Flukes Life Span Question

vtecintegra · Oct 10, 2021

I've seen with ich, over many generations, it will die off.

Say there are flukes in the tank, will they burn themselves out over time?

vetteguy53081 · Oct 10, 2021

vtecintegra said:
I've seen with ich, over many generations, it will die off.

Say there are flukes in the tank, will they burn themselves out over time?

Their lifespan is about 3 weeks provided there is no reproduction occurring

vtecintegra · Oct 10, 2021

What if they are reproducing and the fish are able to tolerate them without dying. Would they eventually burn themselves out over a number of generations?

Asking because I believe they got through my quarantine procedures. Prazi has been ineffective so far. Got thinking, over months will they fade away? Or can they keep reproducing indefinitely?

I was doing TMM every 24 hrs for 14 days, dosing general cure all 14 days, and have a firefish scratching after being in the tank for about three months. There is no way to get all of the fish out to try hypo. I built the scape intentionally so each fish had multiple hiding spots. They've had three rounds of liquid prazi 7 days apart in the DT. Saw the firefish still scratching. Now I'm doing three rounds of powder prazi at +25% recommended dosage (9.5mg/gal).

Jay Hemdal · Oct 11, 2021

vtecintegra said:
What if they are reproducing and the fish are able to tolerate them without dying. Would they eventually burn themselves out over a number of generations?

Asking because I believe they got through my quarantine procedures. Prazi has been ineffective so far. Got thinking, over months will they fade away? Or can they keep reproducing indefinitely?

I was doing TMM every 24 hrs for 14 days, dosing general cure all 14 days, and have a firefish scratching after being in the tank for about three months. There is no way to get all of the fish out to try hypo. I built the scape intentionally so each fish had multiple hiding spots. They've had three rounds of liquid prazi 7 days apart in the DT. Saw the firefish still scratching. Now I'm doing three rounds of powder prazi at +25% recommended dosage (9.5mg/gal).

I suppose it depends on the species of flukes. I've seen long term chronic flukes diseases in three cases: a mixed reef, some flashlight fish and some midas cichlids. They had flukes for over a year, despite treatments (couldn't break their egg laying life cycle).
That said, there is a paper out there that indicates that some fish can build a resistance to fluke infestation, not curing them, but keeping them from getting sick to the point of death.

So no, I've never seen flukes burn it self out - they either become chronic infections and linger, or they kill the fish outright.

Jay