My hypothesis goes like this:
First I began with some facts that I have found. There are two methods to rid your fish of internal parasites--kill them or flush them out. Many "medicated" foods are designed to clear the intestinal tract of a fish with parasites. One example is Pepso Food by Jungle Laboratories (I will leave my opinion of this product out). While this method is ok and will probably get your fish eating again, it does nothing to kill the parasites, and your fish will probably be re-infected.
The other method is by using a pure medication, like metro, and treats the entire water column. Metro is effective in the water column as it is absorbed through the gills. The only drawback is that you have to use far more than you would if you treated food with it. I think this would be a better way, treating the water column, especially when the fish are not eating. Metro is water soluble and is ideal to use. Also, if this medication kills the parasites, not only have you cleared the fish's intestinal tract, you have killed the parasites that have been excreted. However, the description on the Seachem product does not say "kills parasites," only "effectively treats." I think I will email Seachem about this. Nevertheless, 2 things have resulted: i) the fish are eating, ii) all fish have been treated. I am carefully monitoring my fish to see if there is a re-infection.
Since metro is very safe and there is little to no chance of overdose, I doubled the recommended [Seachem] dosage for all treatments. I treated the first 2 consecutive days then every other day for the remainder, with water changes (50%) after the first 2 treatments, then after the next 2, and finally another after the last treatment 48 hours later. It took about 5 total treatments. After the third treatment, fish behavior and eating habits improved substantially. Currently, my fish are doing very well.
I am also treating a clown loach and a Bolivian Ram. The clown appears to be losing his sunken belly. This wasting away has previously killed a clown and a zebra loach, but that was when left with no treatment. As a follow up to sunken bellies, I then feed fairly heavily and often to help them regain the lost weight. I like to feed beef heart and bloodworms for weight gain, and a nutritious flake food for nutrients.
I'm sure I'll remember more later, but lunch break is over
