Praziquantel Reef Safe?

[WaffleWalffle22]

One of my new picasso clowns isn't eating, isn't very active and has white poop. I suspect it has internal parasites, so I was going to treat it with praziquantel or prazipro. Are either of those reef-safe? Please share you experiences with either.

My tank is SPS dominated. I have a clam, a few LPS, and two hornet colonies. It also houses a peppermint shrimp. I don't want to stress the fish even more with QT which is why I want an in-tank medication.

Anyone know the difference between praziquantel and prazipro?

 

[b0bab0ey]

Prazipro is just a name brand for praziquantel. They are basically one and the same. Prazi will kill worms (including tube worms/feather dusters) but otherwise is reef safe. Turn off your skimmer while treating with Prazi, do more than one treatment to completely wipe out the Flukes and do WCs in-between treatments.

 

[WaffleWalffle22]

I'm still afraid of dosing it to my reef tank. I can't take the risk of it harming my SPS or my clam. Has anybody personally used it in their reef with clams/SPS/zoas/softies/etc and did it harm anything? I don't have any feather dusters, so I don't need to worry about that.

Can I do 30min baths or would that stress the fish too much? How many times would I have to do the baths to get the worms to go away? I don't have a QT set up... I probably need one for the future though.

 

[b0bab0ey]

The problem with Prazi is it kills the worms but not their eggs. Which is why you have to do 2-3 consecutive treatments to completely wipe it out. A 30 min bath might be enough time to kill the Flukes on the fish but of course, the fish will still be carrying the eggs... so, more Flukes. Not to mention the Flukes/eggs that are already in your DT's water column. To completely eradicate Flukes in your DT w/o using Prazi, you'll need to QT all your fish and leave the DT fallow for 8 weeks to starve the Flukes out.

 

[WaffleWalffle22]

Uh... I don't think they have flukes. One has an internal parasite.

 

[b0bab0ey]

My bad, I see Prazi and my mind locks on Flukes.

Prazi works for internal parasites as well. You'll still have them in the water column though unless you treat the entire DT. But if you choose not to and can't QT, I guess the bath is your best option. Feed everything lots of garlic soaked food, and hope between that and their immune system is enough to do the rest.

 

[WaffleWalffle22]

I set up a 5g QT and I'm adjusting the heater. I'm running distilled water in it for the moment until I get the temperature in balance. Tomorrow, on the off chance the fish isn't doing any better (which hopefully he will be), I will put his tank water in there and treat the tank.

 

[b0bab0ey]

I set up a 5g QT and I'm adjusting the heater. I'm running distilled water in it for the moment until I get the temperature in balance. Tomorrow, on the off chance the fish isn't doing any better (which hopefully he will be), I will put his tank water in there and treat the tank.

Good call. Heater is good, but I'd also add a small power filter or even just an air driven sponge filter. Keep an eye on your ammonia and siphon poop off the bottom as needed. Good luck!

 

[WaffleWalffle22]

The fish is doing a bit better. He is more active and he is starting to eat a TINY bit. He nibbled on a tiny particle of rod's food soaked in garlic and he bit a few other big pieces and spit them out, which is great progress. I'm thinking that blocked out a bit of the halide is helping him.

Good call. Heater is good, but I'd also add a small power filter or even just an air driven sponge filter. Keep an eye on your ammonia and siphon poop off the bottom as needed. Good luck!

I have a submersible filter in there with an adjustable head on it to angle the flow. It sticks to any surface using it's suction cups, though it often falls off the sides. You can hook up an air pump to it with air tubing and it shoots bubbles out of the flow head. I can try that if it will help.

How can I keep the ammonia down? Water changes?

 

[b0bab0ey]

How can I keep the ammonia down? Water changes?

Yeah, at a minimum, I'd do small weekly WCs. You're supposed to change 25-50% of the water in-between doses of Prazi anyway. The most important thing is to siphon out anything that settles on the bottom before it starts creating ammonia. I'd recommend getting a Seachem Ammonia Alert thingy (see link below) so you don't have to constantly keep testing for it.

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/AmmoniaAlert.html

I'd also hook up that air pump you have. I find fish need extra oxygen while being medicated, especially Prazi.

 

[WaffleWalffle22]

Yeah, at a minimum, I'd do small weekly WCs. You're supposed to change 25-50% of the water in-between doses of Prazi anyway. The most important thing is to siphon out anything that settles on the bottom before it starts creating ammonia. I'd recommend getting a Seachem Ammonia Alert thingy (see link below) so you don't have to constantly keep testing for it.

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/AmmoniaAlert.html

I'd also hook up that air pump you have. I find fish need extra oxygen while being medicated, especially Prazi.

I have an old ammonia alert that I used when attempting to rear clowns, so I can toss that in.

As it turns out, the pump was made in Italy. Apparently their air tubing sizes are different because the smallest size wouldn't fit on and the next smallest size was too big. I can hook up a new airstone with new tubing if needed.

I think the fish is recovering and fighting off whatever it has/had on it's own. Maybe the large doses of garlic in their meals is helping to fight the worm off (if he has one). I'll only use the QT if absolutely needed and I'll have it and the medication ready to go just in case, though I hopefully won't need it since the fish is getting a good start to a recovery. I'm beginning to think it was the high lighting.

Should I have anything like live rock in the QT if I need it in the future?

 

[b0bab0ey]

People on here debate the usefulness of garlic. Some say it boosts a fish's immune system, some say the garlic leeches through the fish's pores and drives the parasites off, some say it's completely useless. I say, "So long as it doesn't hurt the fish, why not give it a try?"

I wouldn't use LR in a QT. Personally, I use an old school u/g filter with crushed coral for mine but I admit it does have it's disadvantages. Here are too good threads I read (and keep posting) about how to setup a QT:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1990651&highlight=setting+qt

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1866770&highlight=setting+qt

Bare bottom with a HOB power filter (AquaClear seems to be a fav choice) or a sponge filter seems to be what most people use nowadays. I've considered doing this myself as I get tired of my crushed coral constantly absorbing the copper and I have to keep re-dosing. That was the disadvantage I was referring to. If I were you, I'd consider setting up a bigger QT for the future. I use a 29g. You can use it to treat sick fish or QT new fish purchases before putting them in the DT.

 

[WaffleWalffle22]

People on here debate the usefulness of garlic. Some say it boosts a fish's immune system, some say the garlic leeches through the fish's pores and drives the parasites off, some say it's completely useless. I say, "So long as it doesn't hurt the fish, why not give it a try?"

I wouldn't use LR in a QT. Personally, I use an old school u/g filter with crushed coral for mine but I admit it does have it's disadvantages. Here are too good threads I read (and keep posting) about how to setup a QT:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1990651&highlight=setting+qt

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1866770&highlight=setting+qt

Bare bottom with a HOB power filter (AquaClear seems to be a fav choice) or a sponge filter seems to be what most people use nowadays. I've considered doing this myself as I get tired of my crushed coral constantly absorbing the copper and I have to keep re-dosing. That was the disadvantage I was referring to. If I were you, I'd consider setting up a bigger QT for the future. I use a 29g. You can use it to treat sick fish or QT new fish purchases before putting them in the DT.

I may leave this QT up and running for the future. The filter has a main circulation head and an attachable thing that redirects the water through two sponges, so I guess it would be considered a sponge filter. I'll take a look at those two links you gave me.

Can I make the QT more attractive with the additions of LR and live sand, or will the bacteria loss from the addition of medication cause ammonia to spike and kill the fish?

 

[WaffleWalffle22]

The fish is better now. She is eating and swimming around as usual, and she is swimming a tiny bit while she rests now just like her boyfriend.