I don't think you're missing out.

However, look in EU markets for metronidazole- Perhaps you can get it shipped to you? Not that I'm encouraging anyone to break any laws, but perhaps you can talk to a retailer in Europe who sells metronidazole and find a way to ship generic "Aquarium Supplies."


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## tompillen (May 15, 2010)

thanks for the reply. i have been advised to use kusuri wormer plus (flubendazole) which is supposed to kill flukes and internal helminths and melafix at the same time so i am treating for parasites AND bacteria at the same time. i have used melafix before for bacterial problems with good results but the only time i used wormer plus was to try to save a fish that was just dying of old age so i cant comment on its results yet but i have read lots of good reviews for it. any other suggestions would be great.


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## tompillen (May 15, 2010)

hi, my fish has what i beleive to be a mixture of bloat and external parasites. he is a 7 year old parrot cichlid on his own in a 240ltr tank. all water parameters are as good as they always are and have been for the last 7 years so water quality is not a problem here. he stopped eating on sunday (4 days ago). he always has a scratch now and then but this has dramatically increased in the last few days. i have kusuri wormer plus which is flubendazole based and says on the website that its safe to mix with other meds. i want to ask you knowledgeable people if it is infact OK to mix kusuri wormer plus with the waterlife sterazin so i am covering all options at the same time. i lost a fish to bloat this year but left it 2 weeks before vtreatment, by which time it was too late. i have not noticed any stringy white poo like my last fish but he stopped eating and is just hovering in 1 sport in the tank. the other thing *** noticed is that his lips are fatter than normal and he has black marks on his lips??? please help asap as i need to act fast! many thanks, tom


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

You can try it, but my google search tells me you won't be happy with the results. I've never seen or heard people talk about worms with bloat, but I suppose that's one potential disease agent. Usually, worms are easier to diagnose thus fall under their own diagnoses rather than the Bloat umbrella.

Also- bigger water changes are better. 25% isn't half as good as 50%. :wink: Carbon isn't going to work very quickly on removing the meds, and won't work at all to remove the salt.


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## tompillen (May 15, 2010)

thanks for the reply. i have some waterlife sterazin which i was planning to use ASWELL as the ormer plus so i am covering every possible parasite. i do not want to remove the salt as you probably know it helps speed up recovery and balance out the fishes insides. i am not sure if it is bloat as i have not seen any white/clear stringy poo - no poo infact. i was thinking bloat because everywhere i search for reasons of loss of appetite bloat springs up everywhere. he is constantly scratching himself around his eyes/cheeks but has no visible irritation to his skin. his symptoms are loss of appetite and staying in 1 of 2 places in the tank until i walk past him and he goes mad at me! his lips also look a little fatter than normal and he has black 'inky' marks on his lips. almost like bruises but not deep purple colour like human bruises - more like newsprint on his lips if you understand me. what does the problem sound like to you?


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