Flukes in QT

[theMaroonClown]

So in my quarantine tank I had about 4 fish 3 tangs and 1 mocha storm. They all had ice in which i treated with cupramine. Then i saw the sailfish seemed to be emaciated soI kept a close eye on the tank couple days later i see he is infested with flukes and my hippo tang also has a single fluke on its eye. I dosed more cupramine and seem to kill off the fluke on the hippo. The sail fin tang does not make it and i remove him from the tank as fast as possible. Couple days have passed and I now see a single fluke on my bristle tooth. I was wondering if i should up the dose of cupramine, remove the two other fish and put them in the display or fresh water dip the bristle tooth and keep all of them in QT for another week ?

 

[luislimon]

Use Prazi-Pro for flukes. For the recommended time.

A fresh water dip will help in removing external flukes to give immediate relieve to your fish; fresh water dip is not a cure just an apalearive.


Cooper is better for ick and velvet.

 

[Dmorty217]

Fluke eggs will hatch anywhere from 6-8 days give or take depending on water temperature. The eggs are unaffected by the Prazipro. Copper won't kill flukes

 

[theMaroonClown]

So what you're saying is I'm basically screwed on getting rid of the flukes

 

[Dmorty217]

Not screwed you just need to treat prazipro wait 6 days and treat again and then you might need to repeat that for a 3rd time. Be sure and add air stones and place a pump near the surface of the water to add as much O2 to the water as possible. IME most fish die in PP treatment due to suffocation.

 

[Dmorty217]

You have to kill the flukes when they hatch but before they mature and reproduce that is why 2-3 treatments is necessary since you won't kill all the adults at once before they mature

 

[jjencek]

To treat for flukes I was always using HYPO for 7+ days. I mostly used Prazipro for worms. It was a 6 hour dip in Prazipro and repeat in one week.

Can I just forget about HYPO and just use prazipro?

 

[Dmorty217]

To treat for flukes I was always using HYPO for 7+ days. I mostly used Prazipro for worms. It was a 6 hour dip in Prazipro and repeat in one week.

Can I just forget about HYPO and just use prazipro?

You can just use praziquantel. Every now and then you may find some praziquantel resistant flukes that may require a double dose of to kill. I encountered some about 2 years ago.

 

[luislimon]

You can just use praziquantel. Every now and then you may find some praziquantel resistant flukes that may require a double dose of to kill. I encountered some about 2 years ago.

On that subject, I have seen flukes resesrent to praziquantel. What I have read is the resistant strains are adquired at the LFS or distributor and the others in the wild.

 

[Dmorty217]

On that subject, I have seen flukes resesrent to praziquantel. What I have read is the resistant strains are adquired at the LFS or distributor and the others in the wild.

Prazipro or praziquantel (powder form of Prazi) resistant flukes are much more common than they were years ago. I have had to double and triple the dosage amount to kill flukes that were resistant to the PP. The resistant ones come from wholesalers and LFS only, fish that skip the wholesale stores or encounter less holding tanks stand a much better chance of survival overall. There was a study I read where they were treating manta rays at a public aquarium for flukes and administered a dose 20xs higher than what was recommended and even at that concentration the prazi didn't kill the eggs.

 

[HumbleFish]

Fenbendazole is another treatment option for flukes: https://humble.fish/fenbendazole/

 

[ThRoewer]

While there are resistant flukes it is also quite possible that the Praziquantel gets broken down by bacteria faster than it can kill the flukes. For that reason, it is best to use PraziPro in combination with the tank transfer method. That way you always treat in a largely sterile tank where it is unlikely that there are enough bacteria to break the Praziquantel down before it can do its job.
If that also fails, Hyposalinity might be a suitable alternative.

 

[HumbleFish]

While there are resistant flukes it is also quite possible that the Praziquantel gets broken down by bacteria faster than it can kill the flukes.

^^ This is true of most non-copper medications.

 

[jjencek]

I use hyposalinity as my first choice based on the information from the following article:

https://reefs.com/2016/07/14/saltwater-aquarium-skin-flukes-part-1/

https://reefs.com/2016/07/15/eliminating-saltwater-aquarium-skin-flukes-part-2/

Is the information in the article still accurate or do we now know more?