Scrapes on my fishy :(

[jrevoman]

The fish look good except for the dart fish’s flashing. In rare instances, flashing can be behavioral, but I’ve seen that mostly in wrasses and sometimes tangs - not this species.
I guess just run the second dose, and check your dose to ensure it is correct.

Jay

It's confused me a lot too, I've had him nearly four months now and he's done it the whole time, I only realized it could be a sign of illness when I started this thread. Any idea what could've been the issue with the YWG? Regardless he has seemed great except for that one night. Now that I think about it I could've been seeing things, maybe that phenomenon where if you are looking for something you are more likely to see it?
To add: I may have been overdosing the prazipro slightly, I only realized after the second dose that I was dosing for 20 gallons, when in reality with all the rock and sand it is probably closer to 15.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

It's confused me a lot too, I've had him nearly four months now and he's done it the whole time, I only realized it could be a sign of illness when I started this thread. Any idea what could've been the issue with the YWG? Regardless he has seemed great except for that one night. Now that I think about it I could've been seeing things, maybe that phenomenon where if you are looking for something you are more likely to see it?
To add: I may have been overdosing the prazipro slightly, I only realized after the second dose that I was dosing for 20 gallons, when in reality with all the rock and sand it is probably closer to 15.

Ah - that could be an issue (not causing the flashing though). Praziquantel itself has a very wide dose rate, from 2 to 4 mg/l. However, the solvent used in Prazipro (a glycol) can cause problems if overdosed.

I generally deduct about 15% of a tank's volume for rock and sand displacement.

Jay

 

[jrevoman]

Ah - that could be an issue (not causing the flashing though). Praziquantel itself has a very wide dose rate, from 2 to 4 mg/l. However, the solvent used in Prazipro (a glycol) can cause problems if overdosed.

I generally deduct about 15% of a tank's volume for rock and sand displacement.

Jay

Okay, I'll dose again with the correct amount on saturday and then update

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Okay, I'll dose again with the correct amount on saturday and then update

If their conditions worsens before then, check back in and we can re-assess....

Jay

 

[jrevoman]

If their conditions worsens before then, check back in and we can re-assess....

Jay

Ok so last night around 7pm i did a 20% water change and then did the third dose of prazi, and this morning he was still flashing frequently…still nothing else out of the ordinary in the tank

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Ok so last night around 7pm i did a 20% water change and then did the third dose of prazi, and this morning he was still flashing frequently…still nothing else out of the ordinary in the tank

Well, I’m stumped! 3 prazi doses should each have given at least temporary relief from the flashing, even if it was a temporary improvement.
Jay

 

[Idech]

Videos aren’t showing for me but could it be ich ? Ich can cause flashing too, right ?

 

[jrevoman]

Videos aren’t showing for me but could it be ich ? Ich can cause flashing too, right ?

Jay has been helping me with this for about 3 weeks now, and he pretty much had it narrowed down to gill flukes, since theres no other symptoms and my other fish seems fine.

My next question is my LFS has been holding a possum wrasse for me, i was waiting until this was taken care of, but since I’ve been updating the workers there about the situation as well, last time i was there the guy said maybe if he is still flashing after this last dose, it might be up to me to just make a judgement call about whether to add the new fish. I wouldn’t be able to get it for another week or so when i get paid, so I’ll have more time to monitor, but should I even consider doing a fourth dose? Wait a month or so then dose again? Or would this first round have been enough, like would the prazi have already worked as well as it ever would to treat the tank?

 

[Idech]

Jay has been helping me with this for about 3 weeks now, and he pretty much had it narrowed down to gill flukes, since theres no other symptoms and my other fish seems fine.

Yes, I’ve read the thread.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Videos aren’t showing for me but could it be ich ? Ich can cause flashing too, right ?

Unlikely to be ich if trophonts aren’t visible. In my experience, ich causes less flashing than flukes do.

Jay

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Jay has been helping me with this for about 3 weeks now, and he pretty much had it narrowed down to gill flukes, since theres no other symptoms and my other fish seems fine.

My next question is my LFS has been holding a possum wrasse for me, i was waiting until this was taken care of, but since I’ve been updating the workers there about the situation as well, last time i was there the guy said maybe if he is still flashing after this last dose, it might be up to me to just make a judgement call about whether to add the new fish. I wouldn’t be able to get it for another week or so when i get paid, so I’ll have more time to monitor, but should I even consider doing a fourth dose? Wait a month or so then dose again? Or would this first round have been enough, like would the prazi have already worked as well as it ever would to treat the tank?

