Mbu Getting Skinnier

Oh no! Sick fish?! Come here and see if someone can help!
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Read this before posting!!

Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.

1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.

2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.

3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)

4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.

5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.

We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.

While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.

Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
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Ali
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Post by Ali »

I'm very scared for my Mbu since he seems to be getting skinnier everyday. I feed him 5 peices of krill one time a day and today I noticed that he is extra skinny like his bones are skin tight ang his stomach is concave :( Does he have internal worms? Is this a common affliction in Mbu's? I know that my Fahaka is the one that's supposed to have them but not the Mbu. How should I treat him?

Quick replies are needed. Please help my Mbu :(


Also he has no feeding response :(
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Post by Pufferpunk »

I'd almost guarantee you he has internal parasites. Try to find some Discomed, by Aquatronics. The company has been out of business for a while, but I still see their products on the shelves & on the net. If not, go to the sticky in the hospital forum (post there on this after this response) & look up the sticky on Alternatives to Discomed.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

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fatpuffer
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Post by fatpuffer »

when i got my t. oblongus, he was very skinny to a point that looked like a sunken belly. I gave him a couple of weeks and noticed he was gaining weight. Two months later, he is as long as he his round...give it some time and feed more than once...mine ate three to four times a day...smaller portion and make sure to get rid of the excess uneaten food debris.


js
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Pufferpunk
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Post by Pufferpunk »

I'd treat for IPs anyway.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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Ali
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Post by Ali »

So if I treat the Mbu for parasites, even if he doesn't have any, he will only get better or won't be effected, right?
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Pamela
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Post by Pamela »

The meds for parasites won't hurt him, and like PP says, he's almost certainly got them.
Hope he gets fatter soon, Pami.
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Ali
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Post by Ali »

All right I purchased a med made by Jungle which says it will take care of all internal parasites so I hope it does.

For how long should I use the meds?
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Post by Bred »

Which med is that? I never had any success w/ Jungle Labs. What do the directions say about treatment duration?
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Post by Pamela »

Can you give us a list of the ingredients of this med?
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Ali
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Post by Ali »

Active ingredients are: praziquantel;[[(4-Chlorophenyl)amino]carbon 1]-2,
6-difluorobenzamide; metronidazole; arciflavine.

It says that it can be used two times in 48 hours with a 25% water change.

The mbu is burrowing in the sand.
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Pufferpunk
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Post by Pufferpunk »

The problem w/this med is, it's for treating the water. FW fish do not drink water. The parasites are on the inside of the fish & must be treated internally.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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