At My Wits End! Need Help/Advice

[JR8999]

Ive written about this problem before but I never seem to get anywhere with advice and help weighing pros and cons. I will try to give as much explanation as I can.

Issue : 2 out of 4 fish flashing in DT. Purple Fire fish has been flashing at least ever few hours off and on for 6 months. Same for Royal Gramma who has been in DT for 2 months. 2 OC clowns show absolutely not signs of anything. All 4 fish eat agressively, their bodies are prisine with great color, no unusual breathing or swimming behaviors expcept for the previous mentioned flashing. All four were in QT for over 4 weeks each with just observation and no other treatments. The two clowns together and then the Fire Fish alone and the RG alone. Completely normal QT experiences.

THe RG and FF may go hours or even a day without flashing and then they both go nuts flashing non-stop for a few minutes and then stop. I've seen flashing fish before in some sub-par LFS locations and noticed pretty consistent flashing every few minutes...not like that in my DT.

Because of no visible signs i thought i may be flukes. I treated with Praz in the DT a couple times about 6 weeks ago. 2 courses. the first course the FF vibrated like crazy right after adding the praz. I repeated as directed in 5 days. It seemed to help but I'm not really sure as withing a day of the last treatment he started flashing again.

At this point I was so worried/frustrated. It's amazing how the behavior of a 2 ounce fish in your living room can contribute so much stress...on me! I was directed by a few folks out here to observe and wait for other symptoms...i've waited months with no other symptoms appeared.

I decided recently to treat more aggressively with Prazi in the DT. Over the last couple of weeks I've done 3 courses of Prazi with a 4-5 spacing. The Prazi seems to help in the short term but I'm not really sure as the fish do not flash at regular intervals. I'm thinking of doring a 4th course of Prazi tomorrow which will be a 6 day spacing.

I did a FW dip on the RG and really didnt see anything. I'm thinking of doing it again but not sure. It has been suggested that it may be Ich but there are absolutely no other symptoms and there has been no decline in health for either fish at all. I'd hate to assume Ich and go through all the treatment for that. Some folks out here have suggested to just let it go until something else shows up. I also have a gorgerous African Midas Blenny in QT now and he's almost ready to go in DT. I'd hate to do that if there are serious issues in the DT. What do I do? Prazi one more time? Let it go and keep observing for endless more months? Has anyone experienced this before...no other symptoms but flashing?
Any constructive advice would be very much appreciated.

I don't know how this hobby was performed before forums like this were created. Glad to have this community and will def pay it forward when I get more knowlege!

Btw...tested with Red Sea Lately:
Ammonia/Nitrates/Nitrites 0/0/0
Calcium 340
Alk 8.7
Mag 1060
Salinity 1.024 (always steady)
PH 8.3
Temp 79.8 (always steady)

 

[JR8999]

Bump

 

[Newsmyrna80]

I'm pretty sure I responded in your other thread. Most flukes (if this is what it is) can be treated with Prazi successfully. However, there have been studies that show Prazi is not effective against all species of flukes. I have experienced such and had to resort to formalin dips to eradicate.

Ive written about this problem before but I never seem to get anywhere with advice and help weighing pros and cons. I will try to give as much explanation as I can.

Issue : 2 out of 4 fish flashing in DT. Purple Fire fish has been flashing at least ever few hours off and on for 6 months. Same for Royal Gramma who has been in DT for 2 months. 2 OC clowns show absolutely not signs of anything. All 4 fish eat agressively, their bodies are prisine with great color, no unusual breathing or swimming behaviors expcept for the previous mentioned flashing. All four were in QT for over 4 weeks each with just observation and no other treatments. The two clowns together and then the Fire Fish alone and the RG alone. Completely normal QT experiences. Since the QT was normal (no flashing, etc) we can assume that the issue is in the main.

