Deworming in reef

[Naiad]

So say I want to treat some fish with white stringy poop but removing them from a reef setup is not an option, what would be the best course of action?

P.s. I know the absolute best course is to remove fish to qt. I am just trying to learn what to do in a case that a qt is not available.

 

[Greenstreet.1]

Prazi pro

 

[Humblefish]

If we were talking about flukes, then dosing Prazipro would be the best way to go.

However, for intestinal worms (which cause white stringy poop); the best "reef safe" option is to food soak metronidazole (ex. Seachem Metroplex) and also use Seachem Focus to bind the medication to the food. Ensuring the medication has to pass thru the intestines is the best way to clear out intestinal worms.

 

[Naiad]

If we were talking about flukes, then dosing Prazipro would be the best way to go.

However, for intestinal worms (which cause white stringy poop); the best "reef safe" option is to food soak metronidazole (ex. Seachem Metroplex) and also use Seachem Focus to bind the medication to the food. Ensuring the medication has to pass thru the intestines is the best way to clear out intestinal worms.

Would that negatively hurt any lps or inverts that would by chance consume the food. I take it you want to feed medicated food as sparingly as possible to avoid the cuc getting it.

 

[Humblefish]

Would that negatively hurt any lps or inverts that would by chance consume the food. I take it you want to feed medicated food as sparingly as possible to avoid the cuc getting it.

Feed it at least once a day. I've done it several times in full blown reefs with no noticeable ill effect to any corals/inverts. However, I also run carbon as an insurance policy when I do it. Just in case a little of the medication leaches out into the water.

 

[puffy127]

Check out the thread about curing dinos - some of us are dosing metro directly in the water column in reef tanks with no ill effects to corals, nems, and inverts...so far. So I wouldn't worry about a little bit leeching out from the food.

 

[melypr1985]

+1 to metro in the food.

 

[Humblefish]

Check out the thread about curing dinos - some of us are dosing metro directly in the water column in reef tanks with no ill effects to corals, nems, and inverts...

This is true, and the same probably applies to most antibiotics as well. But all it takes is one coral to interact negatively, die and trigger an ammonia spike.

 

[Greenstreet.1]

Don't know how I forget about metro I'm using it now to fight dinos I wonder if it's helping my fish also

 

[Naiad]

Well I will file metro under cure for worms and dino!

 

[Humblefish]

Well I will file metro under cure for worms and dino!

FWIW; food soaking praziquantel will sometimes clear intestinal worms as well. This is what LADD does. I've just had better luck using metro.

 

[Naiad]

Thank you! I've just come to notice a good amount of "healthy" fish in nice systems I see around here show signs of intestinal worms. As long as they have a good diet and nothing else is wrong they do fine so people don't notice. These tanks are not really hobbiest tanks but just displays. People are more apt to treat the fish when they don't have to break the system down. So now I know a way to help the fish that is more likely to be accepted.

 

[puffy127]

Don't know how I forget about metro I'm using it now to fight dinos I wonder if it's helping my fish also

I treated my bicolor angel with prazi during qt, still had long stringy poops, sometimes white, sometimes green. Treated it with general cure (prazi and metro) for two full rounds, still same thing. Otherwise seemed fine, so at the end of qt, plopped him in the DT. Been in there for over 8 months, and is fine. Eats well, swims well, and bullies other fish larger than him, but I still see stringy poops from time to time. Wasn't about to try to catch him from the dt to try to treat again, knowing that prazi and general cure didn't do anything for it last time. The added bonus for using metro in my dt for dinos was to see if it might have an effect on his stringy poops. Not sure yet as I don't see his stringy poops all the time.

 

[Greenstreet.1]

I don't see any stringy poop from any of my fish

 

[Humblefish]

FWIW; intestinal worms/internal parasites are sometimes a thing many fish can live with for a long time. Not saying it's good for them (like ich), but they can manage it. Depends upon the strain of worm and how overall healthy/hardy your fish is. I know a lady who had a clownfish with white stringy poop for 9 years. I used that clownfish to test out food soaking metro and it cleared it in 3 weeks.

 

[jtroxel1]

Do Freshwater Dips help or cure intestinal worms?