Help !!! Flukes

BannerFish · Mar 19, 2019

Okay i had flukes in my tank about 2 months ago. lost about 10 Anthias. have some blennies, wrasses and a blue damsel remaining. last death was about a month ago. after that everything seemed settled.

few days ago i saw one of the wrasse and the damsel yawning, and saw the wrasse scratching on the sad bed.

this happens very very rarely. other than that no other symptoms at all.

My question is how long do i wait till i add more fish ?

Tank size: 1200L, have SPS and LPS corals

reef lover · Mar 19, 2019

I would treat for flukes first in a qt with prazi or general cure. Not sure how long the tank has to be fallow.

BannerFish · Mar 19, 2019

Thanks reef lover.

Unfortunately I'm unable to catch any of the fish

Frtdrmrose7 · Mar 19, 2019

BannerFish said:
Thanks reef lover.

Unfortunately I'm unable to catch any of the fish

How do you know for sure it’s flukes? Have you done a FW dip to confirm?

rirun · Mar 19, 2019

Just went through treating flukes in my dt. Treated with two rounds of prazipro and so far so good.

BannerFish · Mar 19, 2019

Frtdrmrose7 said:
How do you know for sure it’s flukes? Have you done a FW dip to confirm?

My tank is 1200L so it's impossible to catch any fish, so i can't do a FWD.

I came to the conclusion that it is flukes based on the symptoms and the pattern of deaths.

dwest · Mar 19, 2019

BannerFish said:
My tank is 1200L so it's impossible to catch any fish, so i can't do a FWD.

I came to the conclusion that it is flukes based on the symptoms and the pattern of deaths.

Treating the DT with prazipro is very low risk. Also, I know that others have used a trap to catch fish. I’ve never done it, but many have. If you can, I would fw dip to check. If not, go with with prazi.

BannerFish · Mar 21, 2019

Hi Dwest

thanks for your response. I can't use prazi in my DT because i have about 10 feather duster worms. I've heard that prazi kills feather dusters.

Frtdrmrose7 · Mar 21, 2019

BannerFish said:
Hi Dwest

thanks for your response. I can't use prazi in my DT because i have about 10 feather duster worms. I've heard that prazi kills feather dusters.

How are you going to get your fish back to health? There must be a way to get them out for treatment so they all don’t perish.

BannerFish · Mar 22, 2019

Last death was about 1 month ago. remaining fish seems to be okay, only thing is very rarely they yawn and scratch.

my problem is i can't add any more fish cos I'm worried the existing fish might be carriers. should i be worried?

ckalupa · Mar 22, 2019

Yes. Once flukes are present you need to get them out as likely they will become present on all. That was my experience. Buy, rent, make or borrow a fish trap (see YouTube for ideas). Fallow period needed in DT to eliminate in the tank.

Treat in quarantine with Prazipro or if they are resistant to prazi you need hyposalinity Or fenbenzadole to eliminate them from the fish.

New additions of fish without this step are highly likely to get them at some point.

BannerFish · Apr 1, 2019

ckalupa said:
Yes. Once flukes are present you need to get them out as likely they will become present on all. That was my experience. Buy, rent, make or borrow a fish trap (see YouTube for ideas). Fallow period needed in DT to eliminate in the tank.

Treat in quarantine with Prazipro or if they are resistant to prazi you need hyposalinity Or fenbenzadole to eliminate them from the fish.

New additions of fish without this step are highly likely to get them at some point.