Piperazine for Internal Parasites

[Hermie]

Basically I treated my fish (plural) with praziquantel a few times, including a GSP (puffer), but from my understanding it does not kill all "forms" of internal worms. My fish have been showing signs of internal worms with stringy white excrement but it does not always show up in their waste. Some of the fish do, in my opinion, show signs of "malnourishment" despite relatively heavy feeding. These are sailfin mollies (mixed breed from LFS) and the GSP. Basically, I am pretty sure they have an intestinal parasite especially the puffer, I could be wrong but I can't check the feces because my cheap microscope broke. So, I want to treat them for intestinal worms but not using praziquantel, that stuff to be frank has never worked in my experience. But that's anecdotal and I could just be dealing with roundworms instead of flatworms or whatever else prazi treats.

TL;DR
Can I use piperazine in a QT tank to treat the fish? Why doesn't anyone use it anymore... Maybe it never caught on? What do you think the dosage would be... ?

 

[Big G]

As long as the fish are eating, you could feed them metroplex + Focus + food. Feed for at least a week.

 

[Hermie]

As long as the fish are eating, you could feed them metroplex + Focus + food. Feed for at least a week.

Hmm, it's not indicated to treat worms, only like protozoans...

I'm going to use a Cat Dewormer medicine from Petco containing Piperazine and just dose 250mg per 10 gallons. Once every two or three days. I'm basing this on the pipzine medication I found that's specific for aquarium use and contains Piperazine.

 

[Big G]

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquatronics.html#pipzine

 

[EmdeReef]

No single medication will kill every type of parasite or bacteria. Or at least won’t do it fast enough to matter.

In that sense I don’t know that Piperazine would be more effective than praziquantel or metro depending on the infection.

FWIW metro has been indicated for treatment of internal parasites. Piperazine, when fed, has been used to treat the free stage of roundworms. The treatment protocol of ~5-7 days is similar to metro otherwise.

 

[Hermie]

No single medication will kill every type of parasite or bacteria. Or at least won’t do it fast enough to matter.

In that sense I don’t know that Piperazine would be more effective than praziquantel or metro depending on the infection.

FWIW metro has been indicated for treatment of internal parasites. Piperazine, when fed, has been used to treat the free stage of roundworms. The treatment protocol of ~5-7 days is similar to metro otherwise.

thanks, good advice. I guess I just wonder sometimes why the manufacturers promote certain active ingredients over others. I know the general scientific explanations, but as you said, some diseases require a specific treatment, and it seems those treatments are not as readily "packaged and sold" by fish medication companies.