Need advice... is this disease or behavior?

LAReefer4Life · Apr 25, 2019

@Humblefish @Ford4life @Big G @4FordFamily @HotRocks @Frtdrmrose7

Is it typical for flukes to survive on fish for 4 plus months? I bought a regal angelfish from LiveAquaria DD and QT'd with cupramine for 80 days from the range of .4-.7. He ate like a pig from day 1 in QT and after I placed him in my DT and he didn't eat for the first week. Now for the last month he has been eating normally and is actively exploring, grazing and swimming.

He was the 1st fish in the tank since running 80 days fallow from an ich breakout. I have noticed minimum yawning and a couple small body twitches and ONLY when he is in the cave with the cleaner shrimp and hermits. I am not sure if this could be part of his normal behavior, possibly marking his territory? Am I just being paranoid and over analyzing every movement due to my ich experience? There is no visible signs of spots anywhere on his body either. The yawning made me think Flukes but I didn't want to pull my regal out and put him through all that stress if I was overreacting. Do fish yawn as part of their normal behavior or only when flukes are present?

Since my Regal has been doing so well for the last month I decided to add my Gem tang (purchased from Live Aquaria DD) to the DT after 6 weeks of QT. My Gem has been eating and following my Regal around the tank. I haven't noticed any flashing, spots, itching on the rocks. See the video.

I am adding my conspicuous angelfish next followed by my male scribbled who is the largest so want him in the DT last. I just want to do right by them and make sure all is good before I proceed with adding them.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated! Thank you so much.

ngoodermuth · Apr 25, 2019

My regal does yawn occasionally, but if it's doing it consistently (like for example you are seeing this behavior multiple times daily) it could indicate flukes. They can go for some time undetected, and would not have been treated by copper. The best way to know for sure would be to do a 5-minute freshwater dip on the fish. It's not super stressful for a healthy fish, and usually they recover pretty quickly.

If the dip does show flukes, you might consider treating the tank with PraziPro. It's generally safe to use in-tank, though feather-dusters and other ornamental worms wouldn't tolerate it, and sometimes if you have a large bristle worm population the die-off can be problematic. It's important to keep the tank well-aerated. If you have a skimmer, keep it running with the cup removed.

I would also treat your other fish as a preventative at that point as well, so they don't re-infect the tank when introduced.

HotRocks · Apr 25, 2019

ngoodermuth said:
My regal does yawn occasionally, but if it's doing it consistently (like for example you are seeing this behavior multiple times daily) it could indicate flukes. They can go for some time undetected, and would not have been treated by copper. The best way to know for sure would be to do a 5-minute freshwater dip on the fish. It's not super stressful for a healthy fish, and usually they recover pretty quickly.

If the dip does show flukes, you might consider treating the tank with PraziPro. It's generally safe to use in-tank, though feather-dusters and other ornamental worms wouldn't tolerate it, and sometimes if you have a large bristle worm population the die-off can be problematic. It's important to keep the tank well-aerated. If you have a skimmer, keep it running with the cup removed.

I would also treat your other fish as a preventative at that point as well, so they don't re-infect the tank when introduced.

I don't have anything to add to this other than I've had this happen where is was in a tank for several months before surfacing.

Great advice by @ngoodermuth