How to treat gill flukes?

Don't be too alarmed at this point. As the fish's skin heals they will scratch (like we do). This can go on for months. My goby still occasionally scratches and he's been back in the main for 4 months. I know he doesn't have any parasites because a marine biologist I know did a skin scrape and a fin clip...no flukes or eggs. And no one else in the tank is scratching. If at any point you are really concerned you can do a FW dip on the Blenny.

I redosed after doing a 2g wc, saw 1 of the clowns scratch too. To do a skin scrape do you just need a microscope? Ive got one. Not the best though, only goes up to 40x.
 
I redosed after doing a 2g wc, saw 1 of the clowns scratch too. To do a skin scrape do you just need a microscope? Ive got one. Not the best though, only goes up to 40x.

40x is plenty to see a fluke. Actually recently I did a FW dip on a Royal gramma and didn't even need a microscope. They were so big I could see their nasty, disgusting eyes:wildone: If you feel comfortable enough to do a skin scrape go for it! I would rather have a definitive answer as opposed to guessing if he's safe to back into the main.
 
Some tearing on the blenny and gobys tales, i also saw the blenny bite his own tale 3-4 times? What i this? It sure isnt fin rot though, ive had a case of it when i used to have FW.
 
I meant to ask you when you did the FW dip were there any flukes in the water? Btw frayed fins and tails are indicative of flukes.
 
I meant to ask you when you did the FW dip were there any flukes in the water? Btw frayed fins and tails are indicative of flukes.

I couldnt tell because i was using a clear 1g bucket, saw some white stuff floating around though. So i guess my goby does infact, have flukes :(. The blenny and him sre the only ones though, the clowns LOOK fine but they scratch from time to time.
 
i'd suggest dipping all of your fish every 2-3 days in fw for a 5 minute minimum dip, for 2-3 weeks. (slightly less time per dip, pending observation of the fish while dipping-if they can take longer, i'd go 10 minutes per dip). after 2-3 weeks or so, you should pretty much be done w/ any fluke problems, w/out having to 'guess' if they still have flukes, or not, and they'll be none the worse for wear :)

just my 0.02
 
i'd suggest dipping all of your fish every 2-3 days in fw for a 5 minute minimum dip, for 2-3 weeks. (slightly less time per dip, pending observation of the fish while dipping-if they can take longer, i'd go 10 minutes per dip). after 2-3 weeks or so, you should pretty much be done w/ any fluke problems, w/out having to 'guess' if they still have flukes, or not, and they'll be none the worse for wear :)

just my 0.02

Should i dip in the same bucket one after another?
 
i'd dip 'em all together-ime, dipping fish together tends to minimize the initial 'shock' and 'freakout' response some fish exhibit when dipping-no need to dip one at a time, ime.

ymmv :p
 
How to treat gill flukes?

i'd dip 'em all together-ime, dipping fish together tends to minimize the initial 'shock' and 'freakout' response some fish exhibit when dipping-no need to dip one at a time, ime.

ymmv :p

The problem is its gonna be really hard to catch them all at the same time. Should i dose prazi into the rodi as they are dipping?

Going to get my water buffered right now and put my extra heater in.

Also should i oxygenate or not? And should i add some stress coat that ive got Leftover from the FW days?
The YWMG loves the net for some reason but to the clowns and blenny its a giant grouper ready to gobble them up.
 
i've already stated my personal opinions about prazi, heh. making the effort to catch 'em all and dip 'em all together will greatly reduce the overall chances of one fish re-infecting another after placing individually dipped fish back into the system. if you keep dipping only one fish at a time, you'll NEVER get rid of flukes in the dt, and it will be far easier for one fish's flukes to spread back to another. (even though once dipped, i've found fish to usually not get clinically re-infected, vis-a-vis skin flukes,-again, ymmv )

i don't believe in stress coat either, and i think it's a crock, along w/all other slime coat additives, ime. mostly they just add organics to the water, and can interfere w/breathing if accidentally overdosed.

