Flukes

[wazzo]

ok. started my 75 gal in november. finished cycling. all paramiters are great. i bought the first addition last week, a yellow tang. unfortunatley i dont have a QT so i acclimated him for about an hour & dropped him in. within the first hour i noticed him flickering around. the next day was getting worse. still eating well. after a couple days i found out it was flukes. i was able to recover the tang & returned him to the LFS for treatment in the hospital tank. i did a FWD before i took him & found a ton of flukes falling off. question, how long should i leave the tank w/out livestock? how long can the flukes live in the tank without a host? thanks for your time. and yes, after this i will be buying a QT.

[steelersfan]

The response that I received months ago about the same subject is that there is no exact time period. In my case, I left my display tank fallow for 3 months. I am sure that the experts will give you a better answer, but in my case, 3 months worked.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1746059&highlight=fallow+period+for+flukes

[RBU1]

I am not an expert on flukes so I would do some more reasearch online....However from what I remember I thought flukes could only be spread via direct contact. Not positive on this but I thought I read that. Also I am fairly certain you can use Prazipro in your main tank if you really need to. I would advise against it because it will kill other things but as a last resort it is an option. Call and talk to Hikari they are the makers of prazipro they will give you some treatment options.

[wazzo]

thank you for the replies. i have been checking a bit online but right now my computer time is limited due to home internet being down, all i have is the work computer witch i dont get alot of time for personal stuff. ive herd from 2 weeks to 2 months, the tank has been up for a bit & the fam & i are ready for something more than LR in our tank. i just dont want to tear down again. i have found alot on treatment & the effects of FLUKES just found nothing on lifecycle. i will keep looking. my daughter was realy bummed that the tang(robbie) had to go to the doctor for a bit. i checked on him at the LFS yesterday & his collor is comming back but still has bad fin damage from the attack.

[luckyk0505]

Does copper kills fluke?

[john90009]

i remember reading some flukes can live on the rocks or sand or whatever- using flatworm exit or some sort of medication might work- do you have corals in the tank yet?

[john90009]

not to sure but would be pointless to even think about using any copper treatments : / to hard to get out of the tanks totally.

[wazzo]

i remember reading some flukes can live on the rocks or sand or whatever- using flatworm exit or some sort of medication might work- do you have corals in the tank yet?


no corals yet. just a small cleaner crew & 1 brittle star.

[KingwoodMarcia]

Copper does not kill flukes. Use Prazipro. Flukes and / eggs can drop off into the main display but the fish need some contact with them. Fresh water dip will kill the flukes but not thier eggs. That is why it is suggested to do several dips over a period of 3 weeks or so.

wetwebmedia has a ton of stuff on flukes. I just had them on my angel fish. Also look at http://uskoi.com/prazipro.htm

[luckyk0505]

is prazipro inverts / coral safe?

[RBU1]

Copper does not kill flukes. Use Prazipro. Flukes and / eggs can drop off into the main display but the fish need some contact with them. Fresh water dip will kill the flukes but not thier eggs. That is why it is suggested to do several dips over a period of 3 weeks or so.

wetwebmedia has a ton of stuff on flukes. I just had them on my angel fish. Also look at http://uskoi.com/prazipro.htm


Not true copper will kill certain kinds of flukes...Call Seachem they will explain it to you.

[LargeAngels]

Cupramine does not kill the most common skin flukes, unfortunately.

[RegalAngel]

For general all around parasites try API's General Cure!

[KingwoodMarcia]

Prazipro works well with star fish and some snails. I have not use it with corals, I have a FOWLR tank. Look on thier website and/or call them. When I called them they were very nice. Also safe with eels.

Common skin flukes, copper does not work, unless used at very high levels, levels that would kill the fish along with everything in the tank. Might as will use battery acid at that point.

However, I could be wrong from what I have been reading and talking to others about flukes. My Passer just had them.

I will do some more research on them.

Thanks

[RBU1]

When I asked Seachem if Cuprmaine kills Flukes they told me yes. Now what type I am not sure...

[hottuna]

cupramine (or any other copper) is ineffective against egg laying Gill Flukes....as per nat'l fish pharm...3-4 weeks of praziquantel may get them all .It does not kill the eggs -so one must wait for a complete life cycle to pass inorder to eradicate them.

[wazzo]

cupramine (or any other copper) is ineffective against egg laying Gill Flukes....as per nat'l fish pharm...3-4 weeks of praziquantel may get them all .It does not kill the eggs -so one must wait for a complete life cycle to pass inorder to eradicate them.

do you know how long the life cycle is?

[RBU1]

Cupramine does not kill the most common skin flukes, unfortunately.


Here is something from Seachem

ACTION: Cupramine™ eradicates Oodinium and Ich at 0.1–0.2
mg/L, Cryptocaryon at 0.25–0.35 mg/L, Trematodes and other
parasites at 0.4–0.5 mg/L. With a 10–14 day exposure at 0.4 mg/L
most infestations will be eradicated and secondary bacterial and
fungal infections will be controlled.

Trematodes are flukes....

[LargeAngels]

There are different types of flukes. The most annoying lately are monogene flukes. They only need the host to reproduce and live and that is why it is more difficult to eradicate.

As stated above "most infestations will be eradicated" not "all."