Treating a mixed reef for flukes?

[travis32]

Well, I have white worms that free swim at night in my 125g. I have to think that if I can see them that there's got to be alot of them. My current fish appear to be immune to them or are able to be healthy, but, any new fish introduced has around a 50/50 chance of becoming immune or dieing to the white parasitic worms. They infest under the skin of the fish, and then about 2 weeks later a bunch of worms pop out of the fish. And tiny pin holes / abrasions can be seen all over the fishes body. Sometimes it's just one side of the fish, sometimes it's both sides, just depends..

All of my current fish don't show any signs of the abrasions. However, I've tried a power brown tang and sever blue hippo tangs and within 1-2 weeks of being in the tank they either don't eat from the start or stop eating altogether, and will live around 1-3 months eating minimally or nothing, and they'll have stuff popping out of their sides several times before they die. The worms I see pop out of them are the same worms I see swimming freely at night.. (short around 1/2" long, perfectly round / tube like, swim sorta like an eel, and are completely white.) I'm thinking flukes.

Is there a way to kill flukes tank wide without killing fish, corals, nems, rocks, etc? I have a lot of fan worms, so, I'd be scared of some type of ammonia spike if like other worms were affected enmasse.

do I just live with a permanent infestation of flukes?

 

[MrTuskfish]

Flukes are a worm. Prazi-Pro kills them. Its safe for corals and most inverts; but not feather dusters and other worms. If you're really worried that dead worms can cause an ammonia spike, what would a dead fish do? I'd use the PP and be ready to do WCs if needed, I doubt you'll have to.

 

[travis32]

Do flukes swim int he water colum? I saw several swimming next to the glass. Just wondering,but, whatever they are, they must be some type of worm, if prazi pro kills them...

 

[GrendelPrime76]

is there any chance u can get a few pictures of the swimming critters?

 

[travis32]

I got a picture of one that was swimming right in front of me next to the front glass. They're creapy creatures. But, the picture isn't the greatest. It shows up as a blurred white wormlike creature because it's swimming so fast and in constant motion. It stayed in the same area, with or without flash going off, but, it's body was constantly wiggling to stay swimming.

I'll post what picture I got though later tonight or tomorrow night.

 

[cngreg]

Flukes is a common name but generally refers to flatworms (platyhelminthes) which is a phylum which includes many groups including tapeworms and the external/gill parasites often associated with fish disease. There are a few free swimming types but these are not usually parasitic. The world is a diverse place and I'll cover my butt by saying its possible that you are dealing with flatworms however I think it's more likely you've got a nematode parasite. They are more commonly skinny, parasitic, and swimming in aquatic environments. That being said, those guys are not as subceptable to praziquantel. They are subceptable to things that inhibit chitin such as diflubenzarone (dimilin) and lufeneron (trade name for dog fleas/ticks is 'program'). You can also kill nematodes (and platyhelminths) with copper,organsophosphates, or formalin pretty effectively however these none of these meds are a good option for a reef. My suggestion is spray and pray that the prazi works (2-4ppm if you can somehow confirm that the prazipro dose will give you this) and then really make sure that you have clean and clear gravel. Gravel vac, sand sifters, and microcleanup crew like an army of bluelegged hermits. Lots of parasites survive on detritus in interum cycles where no subceptable hosts are around. They also have a much better chance of infecting if there are lots of them...it's a statistical game where if 1/1000 actually gets in the fish but it only takes one to cause a problem then keep the number of parasite as low as possible right?

 

[MrTuskfish]

Edit:cngregeah posted while I fumbled with the keyboard. Good info above^^^I learn something every day on RC.
a pic would be great. I think you need to ID what you want to kill first.
I really think the fear of "bio-load" is way over used; unless a tank is very small or very new. Compare the mass of some dead worms to the waste (poop, in scientific terms) from a larger fish, especially a tang or other herbivore. Its always a point of differing opinions, but I just don't see a problem. An ammonia neutralizer (Prime, Amquel, etc.) on hand should ease any fears.

 

[travis32]

That makes sense... You don't know how many fan worms I have though. Decaying matter is decaying matter. 100s of tiny fan worms vs. 1 fish body... doesn't seem like a comparison. also, I have a host of Berghia right now to nip some aiptasia in the bud, would prazi pro affect sea slugs? I'll probably have to wait until the aiptasia infestation is gone, then focus on whatever I have. I'll get the pic tomorrow. Have to find the transfer cable for my phone. LOL.