there's no reason to aerate water if you aren't using prazi.

for catching fish quite easily-place a lee's spec cup in one corner of the tank, opening facing the corner, and about 2" from the corner, along the side, and chase them into the spec cup w/ yer hand-takes abit of practice, but once you get the technique down, it should take an avg of a minute or two tops to catch any fish. OR you can train yer fish to swim into a net as soon as it's placed in a tank by ALWAYS feeding by placing tasty food into a net, and holding it patiently at a 45ร‚ยบ angle near the top of the tank-after a week or so, your fish (most of 'em, at any rate) should voluntarily swim into the net by food association alone. fish, like most critters, are quite pavlovian. :)

removing the live rock from the dt into a bucket/tupperware makes catching anything a whole lot easier, too-yeah it's a pita, but so what? peace of mind trumps a pita any day. it's mebbe 1/2 hr of an 'inconvenience' to get things healthy and happy. no brainer, afaic. ;)

hth, g'luck
 
If all of the fish are coming out and going back into the same tank why does it matter they are dipped all at once or one at a time? Flukes/larvae are not just on the fish.
 
Wont the fish be so stressed once they go back into the dt that they will just get flukes on spot again?

Stress or not...yes. Whenever I've done dips (FW or formalin) for flukes I always move the fish to a new tank. Almost like tank transfer. I would do it every 5 days (eggs hatch in 4 days at 78 degrees).
 
Stress or not...yes. Whenever I've done dips (FW or formalin) for flukes I always move the fish to a new tank. Almost like tank transfer. I would do it every 5 days (eggs hatch in 4 days at 78 degrees).

I really cant do that, my 37g is fully stocked and i dont want any chance of flukes in there, my 60 cube is still cycling, my 3g pico wouldnt work right? And my 10g QT is already in use.


Should i still do the dip?
 
Stress or not...yes. Whenever I've done dips (FW or formalin) for flukes I always move the fish to a new tank. Almost like tank transfer. I would do it every 5 days (eggs hatch in 4 days at 78 degrees).

Interesting... the 4 day incubation period is true for all species of flukes? If so, maybe treating 5-7 days after the first treatment is waiting too long. I wonder how long until the "hatchlings" can lay eggs of their own?
 
Tested ph on the RODI being used for the dip, does this look good? This is after putting in seachem marine buffer...

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1390603108.442798.jpg to me it looks kinda pinkish purple?
 
If all of the fish are coming out and going back into the same tank why does it matter they are dipped all at once or one at a time? Flukes/larvae are not just on the fish.


what's the diff between dipping ALL the fish every 3 days together for 2-3 wks as opposed to one fish out of the group every 3 days for 2-3 wks, vis-a-vis the ability for the flukes in the dt's ability to reproduce,or attack the fish, if they're obligate fish parasites? even if some flukes aren't obligate fish feeders, the difficulty of them being able to easily reproduce and irritate fish is certainly far lower in the 'group dip' scenario. dipping all at once, each time, is far more likely to disrupt reproductive cycles-for ANY fish parasite ;)

why is it smarter to treat ALL fish for ich in a system at the same time, as opposed to one of the group each time? the same logic applies here, afaict.

think about 2 rooms full of people into which flu virus is introduced-one has one person at a time being inoculated immediately after the virus's introduction , and the other has everyone inoculated at the same time, after the introduction-which is more likely to have an individual come down w/the flu? it's not a perfect analogy, but i think it conveys the reasoning/'logic' behind my recommendation.

that, and my observations over the years that when fish have other 'companions' in the dip bucket, they seem to weather dips even less stressfully, re: their immediate reactions to being placed in fw. (just like the way fish will tend to stay more out in the open when kept w/ other fish, as opposed to being kept alone-it's that whole 'safety in numbers' thing).

like most aspects of reef, or any other type of animal husbandry, it's all about playing the odds, and trying to manipulate them to our (read: our animal's) favor.

hth
 
Should i get another bucket and stick the caught fish in there ehile im catching the others and then just stick them back into the 20?
 

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