Praziquantel in large shark/fish system...

[griseum]

Just to give you an idea of the system, its a 12' by 12' (roughly) shark lagoon, in line with 400 gallons of other natural filtration. In line, of those 400 gallons, are a 4' by 2' macro heavy and LR tank as well as a 4' by 18" tank with similar livestock. Then various other tanks, with breeding clowns and blennies, a few soft corals/shrooms under LEDs, a detritus settling 50 gallon tank, etc, etc.

I get excited about the biodiversity i have established, it fascinates me. I am a biologist, and observing and studying the microfauna that has populated the macro tanks and the others as well, really excites me.

I have a rigorous QT system that all incoming fish must go through before entering the main system which has a total volume of 1500 (give or take) Gallons.

Somehow, i believe nematodes got introduced to the system, and have effected one of my large reef fish. Gill flukes, nematodes, parasitic -pods, Im not certain, but i treated the entire system today, reluctantly however, with Prazi. Not a full dose but a few ounces shy of a full dose.

What am i going to lose as far as microinverts, cucumbers, stars, etc, and how will this impact my biodiversity. I know Hikari's prazipro sold under a different name, i think Aquarium Solutions, states the only thing in jeopardy are Polycladid flatworms. Anybody have any real world experience?
Ive used prazi many times before but not on an entire system like this with such great diversity. Ive had nothing but success, although i worry about DO/ORP levels while shutting my skimmer off. Another reason to worry about this is im running Biopellets in a reactor that feeds directly into a G1x by ASM which i am not shutting off. That little skimmer should have no real impact on the mg/L of Prazi.

Thanks for reading this extremely long post and for any thoughts, comments or input!!

 

[griseum]

Well in case anyone is interested, nothing was harmed but the evil parasites and worms (in the filming of this video) lol.
Corals remained vibrant and polyps extended. Inverts clean up crew is alive and well.
With my largeprotein skimmer off, I did make sure to use several mag 12.5s to create surface agitation and Increased water flow.

 

[MrTuskfish]

I was hoping our resident shark expert would have appeared. A little late, but a thought. Because of the unique system you have, I'd call Hikari ,I think they still make PP (Praziquantel), and talk to their tech folks. I've talked to Hikari tech support a few times and I think they are great. If a company doesn't have good tech support, I don't buy their products. The phone # is on the bottle. FWIW: PP is the safest, most predictable med I've used. Its the only med I'd ever use in a reef tank.

 

[griseum]

Thanks. Ive used prazi for almost a decade with no problems besides lowered DO levels, caused by the viscous med and shutting off of protein skimmer. Ive had some close calls with sharks breathing very heavily and visibly distressed, where ive had to cut short medicating and turn on the skimmer and add carbon. This is why i almost always use a super-sized skimmer. I wasnt concerned at all about the breeding groups of sharks or my big reef fish, I was concerned with the polychaetes living amongst the Macro tanks and corals that i keep as a water quality indicator in another tank, in-line.

Thanks!

 

[griseum]

And yes, I too would defniitely indicate that Prazi is reef safe, depending on the type of worms you keep and how many you actually have, as in their die off may create a dangerous ammonia spike.