In Tank Treatment for Flukes?

DjScibbity

DjScibbity

BooYaah!!
OK, so even after very careful QT procedures for ALL of my fish, somehow it looks like I have a fluke infestation. Several fish show signs, though they still look fat and eat well. Im afraid of losing any, but my treatment options are very limited. I do not have a QT setup large enough to treat all of my fish (I have 9 fish - two of which are medium sized tangs) and my QT is a 20 gallon. That, and theres no way I will be able to catch all the fish without destroying my rockwork/corals.

I have heard that some people have had success treating the display for flukes (in a reef tank) without any harm to the macro fauna (not sure how it would affect the microfauna). anyone seen any articles or threads on this or have any experience? Recommendations? I fear I will eventually start losing fish if I dont do anything, but Ive been down the road of trying to catch fish in a mature reef tank with coral colonies on rocks...and Im not about to do that again. Thanks in advance.

-JP
 
Flukes are very common parasites particularly from certain regions (HI in particular, among others) unless you treat for them proactively in your QT for 2 weeks (some flukes lay eggs) odds are they wont be noticed in most QT regimens.

Even if present they typically do not present a problem until water quality begins to deteriorate (nutrients make them reproduce like crazy

AFAIK, there are no in tank fluke treatments that can be used in a reef, the two main medications used for flukes are praziquantel and triclorphon (AKA Fluke Tabs), from what I understand Triclorphon has been delisted for use in aquariums and you cannot get it without a vet scrip or ordering from a large pharma supply (livestock businesses only and you gotta sign a hefty waiver). Praziquantel is readily available at most aquarium shops and very effective for flukes

Either medication will wreak havoc in a reef tank. There is no choice except to QT the fish for 2 weeks to kill the flukes on them (and to let the eggs hatch) and leave the tank fallow to allow any remaining flukes to starve without a host.

I know this isnt what you want to hear, but there are only 2 real choices, A) cross your fingers, change water, and hope for the best or B) QT the fish and treat with an effective medication. Anything you add to your tank to treat the flukes will have very bad consequences on your reef.
 
Flukes

Flukes

There is nothing safe you can add to a reef tanks to kill the Flukes. You need a quarantine tank for your fish but you need to give them a fresh water bath before putting them in the new quarantine aquarium. Your main tank needs to sit fish less for at least 10 weeks to give the eggs time to hatch and the baby flukes die off. Flukes need a host and without any fish in the tank they will die off.
 
I spoke to a friend, and apparently Fluke Tabs and Trichlorphon are not the same. However both medications are currently unavailable for various reasons.

Praziquantel is the way to go to get these guys cleaned up, you can get it dry and mix it with alchohol (vodka) to make the Praziquantel water soluble or you can get Prazi-Pro, it comes in a soluble liquid form and is easier to work with.
 
I read a lot online yesterday and I see a lot of people that have used Prazipro in their reef tank with no ill effects. In fact, I believe the makers of it tout it as being reef safe, except for the fact that it will kill feather dusters, coco worms, and fan worms (I dont have any ornamental ones and very few fan worms). Im contemplating trying this after verifying it is indeed flukes. I know it isnt ideal to treat in tank, but my options are severely limited and the consequences seem tolerable. QT is not an option at this point...

-JP
 
I have done 2 full treatments of Prazi-Pro twice in my reef. The corals where not affected at all and was I surprised that even the mini feather dusters were fine. However, I did lose a fish during treatment due to what appeared to be a parasite blockage. Now I prefer to treat in quarantine, but would treat my reef again if necessary.

This is how I counteract the problems (blockages and fish loss), that people seem to have with their fish, when dosing prazi-pro: Instead of dosing the 1st dose all at once I now divide it into 2 to 4 separate doses, with 12 to 24 hrs between each, depending on how well the fish are eating. After 7 - 10 days I add another full dose, sometimes divided into 2 if the fish are still having trouble, which completes the treatment.

The reason for dividing the treatment is that if you kill all of the flukes or parasite at once, it can leave too many open wounds or cause internal blockages from the parasites. So I find that dividing up the first dose makes it easier on the fish and the full second dose gets rid of any stragglers. I have not lost a fish during treatment since I began dosing this way.

Also if your not 100% sure that it’s flukes you can try to freshwater dip one fish, the flukes should fall off like dandruff and you should be able to see them, with a magnifying glass, in the bottom of the container.
 
