Best way to cure flukes

[starfish67]

Hi I just got a new copperhead 10 days ago added to a QT with other fish we bought that day. Noticed he has flukes created a one other small 5 gal tank for the copperhead no Copper in water just added Paraguay’s by Seachem.
Also did a 1 minute Rodi water dip.
Anything else I can do?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hi I just got a new copperhead 10 days ago added to a QT with other fish we bought that day. Noticed he has flukes created a one other small 5 gal tank for the copperhead no Copper in water just added Paraguay’s by Seachem.
Also did a 1 minute Rodi water dip.
Anything else I can do?

How did you diagnose the flukes?

Do you mean that you dosed with Paraguard? That isn't effective against flukes.

A one minute FW dip won't be effective against flukes, it needs to be 5 minutes, and then, the fish must be moved to a sterile tank, else it will just become reinfected.

If the fish has flukes, all fish that it was in with will also need to be treated. The easiest treatment for that is praziquantel. Here is a write-up I did about that:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/dosing-praziquantel-pzq.1105700/

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi I just got a new copperhead 10 days ago added to a QT with other fish we bought that day. Noticed he has flukes created a one other small 5 gal tank for the copperhead no Copper in water just added Paraguay’s by Seachem.
Also did a 1 minute Rodi water dip.
Anything else I can do?

As mentioned, Im sure you meant Paraguard which is not effective for most anything and prior to adding any medication, its essential to properly identify what your fish has. Freshwater dip which should be for 5 minutes to be effective offers temporary relief causing any flukes to drop off and is not a remedy and if flukes, you would have seen presence of a few that dropped off. Often if you meant copperband, will have lympho opposed to flukes and we need much more and clearer information and even a video using bright white lighting- no blue for video of at least 30 seconds showing all fish

 

[starfish67]

Hi I just got a new copperhead 10 days ago added to a QT with other fish we bought that day. Noticed he has flukes created a one other small 5 gal tank for the copperhead no Copper in water just added Paraguay’s by Seachem.
Also did a 1 minute Rodi water dip.
Anything else I can do?

As mentioned, Im sure you meant Paraguard which is not effective for most anything and prior to adding any medication, its essential to properly identify what your fish has. Freshwater dip which should be for 5 minutes to be effective offers temporary relief causing any flukes to drop off and is not a remedy and if flukes, you would have seen presence of a few that dropped off. Often if you meant copperband, will have lympho opposed to flukes and we need much more and clearer information and even a video using bright white lighting- no blue for video of at least 30 seconds showing all fish

Hi
I did a 1 minute Rodi water test to see if any white worms fell off and they did actually 3 did. That is how I identifying flukes. Yes I did mean to type para guard. So need to treat other QT fish as well as my copperband? Here is video.

 

[W31Olds]

We normally recommend Prazipro for treating Flukes as it's readily available (Amazon). Your Copperband may have Flukes but looking at your Video has something serious going on above and rear of the Eyes. These are Expert level fish and not easy to keep and not eating is usually big trouble. Yours may have some sort of Bacteriel Infection going on and usually when they get to this stage the odds are low that they will recover. It's good that your are QT'ing you fish. Jay has very good info on the site on how to do it and what is needed. All fish in QT should always as a matter of procedure treated for Flukes since they are very common.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi
I did a 1 minute Rodi water test to see if any white worms fell off and they did actually 3 did. That is how I identifying flukes. Yes I did mean to type para guard. So need to treat other QT fish as well as my copperband? Here is video.

Thank you for video. I wish I could see worms but am not ruling out flukes as I also see hazy eyes. I recommend Prazi Pro available at most pets stores and dosed at 85% of recommended dosage and allow it to work for 8 days, change water and apply one more application lasting 8 days and continue air stone as Prazi lowers both oxygen and appetite

 

[starfish67]

Thanks so I need to change water first or can I just add with the paragaurd?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Thanks so I need to change water first or can I just add with the paragaurd?

I would do a 30% water change, just to be safe. You should also do water changes if you see an ammonia rise or before any subsequent prazi doses.

 

[MnFish1]

FWIW - it's a copper band - not a copper head. IMHO - I would set up a hospital tank (and it would be for all fish. not just eat copper band) - and do a full quarantine with copper and prazipro.

 

[starfish67]

Thanks so I need to change water first or can I just add with the paragaurd?

I would do a 30% water change, just to be safe. You should also do water changes if you see an ammonia rise or before any subsequent prazi doses.

Hi again so take a closer look at his eye will that heal up with the Prazi pro?
I did a 100% water change due ammonia spike.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hi again so take a closer look at his eye will that heal up with the Prazi pro?
I did a 100% water change due ammonia spike.

The fish is in very poor shape, a lot worse than the video from Sunday - see the "paddlefin" swimming with its pectoral fins? That is a sign of a very sick fish. Also, there is some general cloudiness to its skin. This is either a secondary bacterial infection, or a reaction to ammonia in the water. How high did the ammonia get?

 

[starfish67]

We normally recommend Prazipro for treating Flukes as it's readily available (Amazon). Your Copperband may have Flukes but looking at your Video has something serious going on above and rear of the Eyes. These are Expert level fish and not easy to keep and not eating is usually big trouble. Yours may have some sort of Bacteriel Infection going on and usually when they get to this stage the odds are low that they will recover. It's good that your are QT'ing you fish. Jay has very good info on the site on how to do it and what is needed. All fish in QT should always as a matter of procedure treated for Flukes since they are very common.

Thank you for your reply. Yes I ran out to separate the copperband in its own QT tank since I have 5 clowns and a gobby in the other QT tank. Proxi Pro just arrived from Amazon and just did the first does and marked the calendar for next does bottle read 5-7 days then repeat. Nothing else in the water so hope this cures him. Pray he makes it.
The other QT tank looks good all eating no signs of infections brought home May 1 so far so good . I do a 30 day QT just to be safe.

 

[starfish67]

Hi again so take a closer look at his eye will that heal up with the Prazi pro?
I did a 100% water change due ammonia spike.

The fish is in very poor shape, a lot worse than the video from Sunday - see the "paddlefin" swimming with its pectoral fins? That is a sign of a very sick fish. Also, there is some general cloudiness to its skin. This is either a secondary bacterial infection, or a reaction to ammonia in the water. How high did the ammonia get?

The ammonia was so high .50 I freaked out dumped the water right away and did a 100% water change checked again no ammonia. I just added the prazipro today as it just arrived. I hope he makes it. Since he was I the other QT with 5 clowns and a gobby they all look good just copper in water should I be concerned about eggs?

 

[ReefED!]

Focus on water quality first and letting him recover - I’d get some frozen clams because I doubt he’s eating

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

The ammonia was so high .50 I freaked out dumped the water right away and did a 100% water change checked again no ammonia. I just added the prazipro today as it just arrived. I hope he makes it. Since he was I the other QT with 5 clowns and a gobby they all look good just copper in water should I be concerned about eggs?

The ammo is may rise back up by today. I can’t tell you if the fin issues I see are from bacteria or ammonia, but that is a very bad sign with this species.

Since this fish was in with other ones, they all need to be treated. If that first tank is more stable, leaving it there and treating that tank would have been the best idea.