Yawning clownfish

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TheEngineer

TheEngineer

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I have a single clownfish in my 50g DT. She is the only fish that has been in this tank, ever. She's been with me for almost 10 years. I've noticed recently that she yawns every now and then, she also scratches on the back wall every now and again. I always assumed this was just her "nesting". It is typically the same place and I usually only notice it if some algae growth is there.

I'm preparing to transfer three new fish from QT into this tank and now this has me worried that she somehow got flukes. I tried for 30 minutes to catch her with no luck, so I could do a FW dip. Can I prophylactically treat her in place? I know Prazi doesn't kill flukes, just forces them to dislodge.
 
Nutramar Foods
TheEngineer said:
I have a single clownfish in my 50g DT. She is the only fish that has been in this tank, ever. She's been with me for almost 10 years. I've noticed recently that she yawns every now and then, she also scratches on the back wall every now and again. I always assumed this was just her "nesting". It is typically the same place and I usually only notice it if some algae growth is there.

I'm preparing to transfer three new fish from QT into this tank and now this has me worried that she somehow got flukes. I tried for 30 minutes to catch her with no luck, so I could do a FW dip. Can I prophylactically treat her in place? I know Prazi doesn't kill flukes, just forces them to dislodge.
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Oh and no new corals have been added in about 6 months. It's possible there was contamination with my QT, but none of them had flukes.
 
TheEngineer said:
I have a single clownfish in my 50g DT. She is the only fish that has been in this tank, ever. She's been with me for almost 10 years. I've noticed recently that she yawns every now and then, she also scratches on the back wall every now and again. I always assumed this was just her "nesting". It is typically the same place and I usually only notice it if some algae growth is there.

I'm preparing to transfer three new fish from QT into this tank and now this has me worried that she somehow got flukes. I tried for 30 minutes to catch her with no luck, so I could do a FW dip. Can I prophylactically treat her in place? I know Prazi doesn't kill flukes, just forces them to dislodge.
Click to expand...

I thought that PraziPro did indeed get rid of them for good. My understanding was It doesn't actually kill them on the spot, but causes them to spasm and dislodge, once they are immobile and dislodged they eventually perish without re-infection. I also thought that was why it is recommended to perform more than one treatment to be sure. I could be way off though. @4FordFamily @Big G @Humblefish
 
Top Shelf Aquatics
Praziquantel is an interesting chemical compound. It does cause the parasite to spasm, retracting it's attachment appendage and drop off the host. And then it causes the cell walls of the parasite's skin to burst. The exceptions might be eggs within the parasite that could be shielded from the praziquantel. Thus the need to re dose after 5-7 days to finish off the infestation/infection.
 
TheEngineer said:
So... what do I do? :)
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Treat the DT being mindful that Prazipro can kill feather dusters, bristle worms, etc. I'd start checking ammonia and just for insurance, put an ammonia alert badge in the tank as a back up. And add an air stone to help oxygenate the tank water.

Here's Humblefish's advisory for Prazipro:

Prazipro (praziquantel): Treats flukes, black ich, and some internal parasites (worms).

How To Treat - In either a quarantine or display tank, dose Prazipro at the rate of 1 teaspoon per 20 gallons of water. DO NOT OVERDOSE (especially with wrasses), try not to mix with other medications (for various reasons), and provide additional gas exchange while treating with Prazi. Wait 5-7 days, do a 20-25% water change and then repeat dosage. The reason for the second dose is to eradicate the “next generation” of worms before they can lay eggs of their own. Because while Prazi does kill worms, it doesn’t eliminate any eggs they might leave behind.

Prazipro is generally considered reef safe, although it may kill any tube worms/feathers dusters you have. It may also eradicate bristle worms. If you have mass quantities of these, the resulting die-off can lead to an ammonia spike. After treatment is done, activated carbon may be used to remove any residuals (if you need to use a different medication next). If using a protein skimmer post-treatment, be advised that it will “over skim” for at least a couple of weeks.

Pros - Reef safe, effective dewormer that is relatively gentle on most fish.

Cons/Side Effects - Mild appetite suppression, moderate oxygen depletion, wrasses are sensitive to overdosing.
 
Nutramar Foods
Managed to catch her (bare handed!). Did a FW dip and nada.... Nothing came off and nothing looks like it is still attached and dying. All I came away with is a ticked off clownfish. Does this mean no flukes?
 
BRS
TheEngineer said:
Managed to catch her (bare handed!). Did a FW dip and nada.... Nothing came off and nothing looks like it is still attached and dying. All I came away with is a ticked off clownfish. Does this mean no flukes?
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Still could be some attached to its gills. Some fish have extra thick mucus on their gills and the flukes embed themselves into that mucus. Very difficult to get meds through the mucus to get them to release. Don’t know if clowns are fish with the thick mucus.
 
Deltec
What’s the option if that’s the case? Even FW doesn’t affect them?
 
If it was my fish, I'd put it into a prepared QT and dose with General Cure. The praziquantel dose will take care of any external flukes and the metro in it will kill all harmful internal parasites. 2 doses 5-7 days apart with 25% water change before the 2nd dose. This is my usual prophylactic treatment for all fish new to my tanks. Works great. Observe for 7-10 days, then I usually dose therapeutic copper for 30 days. Together these treatments take care of Ich, velvet, Brook, Black Ich, Flukes, Uronema.
 
I’m all for quarantine. I’ve got three that just went through everything. This fish has been solo in this tank for ages with zero additions of anything. I don’t think I’d opt to do a full QT plan with her.

She recently had a skin infection and did a 10 day round of metroplex and 2 weeks of observation in QT. Is it possible this is just some sort of display and not a parasite? She’s almost 10 years old and I’d prefer not to put her through the stress of it.
 
Nutramar Foods
TheEngineer said:
I’m all for quarantine. I’ve got three that just went through everything. This fish has been solo in this tank for ages with zero additions of anything. I don’t think I’d opt to do a full QT plan with her.

She recently had a skin infection and did a 10 day round of metroplex and 2 weeks of observation in QT. Is it possible this is just some sort of display and not a parasite? She’s almost 10 years old and I’d prefer not to put her through the stress of it.
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Tough decision. The fish could be a carrier as you initially feared. The Metro already done would make her free of internal parasites. The FW dip didn't show flukes. What kind of skin infection?
 
ReefBot Lab, Automated Water Tester
I think I’m just going to go ahead and move the new fish in to the tank and not take anymore steps with the clownfish. In an ideal world I’d get her out and treat but my wife is having surgery Saturday and I really want to get rid of the QT system so I have one less thing to deal with.
 

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