Brook or flukes?

[Humblefish]

It sounds like you may be dealing with a prazi resistant strain of monogeneans (more common than people realize).

Hyposalinity is the best alternative treatment for these, but you can also use formalin. In his book Noga lists Fenbendazole (25mg/L in a 12 hour bath) as another option for treating monogeneans.

 

[NickC]

Dang it. Ok so if I go with a formalin dip or fenbendazole, can I just treat and then put back in the qt with the cp? What about the other two fish? They appear to be clear of the worms.

How many formalin baths will it take? Sorry for so many questions, I’m stocking a new system and really wanting a clean start. Thanks so much for the help.

 

[NickC]

I guess one more question is can I lower the salinity of the quarantine while treating with the chloroquine phosphate? And if so, how long should I keep it hypo?

 

[Humblefish]

Dang it. Ok so if I go with a formalin dip or fenbendazole, can I just treat and then put back in the qt with the cp? What about the other two fish? They appear to be clear of the worms.

How many formalin baths will it take? Sorry for so many questions, I’m stocking a new system and really wanting a clean start. Thanks so much for the help.

Any baths require transfer to a clean/sterile QT afterwards to prevent reinfection. Sometimes flukes are just floating around in the water, and CP does not kill them. Prazi usually kills them, but that doesn't seem to be the case here. When using baths to eradicate flukes, you'll need to do a second one about a week later to eliminate any hatchlings from eggs left behind on the fish. (The eggs usually survive treatment, but the hatchlings are too immature to lay eggs of their own.) And again, transfer the fish into a clean/sterile QT post bath.

I guess one more question is can I lower the salinity of the quarantine while treating with the chloroquine phosphate? And if so, how long should I keep it hypo?

I haven't personally ever combined Hypo + CP, but I know a few people who have successfully done it. The main issue is keeping the pH buffered as the salinity is lowered. Scientific research showed hyposalinity at 15 ppt (1.011 SG) for 2 days eliminated juvenile and adult flukes. When maintained for 5 days, egg hatching was prevented.

 

[Humblefish]

One of the challenges posed by hypo is maintaining a proper pH for the entire duration. While fish aren’t overly sensitive to low pH for short periods of time, anything continuously lower than 7.5 is going to be a problem. So, you will have to constantly test and then buffer the water to raise the pH. This can be accomplished by using supplements (available at most LFS) or you can “bake” your own DIY supplement by using baking soda. Spread baking soda onto a clean baking sheet, and bake at 300F for 1 hour. This process drives off carbon dioxide and water from the baking soda, and the result is an effective pH buffer. You will need to experiment (start with a very small amount) to determine how much is needed to raise your pH to the desired level.

 

[NickC]

Wow thank you for taking the time to help. I’ll have to think about what route I’ll take. Right now I’m leaning toward finishing the cp treatment and then addressing the fluke problem afterward.

Would there be any chance of success with doing a fw dip say every two days for a couple of weeks, then a final fw dip or formalin bath immediately before going into the display tank? Display is new, sterile, and fallow. The other two fish appear completely clean and healthy.

 

[Humblefish]

Would there be any chance of success with doing a fw dip say every two days for a couple of weeks, then a final fw dip or formalin bath immediately before going into the display tank? Display is new, sterile, and fallow. The other two fish appear completely clean and healthy.

IME; a 5 min FW dip is too brief to get them all. And many fish have difficulty withstanding osmotic shock beyond 5 minutes.

 

[NickC]

Ok that’s what I figured, thanks again. I’m curious of the fenbendazole. I’ll do a little more research, but maybe dosing the qt with it after the cp treatment would be a good option. All of the fish would be treated that way.