A few PraziPro questions...

[ChrisRD]

Hi Jay,

Despite purchasing all fish from a quarantined vendor (who already put all of the fish through 2 rounds of Prazi) I ended up with what appears to be gill flukes in a 100 gallon reef tank (all 8 fish have shown some signs). The total system volume is approximately 80 gallons so I have dosed 20 mils of PraziPro (yesterday). I have the skimmer cup off, UV off and added strong aeration to the display tank too. Temp=79, Salinity=35ppt, pH 8.1 (night) to 8.2 (day), all other water parameters are the typical range for a reef tank.

I'm about 24 hours into the first treatment and all fish seem completely unstressed...eating and acting normal (I have not seen anymore flashing). One snail appears stunned/dead (probaly unrelated as I haven't added any in years and occasional find one dead of old age) and one SPS frag appears irriated...but otherwise no negative impacts. The tank is less than a year old so only have "tester" SPS frags in it so far...nothing of high value. One of the Chaulk Bass (that was clearly the most infected) looks terrible and I do not think it will survive the treatement (I'm assuming it had too many flukes and the resulting wounds may be too much for it). It's very weak, pale, stopped eating and is breathing hard.

My questions:

1. Is there anything I can do for the one fish in distress? I'm assuming a fresh water dip would just finish it off...
2. Given how little the other fish have reacted...is it possible the treatment has not been very effective? I've had plenty of fish not react to Prazi in QT but I'm sure these fish all had flukes as they have all shown signs. Is it normal for them to just not react much with a light infection?
3. How long should I wait before turning the UV back on and resuming normal skimming (I have only used Prazi in QT in the past)?
4. When is the best time to do the large water change before the 2nd dose?

I"m planning to wait the 8 days and dose again to be sure I have killed anything that hatched from eggs.

Thanks in advance for any help...always appreciate your input!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Sounds like you are running the treatment properly.

I wouldn’t try a FW dip on the chalk bass, too stressful.

Fish should not react much to a properly done Prazipro treatment unless they had very severe infections. Then, the gill damage can cause a fish to bleed out.

I typically hold UV and skimmer not collecting for 48 to 72 hours after a dose, but some people say 24 hours is good since prazi gets broken down by bacteria so quickly.

I usually do a 25% water change the day before the 2nd dose.

I’m also considering shortening the interval for gill flukes to 7 days. It’s all such a guess though…..

 

[ChrisRD]

Thanks Jay!

How long do you recommend for the additional aeration in the display tank? OK to shut that after the first 48 hours? The spray makes a bit of a mess...

The tank has a lot of flow, a large skimmer that draws air from outside and I have an ERV + full time mechanical ventilation. Based on the lack of pH fluctuation I'm assuming the system is well aerated even without it.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks Jay!

How long do you recommend for the additional aeration in the display tank? OK to shut that after the first 48 hours? The spray makes a bit of a mess...

The tank has a lot of flow, a large skimmer that draws air from outside and I have an ERV + full time mechanical ventilation. Based on the lack of pH fluctuation I'm assuming the system is well aerated even without it.

I run air stone full time but at least during the duration of prazi treatment

 

[ChrisRD]

Thanks for the reply!

In QT with the low flow it's easy for me to put something on the net top directly over the bubble column to contain the spray. I haven't done this in a display tank before...flow is blowing bubbles all over the place.

I can keep it going to be on the safe side.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks Jay!

How long do you recommend for the additional aeration in the display tank? OK to shut that after the first 48 hours? The spray makes a bit of a mess...

The tank has a lot of flow, a large skimmer that draws air from outside and I have an ERV + full time mechanical ventilation. Based on the lack of pH fluctuation I'm assuming the system is well aerated even without it.

After about 3 days, the solvent has been decomposed by bacteria and you can turn the air down/off.

 

[ChrisRD]

Thanks Jay!

 

[ChrisRD]

So...48 hours in and the small Chalk Bass is really struggling...and to make matters worse it appears something munched his tail off during the night (I'm assuming the larger Chalk Bass picking at him).

Sorry for the crappy cell phone pic...I'm assuming Neobenedenia on his body? They were not apparent before the treatment. All other fish look great and are acting normal, eating, etc...

 

[Jay Hemdal]

So...48 hours in and the small Chalk Bass is really struggling...and to make matters worse it appears something munched his tail off during the night (I'm assuming the larger Chalk Bass picking at him).

Sorry for the crappy cell phone pic...I'm assuming Neobenedenia on his body? They were not apparent before the treatment. All other fish look great and are acting normal, eating, etc...

Ugh - the chalk bass has had its fins torn up (pects and caudal at least). The whiteness on the fins indicates a possible secondary bacterial infection. That's going to be tough to resolve. Chalk bass are weird - they swim in shoals in the wild, but in aquariums, they often fight.

 

[ChrisRD]

Thanks Jay...I'm going to try to catch him and move him to a hospital tank if I can. Not looking good...

 

[ChrisRD]

Wasn't able to catch him yesterday and he's a no show today so I'm guessing it was too much for the little guy. Remaining fish look great and no more flashing. Plan to do the 2nd treatment at the 7 to 8 day interval just to be sure.

Thanks again for the feedback!

 

[ChrisRD]

Hi Jay,

Following up here, the infected Chalk Bass died but the other fish have been fine after the Prazi treatments. I did lose a shrimp, a few snails and a couple of SPS frags bleached (now recovering) but mostly it went well.

Just recently the Royal Gramma and the remaining Chalk Bass have started hiding a lot. Eating fine and look good (for the brief moments I can see them) but odd behavior. Got me thinking....

My concern is that this may be Neobenedenia which means I'm probably not done. If you zoom in on the pic of the Chalk Bass that perished, that's what it looks like to me. Thoughts?

I'm assuming my best option is to catch all of the fish and treat them in hypo in a QT if this is Neo. How long would the display need to be fallow to be clear?

Thanks again for your help.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hi Jay,

Following up here, the infected Chalk Bass died but the other fish have been fine after the Prazi treatments. I did lose a shrimp, a few snails and a couple of SPS frags bleached (now recovering) but mostly it went well.

Just recently the Royal Gramma and the remaining Chalk Bass have started hiding a lot. Eating fine and look good (for the brief moments I can see them) but odd behavior. Got me thinking....

My concern is that this may be Neobenedenia which means I'm probably not done. If you zoom in on the pic of the Chalk Bass that perished, that's what it looks like to me. Thoughts?

I'm assuming my best option is to catch all of the fish and treat them in hypo in a QT if this is Neo. How long would the display need to be fallow to be clear?

Thanks again for your help.

Neobenedenia is not really visible on the fish, but the damage they do is; what you'll see is a generally tattered look to the fish, dull skin, frayed fins and both eyes will almost always have a slight cloudiness to them.

Hyposalinity at 1.012 for 30 days works well, and that is the same length of time that the tank needs to lay fallow....

 

[ChrisRD]

I'm just going to setup a QT and run all of the fish through full treatment to make sure I'm in the clear. This tank is less than a year old and I'd rather tackle this now and not have to worry later on.

So much for buying "QTed" fish. I'm going back to doing it myself.

Thanks again Jay. Happy Easter!