The worst flukes??

[fsbbn@hotmail]

I have a large (over 1 foot) emperor angel that can't seem to shake off flukes. I have been treating the whole tank for about six weeks with prazi pro (six treatments). All the other fish (25 of them) have no issues that I can tell. Can't catch the fish easily as it is in a 2000 GAL tank.

I did catch the fish once and did a freshwater dip, nothing fell off. But I am assuming I can't see the microscopic flukes. The fish flashes, shakes head side to side, has speed excurtions and scrathes its eye and areas behind mouth on rocks. Does not eat anywhere close to what it should but that could be the prazi pro.

I am not sure what i can do next. is it possible the flukes are becoming resistant to prazi? Also, the fish has a case of lymphocytes. It is a christmas island angel so I really do not want to lose it but at this point I am close to stopping the treatment. Would the powder be better than the prazipro. I can get some but it will be hundreds of dollars.


No fish has died in the tank in a few months so i am assuming it is not any of the other parasites. Could bacteria cause these symptoms? any help from the fish experts like Bill'sreef and JHamdel would be appreciated. You can imagine the amount of effort that goes into changing this much water in the 2500GAL system. In over 20 years of fish keeping I have never faced anything like this. Can't see the curlprit but I know it is there and the drug works on all but my favourite fish.

 

[jhentr]

IME with my emp angel, I had to do two dips to get flukes off my juvi emp (5 mins first time, 10 mins second time). After the first dip, it still shows sign of head shaking, rapid gill movement and lack of appetite. After the second FW dip, it didn't shake it's head side to side anymore and the rapid gill movements became normal. I still have to deal with minor spots of lympho, but that might be a given in my QT. I

I did three doses of Prazi in conjunction with a month of Cupramine and all my fishes didn't show signs of flukes (cept for the emp). Also, I couldn't see any flukes either, but the container I've used is opaque color, so might be hard to tell.

Hopefully you can catch it for another prolong dip to see if it'll knock it out once an for all.

 

[Lynnmw1208]

did you try the freshwater dip with the prazi?

 

[LargeAngels]

If you properly dosed the Prazipro six weeks straight and did a FW dip and nothing fell off then it most likely does not have flukes, but something else.

 

[fsbbn@hotmail]

I only tried one freshwater dip. It is imposible to catch the fish in a tank that size. i got lucky during the night once. if he does not improve in the next two weeks I am going to have to break down the tank and catch him. I will likely put him in a 150 gal rubbermaid as he is too large for a 55 gal QT I have.

I might have to consider formalin and maybe even De-Los.

I can't think of what it could be if it is not flukes. No other fish show symptoms any more after i started adding the prazipro. It has all the signs of a classic fluke infestation including the yawning.

None of the other fish have any signs on the skin. The two maroon clowns have a little excess mucus when I add the prazi. This has been a huge mystry. Between treatments when i change water it seems the fish starts scratching more and then slows down the 3rd day of adding prazi.

the fish is still strong and eats some. One eye is a little swollen from all the scratching. It is tough when you QT fish and still have a three month battle with disease. I treated with Chloroquine Phosphate the first six weeks because I thought if could be ick or brook. Since no fish show sings and no one has died in the past few months i am thinking it is not one of those. there is no scratching from the 25 other fish either.

 

[runintoluck]

You can try the powder form of praziquantel made by nfp, it's called praztastic and to he best of my knowledge, is stronger than regular liquid prazipro.

 

[b0bab0ey]

How long did you wait in-between treatments? I had a similar problem with a PB Tang. I eventually hit it with 4 consecutive treatments, 5 days apart, to beat the Flukes it had.

 

[fsbbn@hotmail]

I tried 5 days apart and then I started 3 days apart.
i treated for the last time today. i am leaving town for a week and when I come back if it is better great and if not then I am going to catch him. If I catch him i maybe able to look in his gills or take a swab. I was so worried about this that i even bought a really nice microscope. I just got Dr Noga's book and I am going to try to tech myself how to figure out what I am looking at in the scope. I think ich is 10 times better than flukes. Atleast you can see it.

 

[b0bab0ey]

I tried 5 days apart and then I started 3 days apart.
i treated for the last time today. i am leaving town for a week and when I come back if it is better great and if not then I am going to catch him. If I catch him i maybe able to look in his gills or take a swab. I was so worried about this that i even bought a really nice microscope. I just got Dr Noga's book and I am going to try to tech myself how to figure out what I am looking at in the scope. I think ich is 10 times better than flukes. Atleast you can see it.

How many consecutive times did you treat 5 days apart and then 3 days apart? With my PB Tang I had to do it religiously 4x, 5 days apart. That finally beat it after 2 months of trying. Like others have suggested, this may not be Flukes at all. It's a shame you can't catching him, QT and treat with Cupramine for external parasites. See if that does any good. You can use Prazi and Cupramine together, but Cupramine is def not reef safe.