Lion Fish Looks Like Gulping Air

[Ken Roane]

My large lion in 400 gallon aquarium has been going to surface and pokes mouth out of water and seems to be gulping for air.
My treatment has been for flukes using PraziPro that seems to work for a few weeks then the gulping starts again. I have given a fresh water bath and did find under microscope flukes. I can only believe that the flukes are in the gills that are more difficult to kill.
Can someone with knowledge with the gulping condition give me some guidance. Perhaps it’s not even flukes.

 

[Big G]

The gulping of the air is a solid symptom of gill flukes.

There are some Prazi resistant flukes around these days. Might want to try another type of de-wormer. And freshwater dips are largely uneffective for removing and testing for flukes that are within the gills. The mucous layer protects the worms from the brief dip. So the flukes you saw from the dip were those from the fish's skin. Hyposalinity is very effective and requires no additional medications. Just careful adjusting and maintaining of hypo salinity levels. Keep at 15 ppt for 5 days to completely eliminate both adults, juveniles and the eggs that have been laid deep within the gills.

More info: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/flukes-–-general-guidelines.224423/

@lion king

 

[Ken Roane]

The gulping of the air is a solid symptom of gill flukes.

There are some Prazi resistant flukes around these days. Might want to try another type of de-wormer. And freshwater dips are largely uneffective for removing and testing for flukes that are within the gills. The mucous layer protects the worms from the brief dip. So the flukes you saw from the dip were those from the fish's skin. Hyposalinity is very effective and requires no additional medications. Just careful adjusting and maintaining of hypo salinity levels. Keep at 15 ppt for 5 days to completely eliminate both adults, juveniles and the eggs that have been laid deep within the gills.

More info: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/flukes-–-general-guidelines.224423/

@lion king

Wow, you seem to be knowledgeable and I appreciate your reply. My tank is only fish, no corrals and I keep the salinity @ 1.025.
I don’t understand what hypo salinity treatment 15 ppt is? Please explain

 

[piranhaman00]

Wow, you seem to be knowledgeable and I appreciate your reply. My tank is only fish, no corrals and I keep the salinity @ 1.025.
I don’t understand what hypo salinity treatment 15 ppt is? Please explain

Lowering your salinity to 15ppt will kill the flukes. I suggest trying fluconazole.

 

[Big G]

Wow, you seem to be knowledgeable and I appreciate your reply. My tank is only fish, no corrals and I keep the salinity @ 1.025.
I don’t understand what hypo salinity treatment 15 ppt is? Please explain

15 ppt (parts per thousand) is equal to 1.0113 (Relative Specific Gravity (sg)

How to do hypo salinity. Note the comment in the "Pro" section in the link below:

Hyposalinity

Hyposalinity (Osmotic Shock Therapy) What It Treats – Marine Ich (Cryptocaryon irritans) and Flukes (Monogeneans). How To Treat – Place the fish you wish to treat in a quarantine tank with SG & temperature matching the tank they came from. Over a period of 48 hours, gradually lower the SG...

www.reef2reef.com