J's Quiet Reef, that was going to be my exact plan. I dont have any clams, so no worries there. Im trying to catch a blenny to test dip him to ensure they are indeed flukes. Everyone seems to be eating fine and there is only 1 or 2 fish exhibiting flashing behavior. The blenny hasnt flashed and he looks to be the most infested (two blotches on his side).

One question. Did you do a waterchange between the first and second full dosings (after waiting the 7-10 days)?

One more question: I have A LOT of planaria. I heard that prazi pro kills them (anyone confirm)? That would be great to rid my tank of them, but I dont want to foul my water by a massive dyeoff. My planning on this was to siphon as many as I could prior to first treatment. Then perform the first ful dose and try to remove as many dead planaria as possible. Then, depending on how things look, either continue with a second dose or perform a large water change first before doing a second (and possibly third) dose. Sound good?

-JP
 
Water quality is most important. There have been times where a water change was not necessary and times where I have had to do a water change every few days. The best time for a water change would be right before the second dose, since the effectiveness of the first dose would be gone anyway. But if you need to perform water change between doses, you can add a little more prazi to replace what you removed.

I don’t have any experience with planaria, but I think siphoning first is a good plan. Performing the first full dose to kill off the planaria might be okay.

If it were me I would probably use the first week to focus on getting rid of the planaria, and keeping the water quality up, by adding a very small amount of prazi each day, over several days. That would tell you if it works on the planaria, and if it does it should gradually kill them off. It would also allow the system to process of some of the die off. If you have a skimmer, turning it back on for a few days might be a good idea, and then at the end of that week perform a water change if needed. After that, I would then begin the 2 full doses of Prazi-Pro to treat the flukes.
 
Interesting Slty...I'll have to look into it more.

Thakns for the tips J's Reef. Ill keep y'all posted if/when I can catch the blenny to confirm flukes.

FYI - the symptoms have been present for well over a month or two and the fish are still eating well and not getting thinner. No deaths either.

-JP
 
WHat happened?!

WHat happened?!

Any updates DjScibbity? I'm curious to hear what happened... I have a bad feeling my fish have flukes and was thinking about treating my DT with prazi..:worried:
 
i second that

i second that

J's Quiet Reef said:
I have done 2 full treatments of Prazi-Pro twice in my reef. The corals where not affected at all and was I surprised that even the mini feather dusters were fine. However, I did lose a fish during treatment due to what appeared to be a parasite blockage. Now I prefer to treat in quarantine, but would treat my reef again if necessary.

This is how I counteract the problems (blockages and fish loss), that people seem to have with their fish, when dosing prazi-pro: Instead of dosing the 1st dose all at once I now divide it into 2 to 4 separate doses, with 12 to 24 hrs between each, depending on how well the fish are eating. After 7 - 10 days I add another full dose, sometimes divided into 2 if the fish are still having trouble, which completes the treatment.

The reason for dividing the treatment is that if you kill all of the flukes or parasite at once, it can leave too many open wounds or cause internal blockages from the parasites. So I find that dividing up the first dose makes it easier on the fish and the full second dose gets rid of any stragglers. I have not lost a fish during treatment since I began dosing this way.

Also if your not 100% sure that it's flukes you can try to freshwater dip one fish, the flukes should fall off like dandruff and you should be able to see them, with a magnifying glass, in the bottom of the container.
Click to expand...
I have dealt with flukes on 4 separate occasions the first time I misdiagnosed it as ich and both fish perished, but left dead flukes at the bottom with treatment. Next time all fish survived, but one did have a lil of the problems mentioned above but with melafix healed almost overnite. The last two times I did something similar as far as lower doses and repeating as needed by observing the fish. Some fish are much more sensitive to treatment such as lionfish come to mind. I've treated both reef and swim most recently and only had 1 cleaner shrimp die. Go figure, just make the most common sense and informative decision based on all the factors. And know that you have your fish friends the best chance to beat this. Good Luck!
 
Last edited:
I fresh water dipped one of my fish that was flashing and nothing came off of him, so I just fed a lot and did water changes. No fish have died and everyone seems to be alright. I think there is still some sort of parasite in my tank because my Atlantic blue gets sore like things on his skin (scales) from time to time and when he does, he lets the fire shrimp clean him (its quite cool to watch). So, maybe the fire shrimp is keeping things in check or the fish have strong immune systems...

-JP
 
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