I have flukes

[Matt L.]

Well, more specifically, my fish do. Thankfully, I don't.

After all these years of rigid quarantine, either the flukes were always in the system, or they somehow got introduced. Anyhow, they're here now.

* * *

After Thanksgiving, I noticed that my fish were not behaving normally. My Pyramid butterflies were up at the surface, breathing heavily, and bickering between my Majestic Angel and my Pyramid Butterflies escalated.

On my angel, I ccould see the gill fluke protruding. It was hard to see at first, because it rests right next to the gill spine. But there is definitely something there protruding about half an inch::

I can also see the markings on the eyes and the cloudiness.

On December 1, I started liquid Prazipro at the recommended dosage of one fluid ounce per 120gal. I turned skimming and carbon off. Fish health seemed to improve almost immediately, with the rapid breathing disappearing and the eyes clearing up.
On December 8, I performed a 25% water change, and again dosed liquid Prazipro at the recommended dosage. Carbon and skimming were still off.
On December 15, I performed a 25% water change, and started carbon and skimming.
On December 20, I saw that the gill fluke was still present on my angel. There are no signs of heavy breathing. The eyes are not cloudy, but the markings are still present. Fish behavior is otherwise normal, so I reapplied Prazipro at 15% above the recommended dosage.

Does anyone have any advice? I can remove fish and quarantine them. That's not a problem. My concern is the stress involved in capturing and removing a fish from the system, and the stress of quarantine.

Should I keep dosing Prazipro? For how long?

Would a freshwater dip work to dislodge these parasites, and perhaps help the fish get the upper hand on them?

Please advise,

Matt

 

[niftyjosh]

Freshwater dip will cause all flukes to drop within seconds.

Out of curiosity, do you have cleaner shrimp or any type of cleaner gobys?

 

[Cherokee_Dude]

Matt, Do you have any pics? I can't find any good ones online of Flukes on a wrasse.

 

[AnthonyP]

Do you have a cleaner shrimp or two? My understanding is that once flukes are in your system that they are hard to get rid of b/c they are a type of flatworm parasite that can live in the sand for many months and then say 6 or 9 months later decide to cling on to your fish. So probably rule out qt. a positive thing about flukes is that there are hundreds of different kinds and most all of them do require a specifics species of snail and a tropical bird to complete a full life cycle and since we do not have birds then they should run the course. I would feed your fish the healthiest food possible try freshwater dips if they are covered but probably would not keep bombing the tank with chemicals . But rather have a perfect efficient water change schedule and work on keeping your system perfect and stable and the fish fat and happy... Also corals and cleaner shrimp would eat the flukes and water changes would be helping remove them ...

 

[Matt L.]

Thank you for all the useful information.

On New Year's, because I'll be off from work that day, I'll get the larger fish out of the aquarium and provide a freshwater dip. Then, with continued Prazipro dosing, perhaps I can get the upper hand.

I will do my best to take pictures, but, with fish, I'm not very good.

Matt

 

[Andy V]

Cleaner shrimp and fish will not do anything to cure this, although they may mitigate the outbreak. Not to mention they will likely become victims of the flukes themselves. These animals do not eat flukes in the wild. Freshwater dips are pretty effective but not always 100% effective. Combining a freshwater dip with prazipro is your best bet.

Also, it is likely that one of your fish has had flukes for awhile, because they cannot live without a host. The only way to cure the tank is to remove EVERY fish and quarantine and leave the display fallow for 60 days. The scientific studies show 60 days fallow should be adequate, not the months mentioned previously.

 

[Andy V]

I also forgot to mention paraguard... freshwater dips followed by prazipro and then paraguard. Each one will work for certain types of flukes, but since you cannot always see them, you may want to do all three, or have long observation periods between the three treatments.

 

[nicks387]

3 full tank treatments of prazi pro should completely take care of it. No need to let the tank go fallow at all if you do 3 treatments. A fresh water dip to any seriously infested fish will help as well, but is very stressful and again, not needed if you do the 3 treatments. I have done this and gone through it to help others as well. Prazi pro dosed a little above recomended dosage will kill all skin and or gill flukes in 3 treatments

 

[Andy V]

3 full tank treatments of prazi pro should completely take care of it. No need to let the tank go fallow at all if you do 3 treatments. A fresh water dip to any seriously infested fish will help as well, but is very stressful and again, not needed if you do the 3 treatments. I have done this and gone through it to help others as well. Prazi pro dosed a little above recomended dosage will kill all skin and or gill flukes in 3 treatments

Respectfully, this is incorrect. There are multiple kinds of flukes and not all of them are killed by FW dips or prazipro. That's why you sometimes will need to do paraguard as well.

 

[Matt L.]

Thank you again for all the useful information.

I believe there had been flukes in the tank for years, but for some reason, they chose now for an outbreak.

I am not familiar with paraguard. Us it reef safe?

 

[Andy V]

No it is not reef safe. It is sea chems version of formalin but slightly different and a lot less toxic to you and your fish.

You have to remove all of the fish. Like I said, because of the multitude of fluke varieties, you don't know which of the three cures will work. Obviously, fresh water dips are not reef safe, and neither is para guard. No fish in the tank and most flukes are gone from the display after a couple weeks. 60 days to be safe. But the fish have to be totally cured in quarantine before you can put them back in the display.

The solution is not difficult, just a pain in the butt. There is only one way to be sure you have cured for flukes if you are in fact dealing with flukes and you have diagnosed correctly.

 

[Matt L.]

No it is not reef safe. It is sea chems version of formalin but slightly different and a lot less toxic to you and your fish.

You have to remove all of the fish. Like I said, because of the multitude of fluke varieties, you don't know which of the three cures will work. Obviously, fresh water dips are not reef safe, and neither is para guard. No fish in the tank and most flukes are gone from the display after a couple weeks. 60 days to be safe. But the fish have to be totally cured in quarantine before you can put them back in the display.

The solution is not difficult, just a pain in the butt. There is only one way to be sure you have cured for flukes if you are in fact dealing with flukes and you have diagnosed correctly.

When I move the fish to a new tank, I am going to quarantine them. I do a full quarantine on all fish and corals, but over time, I've found that things just get through. In the past, moving provides a great opportunity to separate the fish and the corals for quarantine while the new tank gets established.

In the mean time, I think I will do a freshwater dip on select fish that seem to be the most affected. I can do this without too much disruption to the tank.

Matt