Angelfish flashing

[To(meany)Tang]

I need help please. I'm confused on what route I should take. I had 4 fish in qt a clownfish broke out with brook and infected my lemon peel angel. Never bothered my flame angel or midas blenny. The lemonpeel sadly didn't make it but I ended up curing the brook. The fish showed signs of secondary bacterial infection so I treated for that and everyone is now healthy and back to normal except for my flame angel. He flashes on the pvc pipe several times an hour. So I suspected flukes. I treated with prazipro at full dose and the flashing stopped...2 days later I did a water change and the flashing continued again...added another dose of prazi. Flashing stopped. Like magic. 2 days later which is today I did a water change and the flame is flashing again. It's like when I put the prazi he chills out but as soon as I remove it he's back to flashing..never noticed any spasms from the meds. I did notice long stringy poop but it's not really white it's a mix of mostly brown with a hint of white. Any help would be greatly appreciated on what the next step should be. I was thinking fenbendazole. But I'm not sure

 

[blaxsun]

#fishmedic

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I need help please. I'm confused on what route I should take. I had 4 fish in qt a clownfish broke out with brook and infected my lemon peel angel. Never bothered my flame angel or midas blenny. The lemonpeel sadly didn't make it but I ended up curing the brook. The fish showed signs of secondary bacterial infection so I treated for that and everyone is now healthy and back to normal except for my flame angel. He flashes on the pvc pipe several times an hour. So I suspected flukes. I treated with prazipro at full dose and the flashing stopped...2 days later I did a water change and the flashing continued again...added another dose of prazi. Flashing stopped. Like magic. 2 days later which is today I did a water change and the flame is flashing again. It's like when I put the prazi he chills out but as soon as I remove it he's back to flashing..never noticed any spasms from the meds. I did notice long stringy poop but it's not really white it's a mix of mostly brown with a hint of white. Any help would be greatly appreciated on what the next step should be. I was thinking fenbendazole. But I'm not sure

Some fluke species lay eggs. Prazi doesn't kill the eggs, so when they hatch out after a treatment, they can reinfect your fish. However, in your case, the short timing is unusual. It usually takes 4 to 8 days after a treatment for the newly hatched flukes to start the fish scratching again.

Fish rarely scratch for no reason, and the most common reason is flukes. However, particles in the water can cause them to scratch as well.

Options for flukes would be 3 prazi treatments, each 8 days apart (some people end up needing to do 5) or hyposalinity at 1.012 for 35 days.

Jay

 

[To(meany)Tang]

Some fluke species lay eggs. Prazi doesn't kill the eggs, so when they hatch out after a treatment, they can reinfect your fish. However, in your case, the short timing is unusual. It usually takes 4 to 8 days after a treatment for the newly hatched flukes to start the fish scratching again.

Fish rarely scratch for no reason, and the most common reason is flukes. However, particles in the water can cause them to scratch as well.

Options for flukes would be 3 prazi treatments, each 8 days apart (some people end up needing to do 5) or hyposalinity at 1.012 for 35 days.

Jay

Do you believe it could be anything internal that prazi won't work on?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Do you believe it could be anything internal that prazi won't work on?

I’m not sure that scratching would be a symptom of any internal issue, and then, the prazi seemed to give temporary relief….

Jay

 

[To(meany)Tang]

Hey Jay I had a question regarding the flame angel. I removed all the medicine from the water and left if alone without redosing. The angel stopped flashing and does it only once every now and then. He spends all day pacing across and up and down the tank. I notice there's a bacterial bloom happening in the tank and the angels top fin is looking a ripped. Do you think it could be bacterial infection and can a bacterial infection cause flashing? Thanks for your time @Jay Hemdal

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hey Jay I had a question regarding the flame angel. I removed all the medicine from the water and left if alone without redosing. The angel stopped flashing and does it only once every now and then. He spends all day pacing across and up and down the tank. I notice there's a bacterial bloom happening in the tank and the angels top fin is looking a ripped. Do you think it could be bacterial infection and can a bacterial infection cause flashing? Thanks for your time @Jay Hemdal

What other fish are in with the flame? Ripped fins are almost always caused by tankmate aggression - can you post a pic?
What signs are you seeing that indicates a bacterial bloom?
Flashing isn’t a regular symptom of bacteria, but I suppose it could happen.
Jay

 

[To(meany)Tang]

What other fish are in with the flame? Ripped fins are almost always caused by tankmate aggression - can you post a pic?
What signs are you seeing that indicates a bacterial bloom?
Flashing isn’t a regular symptom of flashing, but I suppose it could happen.
Jay

He's in there with a midas blenny and a clownfish in a 30 gallon tank..he chases the clownfish and haven't seen any aggression between him and midas blenny..I suggested bacterial bloom because it's super cloudy. Clearing up now. Also I read dosing prazi can contribute to the bloom which I did dose a couple rounds of prazi. With water changes. I will post a picture below. Also I'm not sure what you mean by "flashing isn't a regular symptoms of flashing " ? Lol

 

[To(meany)Tang]

@Jay Hemdal at the top fin where the red meets the blue

 

[To(meany)Tang]

@Jay Hemdal

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Sorry, meant flashing isn’t a sign of bacterial infections.
The water does look cloudy, and yes, prazi and the solvent in Prazipro can both contribute to bacterial water clouding.
That nip in the angel’s dorsal sure looks like a bite from another fish….the Midas I imagine. It doesn’t look infected though.
The angel is still eating well?

Jay

 

[To(meany)Tang]

Sorry, meant flashing isn’t a sign of bacterial infections.
The water does look cloudy, and yes, prazi and the solvent in Prazipro can both contribute to bacterial water clouding.
That nip in the angel’s dorsal sure looks like a bite from another fish….the Midas I imagine. It doesn’t look infected though.
The angel is still eating well?

Jay

Yes he eats twice a day. He's super active as well as the other fish. Should I do a water change or let the bloom pass on its own? Could they just go in the DT and heal from the bacteria there where the water is clean and established? Or should I heal the fins before transfer?

 

[To(meany)Tang]

Sorry, meant flashing isn’t a sign of bacterial infections.
The water does look cloudy, and yes, prazi and the solvent in Prazipro can both contribute to bacterial water clouding.
That nip in the angel’s dorsal sure looks like a bite from another fish….the Midas I imagine. It doesn’t look infected though.
The angel is still eating well?

Jay

If it's not bacterial and just aggression should I heal them first or can I transfer and let him heal in the DT?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Yes he eats twice a day. He's super active as well as the other fish. Should I do a water change or let the bloom pass on its own? Could they just go in the DT and heal from the bacteria there where the water is clean and established? Or should I heal the fins before transfer?

A water change can't hurt. Is the ammonia level low?

The returning of the scratching worries me - it might not be a good idea to move the fish to the DT if the problem is prone to returning. Personally, I would wait 14 days just to see. If you do decide to move them sooner, the trick is to dose prazi and then move them out 24 hours later - the idea is that the last prazi dose knocks off any flukes, but then, there isn't time for new flukes to hatch and reinfect the fish.

Jay