I just had another thought. Do you have a microscope or a strong magnifying glass? What you can try is to leave a bit of dead fish or shrimp inside a mesh net at the bottom of the tank overnight. Before the lights come on, empty the net with the seafood into a container of seawater and look for any copepods. Cirolanid copepods can cause intense fish scratching and are not affected by prazi.

This is a bit of a long shot because these copepods are most common in old tanks, or tanks that used wild live rock to become established.

Jay

 

[jrevoman]

I just had another thought. Do you have a microscope or a strong magnifying glass? What you can try is to leave a bit of dead fish or shrimp inside a mesh net at the bottom of the tank overnight. Before the lights come on, empty the net with the seafood into a container of seawater and look for any copepods. Cirolanid copepods can cause intense fish scratching and are not affected by prazi.

This is a bit of a long shot because these copepods are most common in old tanks, or tanks that used wild live rock to become established.

Jay

Do you think that would work without my cleaner shrimp/crabs having a feast? Also I do not have either of those to magnify, would it be worth buying one?

 

[jrevoman]

Maybe tonight after work I’ll bite the bullet and try to catch him for a freshwater dip, his rock is the one that i can pull out without knocking over everything. I just didn’t want to because the YWG’s cave is also under it and i felt like it would be most stressful for the fish, not to mention the difficulty of actually netting him.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Do you think that would work without my cleaner shrimp/crabs having a feast? Also I do not have either of those to magnify, would it be worth buying one?

That's why you need to put the bait in a mesh bag. If you have good eyesight, you may be able to see the copepods swimming around the boat, but you won't be able to ID them. I bought a clip on microscope for my iPhone for $12 off Amazon.

jay

 

[jrevoman]

That's why you need to put the bait in a mesh bag. If you have good eyesight, you may be able to see the copepods swimming around the boat, but you won't be able to ID them. I bought a clip on microscope for my iPhone for $12 off Amazon.

jay

Okay, is there a treatment i can do for them? I was reading about them but couldn’t really find the solution for them. I’ll look into a mesh bag and a phone microscope on amazon, then can i just put in a little of the frozen food i feed the tank? Also i think I’ve changed my mind about catching him for the dip, even if i pull out his rock i very highly doubt i could net him with all the other rockwork and just his raw speed. And then no more prazipro right?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Okay, is there a treatment i can do for them? I was reading about them but couldn’t really find the solution for them. I’ll look into a mesh bag and a phone microscope on amazon, then can i just put in a little of the frozen food i feed the tank? Also i think I’ve changed my mind about catching him for the dip, even if i pull out his rock i very highly doubt i could net him with all the other rockwork and just his raw speed. And then no more prazipro right?

I just don’t see that Prazipro has helped at all here.
I agree that a dip won’t help either.
Yes - any meaty seafood item can be put in the mesh bag.
Jay

 

[jrevoman]

I just don’t see that Prazipro has helped at all here.
I agree that a dip won’t help either.
Yes - any meaty seafood item can be put in the mesh bag.
Jay

Okay, are there any other identifying factors in the meantime? Ive gotten very close looks at him while he’s been right in front of the glass and I haven’t noticed anything on him, but i guess if they are in his gills and microscopic I wouldn’t see. Do you think it may just be behavioral? I feel like after four months of him doing this it may have gone much more downhill by now, but i could be very wrong thats just my feeling where you know the facts

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Okay, are there any other identifying factors in the meantime? Ive gotten very close looks at him while he’s been right in front of the glass and I haven’t noticed anything on him, but i guess if they are in his gills and microscopic I wouldn’t see. Do you think it may just be behavioral? I feel like after four months of him doing this it may have gone much more downhill by now, but i could be very wrong thats just my feeling where you know the facts

Yes flashing can be behavioral, but I've just never seen that with this species. Doesn't mean it couldn't be that, just wouldn't be very common else it would be something people would have reported in their own fish.

Jay

 

[jrevoman]

Yes flashing can be behavioral, but I've just never seen that with this species. Doesn't mean it couldn't be that, just wouldn't be very common else it would be something people would have reported in their own fish.

Jay

Ok i ordered the stuff, one more question, when should i put the carbon filter back in?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Ok i ordered the stuff, one more question, when should i put the carbon filter back in?

Any time now I think.

Jay