Fish still scratching itself after 2 weeks in hypo

[andrewo]

Hi folks as above. It must be almost 3 weeks since Im treating fishes for ich in hyposalinity. Im using 3 refractometers to ensure salinity is kept between 12 and 14ppt. Nearer to 12 actually to make sure.

All fishes eating very well.

However one tang is still scratching itself off the base of the tank every now and again. It looks 100% spot free to the naked eye. Is it just a habit? Looks like the scratching is on the chin/gills/front part. I want to start the 4 week countdown. Did I get the salinity or something else wrong?

 

[scooter31707]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2591529

 

[tassod]

You might be dealing with Flukes and not Ich. Hypo will not do anything for flukes, you need to use Prazi pro and most likely will need to treat multiple times. I've already applied almost 10 treatments of Prazi and still dealing with them and i have the same symptoms as you do.

 

[Newms118]

You might be dealing with Flukes and not Ich. Hypo will not do anything for flukes, you need to use Prazi pro and most likely will need to treat multiple times. I've already applied almost 10 treatments of Prazi and still dealing with them and i have the same symptoms as you do.

This is just absurd, not what you're doing, but that it would take such a serious amount of therapy for a cure. Is it because some of these places we purchase fish from are using sub-therapeutic doses of Prazipro?

Im having issues with gill flukes right now despite treatment with Prazipro as well. Perhaps some companies need to develop a new medication for this disease.

So damn frustrating :facepalm:

 

[ThRoewer]

Hyposalinity can very well treat stenohaline fluke species. It usually fails with euryhaline species.

PraziPro is the brand name of a ready to use medication containing dissolved Praziquantel, the active ingredient.
If PraziPro is administered at sub-therapeutic doses it's the fault of the user, not the manufacturer.

Also, unless you clearly identified the flukes via a freshwater dip or a skin or gill swipe, you are really just guessing that you are dealing with flukes. It could be a host of other things that cause a fish to scratch itself.
Especially if only one fish is affected I would also look at Cryptocaryon. It could be that all other fish are fully immune and the one that scratches is only partially immune.

Furthermore, scratching is not a definitive proof that a fish has an infection - it is only proof that the fish feels an itch which may or may not be related to an infection with parasites.

 

[tassod]

Hyposalinity can very well treat stenohaline fluke species. It usually fails with euryhaline species.

PraziPro is the brand name of a ready to use medication containing dissolved Praziquantel, the active ingredient.
If PraziPro is administered at sub-therapeutic doses it's the fault of the user, not the manufacturer.

Also, unless you clearly identified the flukes via a freshwater dip or a skin or gill swipe, you are really just guessing that you are dealing with flukes. It could be a host of other things that cause a fish to scratch itself.
Especially if only one fish is affected I would also look at Cryptocaryon. It could be that all other fish are fully immune and the one that scratches is only partially immune.

Furthermore, scratching is not a definitive proof that a fish has an infection - it is only proof that the fish feels an itch which may or may not be related to an infection with parasites.

ThRoewer,

If multiple fish are scratching or flicking off the bottom of the tank or walls with some head shaking as well, would that not be evidence of flukes? Also after double doses of Prazi, they stop this behavior only to start again after a week or so, is that also not evidence of flukes? Just relaying my current case with my fish. Right now, i have been trying to time my doses so i can catch the second wave of the eggs hatching, so far after my second dose this past Monday none of them are scratching anymore and i am keeping my fingers crossed this time around.

 

[ThRoewer]

If PraziPro helps to clear the symptoms, but they come back a week or so later than you likely missed killing the eggs.

As for the head shaking - I've seen fish also do that with ich or anything else infecting their gills. It's definitely not reserved for flukes only.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[andrewo]

Thanks guys for the replies. Believe it or not just few days ago the tang in question stopped scratching itself! Excitedly I wanted to note the date down and run the 4 weeks countdown. Anyway I thought I take another better look and....I saw some white spots on one side of the fins. I look at the Web and it looks like lympocistis. The whole body is clear and fish eating very well. Any advise on how to treat it/proceed?

 

[ThRoewer]

Lymphocystis is a virus infection. Only the fish's immune system can overcome it.
All you can do is to provide good water quality and healthy food to boost the fish's immune system. If you mix your own food consider adding some Beta Glucan (an immune booster) to the mix. I usually just mash one pill up with some spirulina brine shrimp or Mysis, let it dry on a bit and then feed it to the fish.

 

[Dmorty217]

Lymphocystis is a virus infection. Only the fish's immune system can overcome it.
All you can do is to provide good water quality and healthy food to boost the fish's immune system. If you mix your own food consider adding some Beta Glucan (an immune booster) to the mix. I usually just mash one pill up with some spirulina brine shrimp or Mysis, let it dry on a bit and then feed it to the fish.

Lymph has been treated successfully with hydrogen peroxide at 1ml per 10 gallon in a Koran angelfish via the Marine fish health and feeding handbook. Also I have used NFG powder with high success in reversing the lymph

 

[ThRoewer]

H2O2 is an oxidizer and disinfectant. You can only treat the external growths with it, but any internal infections are not treatable with it. So in essence, it is useful to make fish look better and maybe prevent the spread, but it doesn't necessarily cure the disease.