Possible gill fluke

[kevindo123]

Fresh water dip did not turn up anything. The only white stuff I found are fish roe. After 8 min, I put back in the QT.

 

[Humblefish]

Fresh water dip did not turn up anything. The only white stuff I found are fish roe. After 8 min, I put back in the QT.

After you do the second round of Prazipro (just to be safe), I would treat with copper for 30 days. I am suggesting copper over TTM just in case this is actually velvet. I've seen cases where clownfish can last for a pretty long time whilst battling velvet, presumably due to their incredibly thick mucous coat. Was this the only fish in your DT or do you have others?

 

[kevindo123]

I have a borbonius anthias and a yellow
tang in same display as the black clownfish. Tang has been moved to another DT as it was attacking the borbonius. Both fish seems to doing well so far.

 

[kevindo123]

My QT has some sudden fish death. They would become very ill the next day after introduction. I don't know why but I may have contaminated my DT with something in the QT. Last fish that died was a onyx clown fish that may have came down velvet or brooklynella as the clown fish was covered in whitish mucus on its entire body and fins were all tattered.

 

[Humblefish]

I have a borbonius anthias and a yellow
tang in same display as the black clownfish. Tang has been moved to another DT as it was attacking the borbonius. Both fish seems to doing well so far.

^^That suggests ich or possibly Brooklynella on your clownfish then. However, brook almost always has visible physical symptoms (skin peeling) associated with it.

 

[kevindo123]

I can get CP from my LFS. Would this be better than copper? You indicated in Treatment options that it takes care of ick, velvet, and brook.

 

[Humblefish]

I can get CP from my LFS. Would this be better than copper? You indicated in Treatment options that it takes care of ick, velvet, and brook.

In order for CP to be considered effective it has to be pharmaceutical grade 99% pure CP. That can only be obtained from a pharmacy, which requires a prescription. More info here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/chloroquine-phosphate.192309/

 

[Highgrade]

I have a Midas Blenny that has been in QT for a month now. I've been using prazi but have not seen any flukes or other parasites and no ich for the past month. Yesterday a spot popped up on the Blenny's side. I thought it was just an injury from going in and out of the PCP in my QT. Until today I noticed something looking like a flatworm attached to his body. It was clear and waving around like a flag. He otherwise has been in great shape and eating fine. Just a couple of hours ago I did a dip in a double dose of Seachem ParaGuard for about 30 mins. The parasite (fluke I believe) wriggle its way out. Then two white worm like parasites came out of his gills. Most likely flukes. I gave him a quick FW dip then back into QT. I understand it may have caused some stress to him but needless to say he is back to normal in QT. Swimming around like nothing happened. Don't know if anyone has had much experience with Paragaurd but I believe its similar to formalin. As for my experience with Paraguard I've had nothing but good results come from it. Even when dosing in higher quantites than recommended.

 

[kevindo123]

In order for CP to be considered effective it has to be pharmaceutical grade 99% pure CP. That can only be obtained from a pharmacy, which requires a prescription. More info here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/chloroquine-phosphate.192309/

There are some sales on Ebay that claimed 99% pure with lab report. I guess these are all false claims and all are made from China?

 

[Humblefish]

I have a Midas Blenny that has been in QT for a month now. I've been using prazi but have not seen any flukes or other parasites and no ich for the past month. Yesterday a spot popped up on the Blenny's side. I thought it was just an injury from going in and out of the PCP in my QT. Until today I noticed something looking like a flatworm attached to his body. It was clear and waving around like a flag. He otherwise has been in great shape and eating fine. Just a couple of hours ago I did a dip in a double dose of Seachem ParaGuard for about 30 mins. The parasite (fluke I believe) wriggle its way out. Then two white worm like parasites came out of his gills. Most likely flukes. I gave him a quick FW dip then back into QT. I understand it may have caused some stress to him but needless to say he is back to normal in QT. Swimming around like nothing happened. Don't know if anyone has had much experience with Paragaurd but I believe its similar to formalin. As for my experience with Paraguard I've had nothing but good results come from it. Even when dosing in higher quantites than recommended.

