Mysterious fish deaths are more common now (Flukes)

[cthetoy]

Are you guys doing a fresh water dip whenever you receive new fish? I would think that to be risky with the fish being stressed from the bag and shipment already.

I do now. I have yet to lose a fish because of it. First I acclimate the fish. Before I dump the fish to the quarantine tank I freshwater dip the fish for 5 minutes. If you see flukes I dip the fish in another serperate bucket for another minute to prevent introducing flukes to the quarantine tank. Everytime I see flukes in the 1st bucket, I will always see a few more flukes in the 2nd bucket.

Lately the flukes I've seen are not the sesame seed sized flukes but larger scale sized shape flukes.

 

[9toes]

I like the idea.I'm going to institute it from now on.

 

[flameangel88]

On my last reply I meant to say 'check the ph and add powerhead for more water movement'. In case there was any confusion with both 'PH'.

Ever since losing a fish with rapid breathing by the 3rd day now I perform 20% WC by the 2nd night to dilute the Prazi and when the fish improve I'll add a bit back but I'll no longer try to wait it out. So far everytime I do 20% WC the fish will get back to normal breathing in relatively short time. Strangely, of late I haven't come across much of flukes but rather bulge near stomach to anus area.

 

[billsreef]

bulge near stomach to anus area.

Most times I've seen that in fairly new fish it has been an internal infection from needle decompression

 

[flameangel88]

Most times I've seen that in fairly new fish it has been an internal infection from needle decompression

Yes, I can definitely on deep water fish but the last two were:

Blueline--bulge right above the intestine area and died after 6 months.

Recent Red Sea Regal (yellow bellu)--bulge right above anus area and 2 doses of Maracyn 2 didn't do anything but the 2nd dose of Prazi got rid of the bulge. Once the bulge is gone the angel started eating.

 

[cthetoy]

Overdose mistake!!!

Overdose mistake!!!

I have the same symptoms with Flameangel88. Rapid breathing and loss of appetite.

Here is an update to my post I made earlier today. I ran out of Prazipro and about to order another one until I read that the 4oz bottle could treat a 480g tank. What???? Just 2 days ago I used a whole bottle on my 180g tank!!! With the Christmas rush, kid's Christmas plays, and busy work schedule I've mistaken teaspoon for tablespoons. Why can't Prazipro stick with metric and use ml?

The good news is that everything is ok today including the corals.

The reaction with 2.5x overdose of Prazipro:
RBTA, LTA, SPS, Aussie Elegance, Hammer and Frogspawn coral - None noted. Same polyp extension for SPS. Anemones did not shrivel or closed however the Elegance stayed closed the next day.

Imperator, Flagfin, Moorish Idol, Powder Blue, Blue Tang, Yellow Tang, Clown Fish, Asfur, and Juvi Blue Face showed no reaction to the Prazipro overdose and even ate 20 minutes later. Two hours later most of the fish were breathing faster with the Moorish Idol breathing the fastest. Since my protein skimmer could not be turned on with Prazipro I assumed the lack of oxygen was the cause of the rapid breathing. I added three maxi-mod powerhead with the two MP40 that is currently in the tank. The next day none of the fish ate and most fish were lazy like. Breathing was still fast but not as fast the day before. Corals did not seem affected and the Elegance opened up again. The next day I decided to cut the treatment short and performed a 30% water change, turned skimmer back on and used carbon. The following morning the fish were back to its usual. Fish were following me around the tank begging for food and I breathed a sigh of relief.

My skimmer is still overfoaming 3 days straight despite a 50% water change and heavy use of carbon. Normal Prazipro dosage will overfoam the skimmer for the first 24 hours.

I've been dosing Vodka for 6 months and no negative reactions were noted with Prazipro.

 

[Psionicdragon]

Just to note:

I followed the Prazipro instruction. It is not completely reef safe. The corals didn't get affected as much, but some did.

The blue cesp nearly melted and I lost two derasa and ultra grade maxima. Also lost 3 dispar and 1 barlett.

So becareful when you use it

 

[Tanque Verde]

Thanks for this informative thread. I just lost my bsj--after one month in my tank--to what I now know to be flukes. This information will help me in the future.

I read in this thread whatever flukes may now exist in my tank should die off after 4-6 weeks if I don't add another fish in the meantime. Can anybody confirm? Leaving my tank fish free for 6 weeks will eliminate fluke?

Many thanks again. At least I have a little comfort knowing what went wrong.

 

[jlinzmaier]

Just to note:

I followed the Prazipro instruction. It is not completely reef safe. The corals didn't get affected as much, but some did.

The blue cesp nearly melted and I lost two derasa and ultra grade maxima. Also lost 3 dispar and 1 barlett.

So becareful when you use it

Hmm...

I dosed prazipro at 1X then 2X then 3X the recommended dosing without any ill effects and I have a very diverse reef tank with many clams. I suspect there is some variation in it's effects on a tank which is likely attributed to one of the thousand variables/differences that exist between all of our tanks.

Jeremy

 

[tangfish]

prazipro safe for tanks with eels?

 

[Mark 75g]

I just lost a blonde naso tang, salfin tang, wrasser, anthias, and 2 blue hippo tangs with the last week. Water quality has been good and can not figure why. I will look and see if I can find flukes on my existing flame angel, yellow tang and coral beauty.

How do I do a frsh water dip to see if there is flukes?

 

[flameangel88]

Match the the FW temp and ph of tank water then dip for 4-5 minutes.

 

[tangfish]

I just dipped my Passer last night and without a doubt you can see the flukes floating in the water dead. You can't miss them. I dipped him for 10min, with an aitstone towards the top of the bucket.

 

[tangfish]

Eels with prazipro? I cheked their website, but does not mention anything for eels. I have a 4ft Zebra eel in the tank. Also, can eels get flukes?

Thanks in advance.

 

[cthetoy]

Eels with prazipro? I cheked their website, but does not mention anything for eels. I have a 4ft Zebra eel in the tank. Also, can eels get flukes?

Is it a new eel or experiencing fluke symptoms? For a 4ft eel it might be too large to perform a FW dip to confirm if there are flukes. You might be better off with just a wait and see approach

 

[Mark 75g]

How do you match ph with tank?

 

[flameangel88]

Take a pH reading of your tank water and FW (filtered water). Depending on the reading get a bottle pH Up or pH Down from your lfs is the easiest to match the two reading.

 

[tangfish]

No signs of fliukes on the eel, with that said the zebra eel hardly nevers comes out from the rocks until time to eat.. My clown trigger 8" eye is now cloudly a little bit, and I know it from from the Passer. I will NEVER EVER just put a fish into the main tank again without QT. From what it will cost me in saltwater changes and ordering Prazipro next day air, I sunk in nearly $200.00.

So, should I move the eel to other tank that I have or teat it also in the main display?

Thanks for the help.

Mark 75g, Search freshwater dips here on RC or google. They will tell you how in much detail. PH tester to answer your question.

 

[billsreef]

Just use a little buffer for SW tanks or a touch of baking soda in conjunction with a pH meter. In practicality, I find so long as the FW used is over a pH of 7 and less than 9, the pH adjustment is not necessary for the short duration of the bath. Just be sure the water is dechlorinated, well aerated, and close to the tanks temperature.

 

[billsreef]

So, should I move the eel to other tank that I have or teat it also in the main display?

Treat the eel to be safe. While their copious slime coat gives them so good resistance to parasites, it's not a sure thing.