Parasites

Murica · Feb 16, 2018

My yellow pyramid butterfly has, what appears to be red flukes on him. Are these flukes or something else?

I did a fw dip and they all came off. After they're Id'd, will general cure kill them all?

Murica · Feb 16, 2018

If it is flukes, is it even worth treating the tank? Or should I simply keep the fish healthy

cmcoker · Feb 16, 2018

General cure should kill the flukes, it needs to be done in a separate tank, I believe, since metronidazole isn't reef safe.

You can use prazipro in the display, it could kill worms or feather dusters so habe water on hand in case deaths cause an ammonia spike.

I would dose, that's quite a few coming off that 1 fish. There are prazi resistant strains but hopefully that's not what you have there.

Murica · Feb 16, 2018

cmcoker said:
General cure should kill the flukes, it needs to be done in a separate tank, I believe, since metronidazole isn't reef safe.

You can use prazipro in the display, it could kill worms or feather dusters so habe water on hand in case deaths cause an ammonia spike.

I would dose, that's quite a few coming off that 1 fish. There are prazi resistant strains but hopefully that's not what you have there.

Ordering prazipro now.. Thank you!

cmcoker · Feb 16, 2018

No problem, here's a link more details on how it is recommended to be used in the display.
https://www.reef2reef.com/index.php?threads/247598/

Wrasses can be sensitive to prazipro, so be sure not to overdose if you have any in the tank.

melypr1985 · Feb 16, 2018

I agree that those look to be flukes. Definitely want to treat the display with prazi.

Murica · Apr 4, 2018

I treated tank with prazi twice on two separate occasions and I still have them.. May be resistant strain

deedubz · Apr 4, 2018

Murica said:
I treated tank with prazi twice on two separate occasions and I still have them.. May be resistant strain

How far apart did you dose?
The general consensus nowadays seems to be at least 2 rounds but preferably 3 rounds 5-7 days apart.
Unfortunately it seems like prazi resistant flukes seem to be getting more and more common (at least for me). I have had to deal with them twice in the last 6 months. Ultimately I ended up doing hyposalinity (1.009) in a qt for 5 days.

deedubz · Apr 4, 2018

Odds are you're dealing with a resistant strain if you did it on two separate occasions... That or your biological filter broke the meds down awfully quick. Either way, you may want to setup a qt for your fish and start hypo.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/hyposalinity.247596/

Murica · Apr 4, 2018

I dosed two rounds every five days on two separate occasions.. At least they just seem to be staying on the skin and not in the gills... If that's even a good thing. There's no way I can take out and treat all my fish, so I may just over kill with water changes, vitamin c, etc so that way their immune systems Win the battle [emoji53]

I ran hypo in my display not too long ago and it did wonders.. All aiptasia gone, vermited snails and asterina gone, flukes and most of the ich. But I introduced a new fish into the take that apparently had flukes and now I'm back to square one.. I thought he was healthy.. I thought wrong [emoji19]

Murica · Apr 4, 2018

I'd love to treat all fish with hypo, but I've taken my tank apart so many times I think I may try another route..

Deinonych · Apr 4, 2018

Those look like Neobenedenia sp. - very tough to kill with praziquantel. They are a real pain in the butt. Hyposalinity at <15ppt (SG 1.010) for 5-7 days is the most reliable way to kill them (including the eggs).

Murica · Apr 5, 2018

Deinonych said:
Those look like Neobenedenia sp. - very tough to kill with praziquantel. They are a real pain in the butt. Hyposalinity at <15ppt (SG 1.010) for 5-7 days is the most reliable way to kill them (including the eggs).

Great.. A hypo resistant strain of ich and now this [emoji849]. At least it's not velvet..

Murica · Apr 5, 2018

Are there any other treatments other than prazi that can be added to the display

deedubz · Apr 5, 2018

Other than feeding metroplex with focus or kanaplex with focus for internal parasites and infections, I'm not aware of any.

Murica · Apr 5, 2018

Ok... So I'm going to try and catch all my fish and put them in a separate tank and run hypo while having the display be fallow for a while to eradicate all parasites... Only problem is my green mandarin. Do they usually get parasites? I know he'll die from starving in the quarantine tank... Or should I leave him in the display?

Robink · Apr 5, 2018

I was going to ask if the metro would get rid of them. Reefsafe if you use focus to bind it to the food.

deedubz · Apr 5, 2018

Murica said:
Ok... So I'm going to try and catch all my fish and put them in a separate tank and run hypo while having the display be fallow for a while to eradicate all parasites... Only problem is my green mandarin. Do they usually get parasites? I know he'll die from starving in the quarantine tank... Or should I leave him in the display?

Unfortunately, they can absolutely harbor parasites. I honestly don't know the best method for the mandarin. I bought a dozen bottles/pouches/bags from various sources for my scooter dragonet, who ate frozen and pellets too, and he still starved during ttm/hypo.

#reefsquad any advice?