Snowflake Eel Shaking head

kadamik · Mar 10, 2022

Aquarium 75 gallons
Running for 2 months
Snowflake eel has been in for 6 weeks
12 - 13 inches long
He eats frozen shrimp every 2 - 3 days
testing numbers
Amm 0
Nitrites 1
Nitrates 15 - 20
PH 8.1
Temp 78 - 79.5

The snowflake eel is eating regular, but I have noticed that he is shaking his head a lot back and forth for 1 - 2 seconds at a time. (Attached is video of him doing it twice, it happens a lot)

History
I did have 4 fish die from a yet to be determined disease. I have ordered a DNA parasite test and bacterial test, and will have the results back at the end of the month. My best guess was/is flukes.
Fish in the aquarium now -- saddle puffer, foxface Lo

I have read that flukes can make fish shake there heads but not sure if it goes to eels as well. I have dosed PraziPro today to see if that helps at all.

Do you have any other suggestions or ideas of what it could be.

fishguy242 · Mar 10, 2022

@lion king

Steve and his Animals · Mar 10, 2022

In my experience, eels only do this when there's something going on water quality-wise. The nitrite level raises some flags, even though salt is supposed to bind it for the most part. I would just do some hefty water changes first and see if that helps anything.

kadamik · Mar 10, 2022

Steve and his Animals said:
In my experience, eels only do this when there's something going on water quality-wise. The nitrite level raises some flags, even though salt is supposed to bind it for the most part. I would just do some hefty water changes first and see if that helps anything.

I just did the dose for PraziPro so I will have to wait a little bit before water change, but I will re-run the test. I just Redsea, but I have other brands as well. Let me redo the test again and report back.

kadamik · Mar 10, 2022

OK I re-did the test and had my wife confirm the colors, I am color-blind and it is hard to make the right pick. She confirm everything below. Do any of these look out range?

PH 8.1 (using Hanna PH meter that I just calibated)
Amm 0 (RedSea)
Nitrate 10 (RedSea)
Nitrite .5 (RedSea)
Temp 78
SG 1.023 - 1.024 (Hanna meter)

lion king · Mar 10, 2022

Yes best guess is flukes. If he is eqting and otherwise acting normally, time with the prazi will tell. Kepp us updated. There is a normal action that do to pull water through their gills, how is your flow.

dvgyfresh · Mar 10, 2022

I used to soak foods in seschem metroplex/prazi pro for a snowflake that shook his head it’s usually some sort of parasite if it’s aggressive head shaking. It worked for me and the snowflake stopped the spasms

kadamik · Mar 10, 2022

lion king said:
Yes best guess is flukes. If he is eqting and otherwise acting normally, time with the prazi will tell. Kepp us updated. There is a normal action that do to pull water through their gills, how is your flow.

Flow is good, I think I will give the Prazi a little time to work and see if he improves.

Thanks for everyone's help

lion king · Mar 10, 2022

kadamik said:
Flow is good, I think I will give the Prazi a little time to work and see if he improves.

Thanks for everyone's help

Follow through with the 2nd dose to catch any hatching eggs if ir is flukes

kadamik · Mar 11, 2022

Checked on the Snowflake eel today and it seems like the head shaking has gotten better, but I did notice a different symptom. It was almost like he was yawning, he did it a couple times within a minute. I have not seen him do that before. Only thing I can think of is maybe it feels different now that the flukes are dead or dying off. Does anyone have any insight on that. I treated with prazi-pro on March 11 and will retreat again on March 18/19th after a 20 percent water change.

Jay Hemdal · Mar 11, 2022

kadamik said:
Checked on the Snowflake eel today and it seems like the head shaking has gotten better, but I did notice a different symptom. It was almost like he was yawning, he did it a couple times within a minute. I have not seen him do that before. Only thing I can think of is maybe it feels different now that the flukes are dead or dying off. Does anyone have any insight on that. I treated with prazi-pro on March 11 and will retreat again on March 18/19th after a 20 percent water change.

Yawning and head shaking can both be symptoms of gill flukes, and then, once they get knocked off by the prazi, the holes they leave in the gills can also be irritating….and that can take a few days to heal.
Is the eel still feeding ok?
Jay

kadamik · Mar 11, 2022

Jay Hemdal said:
Yawning and head shaking can both be symptoms of gill flukes, and then, once they get knocked off by the prazi, the holes they leave in the gills can also be irritating….and that can take a few days to heal.
Is the eel still feeding ok?
Jay

The eel is doing so much better, he had 3 pieces of frozen shrimp just now. The shaking is almost all gone. I think he is on the road to recovery. One more quick question? When can I turn on my UV and skimmer, I have read it is safe to do so 72 hours after dosing. Do you agree with that or should I leave it off for until I am done with the 2nd dose that I am giving on March 18/19?

kadamik · Mar 12, 2022

kadamik said:
The eel is doing so much better, he had 3 pieces of frozen shrimp just now. The shaking is almost all gone. I think he is on the road to recovery. One more quick question? When can I turn on my UV and skimmer, I have read it is safe to do so 72 hours after dosing. Do you agree with that or should I leave it off for until I am done with the 2nd dose that I am giving on March 18/19?

The other fish I have in the tank is a saddle puffer

and it looks like he has something on his fins. I was able to get a good pic wanted to see if matches any parasites. The Puffer is doing very good, he eats a lot and mostly plays with the emerald crabs. The puffer is small about 2 inches in size and has a great personality.

Jay Hemdal · Mar 12, 2022

kadamik said:
The other fish I have in the tank is a saddle puffer

and it looks like he has something on his fins. I was able to get a good pic wanted to see if matches any parasites. The Puffer is doing very good, he eats a lot and mostly plays with the emerald crabs. The puffer is small about 2 inches in size and has a great personality.

Did the puffer have this on its fins prior to the prazi treatment?

If your fish have egg laying flukes, the prazi will not kill the eggs, and you will need to do a second, and sometimes a third dose at 9 day intervals to try and break the life cycle.

During prazi, you need good aeration - I run my skimmers, just don't collect anything. Yes, you can turn the UV back on after 36 hours and start collecting skimmate again then as well.

Jay

kadamik · Mar 12, 2022

Jay Hemdal said:
Did the puffer have this on its fins prior to the prazi treatment?

If your fish have egg laying flukes, the prazi will not kill the eggs, and you will need to do a second, and sometimes a third dose at 9 day intervals to try and break the life cycle.

During prazi, you need good aeration - I run my skimmers, just don't collect anything. Yes, you can turn the UV back on after 36 hours and start collecting skimmate again then as well.

Jay

No the puffer did not have this on his fins prior to the prazi treatment.

I have been running the skimmer without the collection bucket, it is generating massive about of bubbles because of the prazi.