I need to do more experimentation with Paraguard. Seachem sent me a bottle of it, but would not explain exactly what is in it. If the "aldehydes" found in it work the same as formalin, then it would be useful as a dewormer and might even treat "surface parasites" such as velvet & brook. My LFS uses it on all new fish and his shipments usually look pretty good.

There are some sales on Ebay that claimed 99% pure with lab report. I guess these are all false claims and all are made from China?

That's just the thing: One batch coming from China might be 99% pure, the next 95%, the next 90%, etc. There's no consistency. And who exactly does the lab report? The supplier? My guess is if the reseller requested a certificate of analysis from his supplier, the supplier is going to make sure the batch that was tested is spot on.

 

[kevindo123]

Should I give paraguard a shot? My LFS has it.

 

[Humblefish]

Should I give paraguard a shot? My LFS has it.

I doubt Paraguard will help with ich, as those trophonts dig in under the epithelium (outer skin layer). And even formalin doesn't usually remove all the velvet "surface parasites" in one pass, which is why you still must treat with copper or CP afterwards.

And if the FW dip didn't turn up anything, I doubt your clownfish still has flukes. I would just do one more round of Prazipro to be safe, as 2 rounds spaced about a week apart are protocol.

 

[kevindo123]

OMG. My borbonius just came down what looks to be like velvet. I see lots of white dots on its head and fins as well as some hazing of the fins.

Sorry, I cannot get a better picture.

Attached also the black clown in fresh water dip this morning. I didn't notice the white haze until now.

I just got back from the LFS:

I have the following meds:

1. Furan2
2. MB
3. Cupermine
4. Prazipro
5. Paraguard

 

[Humblefish]

@kevindo123 I'm actually seeing it more on the clownfish than the anthias. Here is my velvet protocol: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/defeating-marine-velvet-disease.217570/

I guess using the meds you have on hand I would:

1. Give all fish a 5 min FW dip
2. Followed by a 60 min Paraguard bath
3. Place in QT and treat with Cupramine
4. Furan-2 may be needed if you notice signs of a secondary bacterial infection

 

[kevindo123]

Got it.

bucket #1: oxygenated (/w airstone) FW and adjusted to tank temperature
bucket #2: 1G of salt water (made a clean batch last night) /w 3ml of paraguard

1. Dip anthias and clown fish in bucket #1 for 5 minutes then 60 minutes in bucket #2 with airstone.
2. Add 20 drops / 10G of cupramine for first 48 hours in QT tank, follow by a final 20 drops/10G after 48 hours.

 

[kevindo123]

Anthias and clownfish in FW dip.

You can notice the small spots around the anthias eyes and head if you zoom in the pic.

 

[kevindo123]

Anthias is out of paraguard dip and in the QT tank. It seems pretty stressed out.

The Clownfish seems very relaxed and not stress at all in the dip. Here you can see the many tiny white dots on the clown. Strangely I do not see if I look at it in the tank.

 

[kevindo123]

How to dose seachem cupramine? I have ~14G of water in QT.

Instruction says 1ml/10.5G every 48 hours until final concentration of 0.5mg/L. I dose 1.4ml to the tank already.

 

[kevindo123]

I took out the liverock and replaced with some 2" PVC fittings last night. I have done a 1/3 water change /w 0.5ml of cupramine this morning. Both fish seems relaxed. Anthias is looking for a hiding place when I changed the water so it seems to be doing ok. Clownfish breathing is not rapid as before. I will try to feed it before I go to work. I still have some marinepure biomedia ceramic balls in the back. I'm not sure if I should take them out. I will get some filter sponges for my two media baskets today. How should I seed it safely with cupramine in the tank?

 

[Humblefish]

I will get some filter sponges for my two media baskets today. How should I seed it safely with cupramine in the tank?

I would put them in a small bucket, add something like Seachem Stability (bacteria in a bottle), and let it circulate for 2-3 days. If you add them directly to the QT and then try to dose Stability, the copper will kill the nitrifying bacteria before it can ever embed into the sponges. However, if the bacteria has already started to propagate within the sponge, enough should survive once exposed to copper and bounce back quickly.