THe RG and FF may go hours or even a day without flashing and then they both go nuts flashing non-stop for a few minutes and then stop. I've seen flashing fish before in some sub-par LFS locations and noticed pretty consistent flashing every few minutes...not like that in my DT.I have a pink spotted goby that to this day will go months without flashing then he'll do it for a few days and stop. I personally think he has behavioral issues because he will swim up to the front of the tank and stare at me then begin his acrobatics.

Because of no visible signs i thought i may be flukes. I treated with Praz in the DT a couple times about 6 weeks ago. 2 courses. the first course the FF vibrated like crazy right after adding the praz. I repeated as directed in 5 days. It seemed to help but I'm not really sure as withing a day of the last treatment he started flashing again.

At this point I was so worried/frustrated. It's amazing how the behavior of a 2 ounce fish in your living room can contribute so much stress...on me! I was directed by a few folks out here to observe and wait for other symptoms...i've waited months with no other symptoms appeared.They can ruin my week!

I decided recently to treat more aggressively with Prazi in the DT. Over the last couple of weeks I've done 3 courses of Prazi with a 4-5 spacing. The Prazi seems to help in the short term but I'm not really sure as the fish do not flash at regular intervals. I'm thinking of doring a 4th course of Prazi tomorrow which will be a 6 day spacing.

I did a FW dip on the RG and really didnt see anything. I'm thinking of doing it again but not sure. It has been suggested that it may be Ich but there are absolutely no other symptoms and there has been no decline in health for either fish at all. I'd hate to assume Ich and go through all the treatment for that. Some folks out here have suggested to just let it go until something else shows up. I also have a gorgerous African Midas Blenny in QT now and he's almost ready to go in DT. I'd hate to do that if there are serious issues in the DT. What do I do? Prazi one more time? Let it go and keep observing for endless more months? Has anyone experienced this before...no other symptoms but flashing?
Any constructive advice would be very much appreciated.Flukes, like ich, can be present in the laminae and a FW dip will not eliminate them. In fact, any treatment will cause the fluke to dig in deeper into the folds of the laminae to protect itself. You ask what can you do, answer..not much. Unfortunately this species of flukes is nearly impossible to eradicate. Now, that being said since the only symptom they have is flashing I don't think this is the problem. If the fish were/are infested with this fluke their breathing would be labored (gulping, piping, etc) and they would have loss of appetite.

I don't know how this hobby was performed before forums like this were created. Glad to have this community and will def pay it forward when I get more knowlege!

Btw...tested with Red Sea Lately:
Ammonia/Nitrates/Nitrites 0/0/0
Calcium 340
Alk 8.7
Mag 1060
Salinity 1.024 (always steady)
PH 8.3
Temp 79.8 (always steady)

You can either pull all the fish out of the main and let it go fallow and treat the fish in a QT or you can let it ride. Since this has been going on for a long time with no other symptoms I would let it ride for now but be prepared. Bob Fenner once told me that some fish just have an itch they have to scratch.

 

[JR8999]

Thanks for the response and all your previous contributions. I like before will most likely let this ride and cringe every time I see one of the two flash. I'm about to add that Midas that's been in QT 4+ week. I'm hoping like the OC clowns he won't flash.

 

[JR8999]

So I've been observing closely today and just saw some string poo trailing the female clown. Could this be related to the other fish flashing? I'm assuming it's some kind of internal parasite? Is it contagious? Heard others treating with Metro. What is Metro? Pic of clown and stringy poo:

 

[Newsmyrna80]

I had a clown that would have bouts of this off and on for 10 years. No one else every got it. She would occasionally scratch her belly on the sand but not really flash.
In your quarantine protocol do just observe for four weeks or do prophylactically treat for flukes, ich, etc?

 

[JR8999]

First 4 fish wash just observe. This last one I treated with Prazipro

 

[Newsmyrna80]

While four weeks quarantine is good diseases such as ich can still get through as I'm sure you've read in Steve's stickies on crypto.