Gill Flukes that won't go away
I have been dealing with gill flukes in quarantine tanks for weeks now. All of the fish have been through three weeks of Cupramine after which they were moved into two different frag tanks and another (newly setup) quarantine. I have dosed Prazipro every 5 to 7 days, every 3 days, and double dosed and yet the fish still have flukes. After velvet eliminated most of my 265, little did I think that velvet and ich would be gone yet the flukes be so difficult. The latest experiment I tried was bringing the salinity down to 1.014-1.015 having read that deals with some strains. After two days of that the fish still seem to have flukes. I had read it takes two days for juveniles and adults and then five days for the eggs...could it be the hatching eggs that have yet to die that I'm seeing? Could I even see them with the naked eye? I will say that in the lower salinity the Copperband really chases down food and all 3 fish are eating well(Copperband, Orange Shoulder, and Kole Tang). I'm not interested in the anecdotal two year life span that comes with Formalin/Formalin based products but is this all I have left?
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Forgot to mention freshwater dips are the source for fluke confirmation.
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I would drop the salinity down to 1.009 and keep it constant there for 5 days minimum (you will need a calibrated refractometer and stay on top of evaporations). If that doesn't do it you will have to resort to formalin. 2-3 treatments 5 days a part.
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Have. You tried TTM with the freshwater dips in between transfers rather than putting them back in the same tank. I assume you are checking ammonia levels too in the qt tanks . Good that they are eating in hyposalinity . If lagabezan’s trick doesn’t do it . I would consider trying metronidazole and then lastly the formalin as a dip but not a continuous bath
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I forgot to ask : is the prazipro in date ?
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Dropping the salinity to 1.009 would cause PH problems I can't really deal with and from what I understand 1.015 should be low enough to deal with the ones that are affected by a lower salinity.
My tanks have no ammonia as Seachem Matrix does a pretty good job with beneficial bacteria. I didn't think TTM worked for flukes mainly because a freshwater dip wouldn't kill all of them. As far as the Prazipro date is concerned the first few treatments were done with a bottle that was about 18 months old but not expired and the last few have been with a new bottle. Currently trying Paraguard(started yesterday) to see if it can get the job done. |
TTM won't work on flukes based on what I read because they complete their entire lifecycle on the fish; they don't crawl off the fish to lay their eggs.
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Different species of gill flukes exist. Some lay eggs and that is why I recommended the TTM just for the sake of not introducing the fish back into the same tank to become reinfected . Paraguard sounds worthy of a try. Praziquantel was usually listed as drug of choice. Yet I remember that some others have been reporting failure with prazipro too . There are many species of flukes and you may have a difficult one. Dylox has been recommended in use against flukes in koi . I have never used it on marine fish . Bought some yet chickened out on using it . I have been lucky with the FW dips in knocking them off . I do it in between transfers during my treatment/quarantine protocol on new arrivals . Prazipro and metronidazole are some of my initial meds used in the TTM method . So with fw dips, I usually do 3 to 5 total during treatment stage depending on the initial evaluation. . The other nonmedication alternative would be to use the diatomaceous earth filters that are supposed to filter out at micron stage . Marine land makes one . I am throwing ideas out and hopefully you don’t have to continue with treatments if the paraguard works.
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For more confusion https://clinicalsciences.wordpress.c...k923bc3gp4-75/
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Another possibility is to try fenbendazole (Panacur) I bought it and never used . The fish I had eventually bulked upand I never proceeded with the treatment of intestinal parasite
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After 3 days the Paraguard didn't seem to be doing much dosed into the QT. I don't see anything at the bottom of the barebottom tank. I did a 20 minute six x dose(as per the recommended dip dosage) today and there seemed to be flukes as well as these little white looking balls(worms?) at the bottom. Don't want to freshwater dip tonight as I did that yesterday and then Paraguarded them today, so I will do it tomorrow night and see what comes off.
