New Guppy Mamma, would you compare the ingredients on your internal parasite treatment with the stuff I mention below for the external treatment.

If I had that item, I probably would have tried it too, though as you can see it trashed the nitrogen cycle. There is an antibiotic treatment which is not supposed to be so devastating on the nitrogen cycle. There are also other treatments which don't touch the nitrogen cycle. (See below.) All of them are hard on snails.

I didn't pick up much chemistry in my study as a history major. So a lot of the info below is culled from other stuff on the Net. There is also quite a bit on Hexamita (in a general sense) in a couple of sections of Immediate Help.

Treating Hexamita with Jungle Labs Internal Parasite Guard:

It is claimed that Internal Parasite Guard,  "Clears Internal Parasites. Helps clear internal parasites that can cause listlessness, loss of weight and premature death of fish."

http://www.animalworldnetwork.com/julainpagu2o.html

On the Jungle site:
http://www.junglelabs.com/pages/details.asp?item=NJ115

says that
Parasite Guard
     "Clears External Parasites
and is "A safe, effective treatment for the common external parasites that live on the skin, fins, gills and mouth cavity of fish including anchor worms, fish lice, gill and body flukes, and gill mites. Harmless to fish, plants and biological filter beds."

I would beg to differ about the filter beds. Note that there is no mention of Hexamita.

My External Parasite Guard, which may not have the exact ingredients as the Internal Parasite guard. I got it as a sample. I'd only buy broad-spectrum treatments as internal parasite treatments because external parasites would be treated too.

The external treatment  lists ingredients of Sodium Chloride, dimethyl (2-2-2-trichloro-1- hydroxyethyl) phosphonate, carmoisine B.A.

Sodium chloride of course is everyday "salt."

carmoisine B.A. is possibly among the Anti-HIV/OI Chemical Compounds.

When considering dimethyl (2-2-2-trichloro-1- hydroxyethyl) phosphonate, one site records:

"ROUTE OF EXPOSURE
Inhalation: Material is irritating to mucous membranes and upper respiratory tract.
Multiple Routes: May be harmful by inhalation, ingestion, or skin absorption. Causes eye and skin irritation."

It has an ACUTE TOXICITY - causing possible Behaviors such as Somnolence (general depressed activity), Convulsions or effect on seizure threshold or Coma.
"For R&D use only. Not for drug, household or other uses."

OH REALLY!

http://agrippina.bcs.deakin.edu.au/bcs_admin/msds/msds_docs/Carmoisine.pdf

Another site observes that:
 dimethyl (2-2-2-trichloro-1- hydroxyethyl) phosphonate is a Pesticide. It also goes by the  name of trichlorfon and is an insecticide that is used to control flies, roaches, and turf pests such as webworms, mole crickets and grubworms. Additionally, trichlorfon can be used as an anthelmintic composition (de-wormer) for animals.

http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/5922404-description.html

Interestingly, this organophosphate is also found in Fluke Tabs. I'll bet it is a de-wormer! I've mentioned, nearly ranted, about using organophosphates in aquariums unless there is really no alternative. Orthophosphates kill via an often-intense neurotoxic activity. In other words they really mess up the nervous system and the roach or whatever dies. They tend to be broad spectrum killers. (Anthelmintics by comparison are more specific.)

Jungle probably feels that the relatively inert crystalline form (says he unscrewing the cap and looking in the bottle - don't sneeze!) is used in such a small quantity in the aquarium to be usually safe around us. But keep it out of the little kids' reach! :0

Once in a while somebody in a goofy mood suggests eating an overlarge aquarium fish. I'm uncomfortable from the standpoint of eating a pet. But think about stuff like the orthophosphates being stored (with each treatment) in the animal's tissues (though fats would more likely be discarded).

You are wise to now get the stuff out with activated carbon. That is in the instructions I'll bet. But I would also bet that your would have done that anyway. And of course throw the carbon in the garbage.

I've tossed used carbon in the garden when just taking fishy wastes out of the water. Medicines are a different situation.

Can you take some gravel from your other tank after a day or so and dump it in the beast to again help with reseeding of beneficial bacteria? In the meantime, don't feed the fish in the beast or only feed them a tiny bit, which is immediately taken up. As you know that food will immediately pass on ammonia, which the tank may not be prepared to deal with.

One can also use anti-microbial drugs like metronidazole or Di-metronidazole. It is marketed under a couple of brand names such as Hex-a-mit. It is easier for male aquarists to go to a pet shop and ask for Hex-a-mit than to go to a regular physician and ask for Flagel.

Also the anthelmintic Flubendazole and maybe others seems to do the trick. PetSmart carries Gel-Tek's Ultra Cure PX, which might help if the fish will nose around the stuff. It includes both Metronidazole and two anthelmintics.

Often one of the problems is that with one of the flagellate attacks, the fish stop eating because their gut is so full of flagellate and their throats are so sore that they can't take food. Fortunately Metronidazole and the anthelmintics can be absorbed through the gills.

Way back when  wrote that "It seems that Hexamita and it's near (relative) the Spironucleus are flagellated protozoans which can swim away from a fish and seek out another (at least as youngsters). Sometimes they cause trouble (see GG's comments), sometimes not. There was even another genus of relatives which live in fish, but  probably couldn't be even classed as parasites. There are other flagellated protozoans which can be troublesome for fish (under certain stressful conditions).

Settled Hexamita don't have the long filaments used for swimming, but young (or free-swimming) ones do seem to be able to be expelled from a fish and swim to another. So fry should be treated too.

One study suggested cichlids in a treated tank developed a certain immunity. New fish got it though."

This may be too much after the fact. However for you and me and anyone reading this, please keep it in mind. And the next time we (and I do mean we) fall a little behind in water changes, the tank gets less than pristine and fish begin getting emaciated, spitting up food and/ or passing long stringy, almost empty white feces (because the parasites ate all of the real food), we will have an even better idea what to do.