Can't Fix Itchy Gills

[teddscau]

Okay, so ever since we got our convict tang a few months ago, he's had itchy gills. I did a freshwater dip with him, which seemed to improve things for a few days, but then the itchiness came back with a vengeance.

Then, last week, we decided to dose the display with PraziPro (he's too hard to catch again), and after a few days his itchiness was completely cured! He went back to his happy self and was no longer scratching. To be safe, we decided to treat for an additional week. But a few days later his gills became itchier than they've ever been before. He's been desperately scraping his gills against everything, and he's become very aggressive with clownfish.

We don't know what else to do. We're pretty sure it's gill flukes. We've checked for stray voltage, the water's pristine, the water's well aerated, he's fed nori three or four times a day along with pellets and frozen food...

Like, it would seem to be a parasitic problem, since a few days into the PraziPro treatment, he recovered, but it doesn't make sense why he would become so itchy again, especially since we're doing a second treatment. Any thoughts?

I'm thinking of trying alternating treatments of copper, methylene blue, and PraziPro (in a quarantine tank).

 

[HumbleFish]

When you dosed Prazipro, how long in-between treatments?

This source usually recommends waiting 7 days: http://www.marineparasites.com/paratreatmentcal.html

But when to administer the second dosage is highly dependent upon salinity & temperature.

 

[teddscau]

We didn't wait at all between treatments. Is there a reason why we can't dose PraziPro nonstop for a solid month?

 

[HumbleFish]

Is there a reason why we can't dose PraziPro nonstop for a solid month?

That would begin to cause side effects in the fish, and possibly harm your corals/inverts.

 

[teddscau]

Yeah, our hammer isn't looking too hot now that we're into week 2 of dosing... The fish seem fine, though. Flukes are such a pain in the butt. But we definitely have to get this under control since he's about to go postal on us.

 

[Dmorty217]

Praziquantel is active for 72 hrs in causing the flukes to spasm uncontrollably. You can theoretically redose every 72 hrs. If you have prazi resistant flukes you may have to double the recommended dose. It’s very important to point a power head at the surface of the water to help increase O2 in the tank since prazi depletes O2 in the water. Most fish suffocate during treatment when deaths occur.