Based on what has happened with my Prazipro experience in the frag tanks I'm starting to think it weakens the fish to the flukes that are resistant to it...allowing them to cause even more damage to the fish. My fish have had more flukes after Prazipro(double dose) than before. |
Well seeing something at the bottom after the concentrated dose sounds positive. That means they are susceptible to it . I have to use that in my treatment regimen if FW dips do not succeed . It’s hard to say if praziquantel usage is producing resistance . They just may not be susceptible to it. This allows the parasite to multiply. One of the issues that seems to pop up with praziquantel is appetite supression . How true that is , I don’t know. I use prazipro only with new arrivals and those fish often are spooked and often not hungry to begin with in a QtTank .
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Just FW dipped the Copperband and this is the first time 0 flukes came off. Maybe there was one there as it's always hard to tell as gill flukes are so small but I may have found an answer here. Gonna dip the two tangs and see how "clean" they are.
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After dipping the two tangs I feel like the flukes are gone. I FW dip in an airstoned ziplock bag floated for temperature but both of the tangs pooped in the bag within one or two minutes. The water becomes dirty pretty quickly so while it's hard to see anything coming off of the fish I can't say I see any flukes floating around or at the bottom. I'm going to assume there are eggs potentially and check again in a few days. Does stuff always come off of fish(making water dirty) when doing a FW dip even if there is no flukes/worms on them?
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Not really do I see other floaties . When I dip I usually do it for very short amt of time . Less than 2 min. Some say to do longer but I watch the fish carefully . If at anytime do I see stress I pull them out. Now I usually don’t do it for a long time because I may not see symptoms. I just do it for the reassurance . If I see symptoms then I may go longer or do multiple dips over time . Good to know that this has resolved. This is one parasite that if unchecked can cause the demise of the fish over a period of time . NOW about those frag tanks . They can be suspect since you had put them in there . They can be a source of reinfection . If it were me . I would never have put fish in there as a QT tank . So my advice is to take them down and sterilize the system . You can always dip the coral in coralrx or similar product. And start the system over .
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Sorry for double post
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Got some new acquisitions and now trying the paraguard . The fish from the LFS was itching . It was in all of their tanks . So after the concentrated dip for an hour, I did see clear floaties that looked like flukes . I immediately added general cure that has prazipro and metronidazole combined . So in three days I will FW dip inbetween the tank transfer . And post an update
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How did the fish do with API General Cure. I have tried it a few times with disastrous results...fish killed. Added as directed in a 50g (40 water)...4 packets, which just the next day the fish were dead. |
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I haven’t tried general cure on wrasses but will keep that in mind . As for paraguard, I now have that in my protocol . I actually like it and think it very effective. I add that in the bag before I net them into the tank . Of course it’s in a bag from the LFS only. If I ever order online, the fish have to be removed from the shipping bag right away. I can’t remember the thread but recommendation was to remove the fish otherwise a sharp increase in pH from fish in shipping bags from online retailers. As for general cure , I haven’t had any problems . I have used other forms of praziquantel and metronidazole . Still no issues. I like that GC comes in a powder and maybe more resistant to degradation overtime in a sealed packet . As for the other forms like prazipro , it’s in a liquid and I don’t know how effective it is over a long storage time when already mixed . As for air stone , I always use in Qt/HT . That is my main source of aeration and cheap too since i don’t have to have a water mover in there . I usually have multiple tanks going on.
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20 minute six x dose....ie recommended is 3 ml/gal. So, you did same as 18ml for 20 minutes in a gal? |
No...I meant the dip is six x the quarantine tank dose. I didn't six x the recommended dip dose.
As an update this didn't end up working. I started raising the salinity back to 1.025 in preparation for the second Paragard dip...and they had flukes again. I then thought maybe it was the 1.015 salinity/Paragard combo that worked the first time...also not it. I ordered quick cure and it gets here Monday so I will see if that is going to work. |
Have you tried Clout? Works much better than prazi which, in my experience at least, is worthless.
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I hope I never encounter that species of fluke . So far all the fish I have used paraguard on has killed the flukes. Did u return the fish to the same tank or did u move to a new Ht after the dip. As for clout, I used that on some freshwater corydoras and saw their skin peel away. I had to euthanize them. Not saying not. To use clout but beware some fish don’t do well with it . I would think the formalin dip should work but you might have to do it several times.
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