# Metro does not seem to be working...



## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

I'll link this post to give a background: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=249972

The separated yellow lab did not make it. Stopped feeding and died a day later.

I have lost all 12 of my maingano, and last night a female cynotilapia. The fish appear to be acting and feeding normal, then hang out near bottom, still interested at feeding time(eat very little or spit out food), and eventually succumb. I treated the tank a second time last week, and started again on Wednesday night, when I noticed the cyno.

My treatment has been as follows- soak food in a glass with the metro(well water, no chlorine), treat the tank twice a day(double dose as instructed by provider) with partial water changes. I'm guessing my former treatments did not take. Most of my fish are acting normal, but that seems to change at the drop of a hat. Thought it was strange that all my maingano were affected first. Minimal to no aggression. Have 2 holding females in the tank.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.


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## DanniGirl (Jan 25, 2007)

Are you against using clout?


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## FishFanatic245 (Oct 17, 2012)

just to make sure- you took any activated carbon out of the filter?


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

I have no carbon.

From what I've read on clout, you need to remove/save biological bacteria? It seemed to me that clout was a thing of the past. I honestly have no idea.

How often is metro ineffective?


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## cichlid-gal (Apr 27, 2012)

Iggy Newcastle said:


> I'll link this post to give a background: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=249972
> 
> The separated yellow lab did not make it. Stopped feeding and died a day later.
> 
> ...


Iggy...totally heartbroken for you. I have lost a fish or two for various reasons but never a tankful. That is a fishkeepers nightmare...truly...I hope whatever is going on clears up soon for you and them Iggy. I don't have any input as I've had no experience yet. As for the clout...seems like it might be better to let go of the biological and treat knowing that you can recover the bio (pull from another tank, etc etc) but not those fish .. worth a try maybe


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

What's the time frame for losing the 12 maingano? One by one over 2 weeks or all in 2-3 days? Last post in the previous thread was Oct 11, then Oct 26th.
Any other symptoms, physical or behavioral?


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Thanks for the kind words, Cichlid Gal.

GTZ- I lost the maingano slowly over the course of 2 weeks. One showed up dead to start. Two days after, I witnessed one cowering in the corner at the bottom, but still fed that day. By the start of that weekend, 2 more showed up dead. I had seen no signs of anything out of the norm at that point. Early next week is when I noticed a fish at the bottom, inactive and not feeding. My metro treatments did not exceed 5 days, as per instructions.

My current treatment is on day 5, and I plan on going to 7 days. I have killed the lighting for the last two days. I can still see some fish hugging bottom or hiding in the rocks. Have not seen a carcass in a few days, and my head count is the same in that time period. I hope that I can stall this with a full 7 day treatment, and save the remaining fish who are not showing symptoms.

I will keep this updated. Needless to say, I'm pretty upset and embarrassed of the whole situation. After working so hard on something, and countless hours of research, it sucks to have it all come crashing down.


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## cichlid-gal (Apr 27, 2012)

Any updates Iggy? How are the remaining fish doing?


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

I have a completely different take on how to effectively provide metronidazole. My experience is that food soaked in metro is pretty much useless when you have an outbreak of an intestinal disease. Many of the symptoms you are describing coincide with a "bloat"-like illness. As you can see- fish that are not feeling well do not eat, so they are not getting any of the antibiotic. Secondly, dosing food is haphazard at best, and food in the digestive tract aids pathogens residing in there. I've never seen any improvement when using metro-laced foods.

My method, which has been so successful that I'"now "de-louse" all new stock with it, is to dose, fast, and salt for 5 days.


> My recipe, which I've used successfully for bloat, wasting, and other intestinal distress issues, is as follows:
> 
> *Do not feed your fish at all during the treatment. *
> Day 1: Dissolve and add 250 mg of metro and 2 tablespoons of dissolved epsom salt for every 10 gallons.
> ...


Dosing twice a day for several days appears to overcome the solubility issues of metro in alkaline water. Not feeding and using Epsom salt as a laxative is important for metro to be able to clear out the fish gut.


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Thanks for the additional replies.

Have not seen any symptoms or deaths for 8 days now. The infection seemed to taper off and claimed 2 more victims during the latter half of the last treatment. I'm left with about half of my stock. I did not lose any Acei or Chalosi.

Triscuit- Thanks for the above method of treatment. So you treat all new arrivals?

I do plan to rebuild, but will certainly wait for a month or two. I'm not sure how to proceed though. Any thoughts on how I should re-stock? I would like to do it all at once, but quarantining 20 fish will be tough. I may have to add just a species at a time. My largest fish is around 3".

Currently, all the remaining fish appear to be acting normal, feeding and very active.


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