Flukes????...I'd please

[EuroGTI]

Well fish have been fine for weeks! Put some coral in about a week ago, only new things to the tank. Today i noticed this! All 4 fish seem to have atleast 1 little spec of this. They are still super active and eating like crazy. Wondering if it is flukes??. Saw some scratching today. Would suck if it is. I have no quarantine tank available right now. I know people have had luck with Prazi in dt but it still scares me. Would hate for something to happen to my coral. Lots of new cherry picks from reefapalooza. I have a 10 gallon I could set up but worried about cycle. Advice? Want a positive id on flukes first. Never had it before. Thanks guys!


Untitled by touchofklasse, on Flickr


Untitled by touchofklasse, on Flickr

 

[Newsmyrna80]

Hard to tell from a pic. Is it possible to do a FW dip?

 

[EuroGTI]

Yes I can prob make some rodi and do a dip. If it helps that's the biggest growth i see. Rest of the fish have much smaller specs. What should i be looking for when I dip? 10 min ok?

 

[EuroGTI]

So upon more research it seems people have had luck with Prazi pro in display tanks. I would love some feedback if anyone has had luck with it. I pulled out my spare 10 gallon and cleaned it up. Thinking of getting it ready for quarantine. I just don't know what to do about the cycle. Don't want to further stress the fish with ammonia.

 

[Newsmyrna80]

5 min dip is sufficient. Be sure to aerate well and match temp and pH. Do it in a dark container in order to see the flukes. Some people describe the flukes as sesame seeds or little contact lenses. They become more opaque as they are exposed to freshwater. You should be able to see them come off the fish within a couple of minutes. I've never dosed in the main...too scared You could put a piece of LR in a QT to help with ammonia. Prazi will not hurt the LR and the LR does not affect the dosage.

 

[EuroGTI]

Well I did a fw dip on the worst anthia. She did not make it. Maybe to many flukes in the gills? She looked horrible as soon as she went back in the tank. She lasted maybe 2 hours. Now I'm scared to even treat the rest. I set up the quarantine tank. I have prazi on hand. Should I just dose and quarantine fish? A teaspoon is almost 5 ml. Its a 10 gallon tank. Label reads 1 teaspoon for 20 gallons. So 2.5 ml sound good for the 10 gallons?

 

[hogfanreefer]

Did you see flukes in the container after the FW dip? If so treat the fish. Yes 2.5 ml would be the correct dose for 10 gallons. Good luck.

 

[EuroGTI]

Honestly it was very hard to tell. I saw a couple things floating around. Not sure if it was flukes. I'm just scared to treat now since this fish died. It was eating this morning and everything. It was actually looking OK before the fw dip. Param were matched up and I dipped her for 6 min. Don't know what happen.
As soon as she left the dip, she had a tough time breathing. Her gills looked all messed up too.

 

[hogfanreefer]

Flukes are not hard to see in the container after the FW dip. They will not float but fall to the bottom of the container and be kind of like a wax paper appearance. The ones I had were about 2mm in size.

 

[Newsmyrna80]

Did you aerate the water for at least an hour? I've never lost a fish due to a dip. The only other thing I can think of is maybe it has so many flukes in its gills that they damaged the lamellae. Was the fish breathing hard or keep a gill closed?

 

[EuroGTI]

Did you aerate the water for at least an hour? I've never lost a fish due to a dip. The only other thing I can think of is maybe it has so many flukes in its gills that they damaged the lamellae. Was the fish breathing hard or keep a gill closed?

Yes the water was aerated. I think the fish was just too sick. After the dip in the containers it was hard to see the flukes. Today when I woke up I had a better look at the hospital tank. The bottom has at least 100 little flakes and white seed looking specs. I guess that's my confirmation. I broke down and treated the whole display tank with prazi. I guess it's better now that I don't have too much coral. So far everything is fine. Sps, LPs have shown no signs of being bothered. I broke the dosing down into 3 stages troughout the day. Going to check all param before bed but everything seems fine. When I did the 2nd dose the water was covered in white specs being blown around by the flow. Its crazy to see that much stuff!

 

[Newsmyrna80]

If there are that many specs floating around and the fish died after the dip they must have been inidated. I have heard reports of fish "bleeding" out after a dip if they have a ton of flukes on them. I realize it can be hard to tell how bad off the fish is (some hide it well) but it's recommended to do short dips to knock off the population gradually. I start with 2-3 minute dips.