Advice on treatment for flukes

[MrTaleb]

Hey so I had some time today to watch the tank before I start raising salinity and the triggerfish is scratching and has a cloudy eye. It has been 35 days at 1.009 and I haven't added anything so I don't know why hypo didn't work.
Now I feel stuck, I can't raise salinity as I risk an outbreak. I'm honestly really surprised the hypo didn't work.
And to be clear, he was doing great and completely normal for most of hypo and I haven't had much time the past week to watch the tank. Today I saw him scratch and I took a closer look.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Properly done, 30 days of full hypo is enough to eliminate Neobenedenia essentially 100% of the time. There is a rarer brackish water fluke that can survive hypo, but I doubt you have those, they are usually only seen in public aquariums that have large collections of brackish water fishes.

I see a lot of particles in the water, that can cause a fish to scratch. The cloudy eye may be from a strike injury.

Why is the trigger still swimming head up like that? That isn't normal, but I don't know what would cause that.

 

[MrTaleb]

Properly done, 30 days of full hypo is enough to eliminate Neobenedenia essentially 100% of the time. There is a rarer brackish water fluke that can survive hypo, but I doubt you have those, they are usually only seen in public aquariums that have large collections of brackish water fishes.

I see a lot of particles in the water, that can cause a fish to scratch. The cloudy eye may be from a strike injury.

Why is the trigger still swimming head up like that? That isn't normal, but I don't know what would cause that.

I'm honestly not sure why he swims like that. He completely stopped doing it for a few weeks but started doing it again yesterday. He seems to be doing better today and I started raising salinity slowly around midnight last night (added salt water to that ATO). AC is running at a constant temperature and evaporation has been consistent so I did the math and I should be bringing it up 0.01 every 12 hours.

 

[MrTaleb]

Hey, so salinity is up to 1.018. It hasn't been easy bringing it up slowly as my math for the ATO was way off so I have been doing it manually. The triggerfish is still scratching his eye but besides that I haven't seen any fish show symptoms.
I am a little worried now because salinity is getting to the point where it won't suppress the flukes and the other fish could start to get infected right? That's assuming there is still flukes in the system.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hey, so salinity is up to 1.018. It hasn't been easy bringing it up slowly as my math for the ATO was way off so I have been doing it manually. The triggerfish is still scratching his eye but besides that I haven't seen any fish show symptoms.
I am a little worried now because salinity is getting to the point where it won't suppress the flukes and the other fish could start to get infected right? That's assuming there is still flukes in the system.

I think the risk of flukes is minimal, but the trigger seems to have some issue - scratching its eye and the upright swimming posture. I just don’t know what that might be.

 

[MrTaleb]

I think the risk of flukes is minimal, but the trigger seems to have some issue - scratching its eye and the upright swimming posture. I just don’t know what that might be.

So I am looking at his eye up close now and when he turn it at a certain angle I can see a grain of sand in it. Like stuck between the eye and the socket. I'm trying to get a video of it but it's hard.

 

[MrTaleb]

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

There are two types of eye flukes; Neobenedenia that lives on the fish’s eye surface and is flat an oval, these can cover 1/3 of the fish’s eye and are seen as a general cloudiness. There is another, smaller, rod shaped digenean that lives inside the eye.

The problem is, this doesn’t look like either issue to me. I don’t know what would cause that…..

 

[MrTaleb]

There are two types of eye flukes; Neobenedenia that lives on the fish’s eye surface and is flat an oval, these can cover 1/3 of the fish’s eye and are seen as a general cloudiness. There is another, smaller, rod shaped digenean that lives inside the eye.

The problem is, this doesn’t look like either issue to me. I don’t know what would cause that…..

I agree, I think I've read every comment you've ever posted on flukes . I'm honestly not sure what to do. If it isn't sand, could it be a lympho nodule (because it's so big and white)?

 

[MrTaleb]

What are these on the tomini tang? This is the first time I see them.
Edit: looks like a textbook case of lympho?
Video of trigger's eye today.

 

[MrTaleb]

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

What are these on the tomini tang? This is the first time I see them.
Edit: looks like a textbook case of lympho?
Video of trigger's eye today.

The video of the tomini is short and not really clear, but I’d say those are leeches. These are pretty rare in aquariums, and really rare on tangs (I usually see them on puffers). If you can get me a clearer/longer video, I might be able to confirm.

What is the tang’s history? How long has it had these?

Leeches are tough to control. Dylox works, but is too toxic to use in a home. Formalin dips work, but is only slightly less toxic than dylox. Sometimes, a 7 minute freshwater dip will dislodge them, but is stressful to the fish.

I still can’t tell you what the issue is with the trigger, but it doesn’t look like flukes.

 

[MrTaleb]

The video of the tomini is short and not really clear, but I’d say those are leeches. These are pretty rare in aquariums, and really rare on tangs (I usually see them on puffers). If you can get me a clearer/longer video, I might be able to confirm.

What is the tang’s history? How long has it had these?

Leeches are tough to control. Dylox works, but is too toxic to use in a home. Formalin dips work, but is only slightly less toxic than dylox. Sometimes, a 7 minute freshwater dip will dislodge them, but is stressful to the fish.

I still can’t tell you what the issue is with the trigger, but it doesn’t look like flukes.

The tomini tang was the first fish in the tank but stays mostly in the rockwork so I don't see him often, but I saw him a few days ago and he had nothing on him. He went through hypo with the rest of the fish. I will try to get a better video, the white things are strandy (if that's any help).

 

[MrTaleb]

Does this video help?
I was able to get a better video

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Does this video help?
I was able to get a better video

Yes, this helps. See how some of the “threads” coming out of the fish are in a V? Those are egg sacs of a parasitic copepod buried in the fish’s skin. This is another rare parasite, but I have seen these on tangs before. They call these “anchor worms” in fish, but they aren’t worms, but rather, crustaceans.

These are also tough to treat. Dimilin will keep copepods from molting, but it won’t kill the adults already on the fish.

Because they are so deeply seated in the fish, formalin and FW dips don’t help much.

Edit: Ugh - I watched the videos again. The V I saw in the video may be two leeches really close together, so you’ll have to decide which issue you have….

 

[MrTaleb]

Oh wow, I appreciate the explanation. Could that explain the heavy breathing too? In your experience are these contagious? As in do the rest of the fish also have them if one does? Do you think hypo kept this parasite at bay but now that salinity is closer to normal I will be seeing more symptoms?

 

[MrTaleb]

Just saw your edit, appreciate you watching it again. I'll try to make a decision

 

[Spare time]

The video of the tomini is short and not really clear, but I’d say those are leeches. These are pretty rare in aquariums, and really rare on tangs (I usually see them on puffers). If you can get me a clearer/longer video, I might be able to confirm.

What is the tang’s history? How long has it had these?

Leeches are tough to control. Dylox works, but is too toxic to use in a home. Formalin dips work, but is only slightly less toxic than dylox. Sometimes, a 7 minute freshwater dip will dislodge them, but is stressful to the fish.

I still can’t tell you what the issue is with the trigger, but it doesn’t look like flukes.

Do you think rally pro would kill them?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Do you think rally pro would kill them?

I don't think so - it is too mild.

 

[Spare time]

I don't think so - it is too mild.

I wonder if the fish is caught if they can be physically removed.