Dosing Praziquantel (PZQ)

[Bobobble]

ok thanks.

 

[Bobobble]

I'm not sure why people would say that. Physical bubbles hitting the corals isn't good, and really heavy aeration can drive off some carbon dioxide that the coral's zooxanthellae need, but fish die pretty quickly in low oxygen environments, so during a treatment, good aeration is important.

A strong protein skimmer in a sump may be enough aeration if using plain prazi powder, but I always add an air stone in the main tank when treating with Prazipro. That product has an extra solvent that bacteria consume, using up oxygen.

ok thanks. So question do you dose prazipro liquid once for 8 days than do 25% water change and dose again once for 8 days?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

ok thanks. So question do you dose prazipro liquid once for 8 days than do 25% water change and dose again once for 8 days?

Yes, but sometimes a third treatment is needed for egg laying fluke species.

I think the Prazipro bottle still says treat twice, two days apart? That’s wrong, even for live bearing flukes, the spacing needs to be a bit further apart.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I’ve read online it can be a issue running aeration on a DT with bunch of coral. Is this true? If it is would one the same thing running the aeration on the sump ?

Have 40+ fish, I run an airstone full time and have a ton of coral with no issues

 

[winxp_man]

Have 40+ fish, I run an airstone full time and have a ton of coral with no issues

I spy ich!!!!!!

KIDDING!

 

[vetteguy53081]

I spy ich!!!!!!

KIDDING!

If you look at all the pics- its on the glass

 

[JumboShrimp]

We knew that... "April Fool's" long before April.

 

[Bobobble]

ok thanks. So question do you dose prazipro liquid once for 8 days than do 25% water change and dose again once for 8 days?

Yes, but sometimes a third treatment is needed for egg laying fluke species.

I think the Prazipro bottle still says treat twice, two days apart? That’s wrong, even for live bearing flukes, the spacing needs to be a bit further apart.

awesome thanks for the help i’ll post my journey just did first l treatment. 2 teaspoons prazi pro liquid. I have a 50 gal IM with sump figured water volume was around 58 gal 80% so around 40 gal water volume!!

 

[Bobobble]

I’ve read online it can be a issue running aeration on a DT with bunch of coral. Is this true? If it is would one the same thing running the aeration on the sump ?

Have 40+ fish, I run an airstone full time and have a ton of coral with no issues

right on thank you !

 

[Bobobble]

@Jay Hemdal
Last question. When should turn my Uv filter back on. I read it helps with the free swimmers for fluke. As well as my GFO reactor? Should i also leave my skimmer head off the entire 8days ? or should i put it back on at some point between the 8 days?

 

[winxp_man]

If you look at all the pics- its on the glass

Get them all over the back side of my tank. The front and sides if I don’t scrub the glass within two weeks they will show up. Annoying haha.

 

[winxp_man]

@Jay Hemdal
Last question. When should turn my Uv filter back on. I read it helps with the free swimmers for fluke. As well as my GFO reactor? Should i also leave my skimmer head off the entire 8days ? or should i put it back on at some point between the 8 days?

At least 24 hours. Within 24 hours the bacteria will have eaten up the prazi. The only reason for the 8 days is incase there are any left that are in egg stage which usually hatch in 4-6 days. They will surface and be killed by the next dose. As Jay said, some can be persistent and need a third dose.

Flukes have a 4-5 day hatch time frame after which it’s 17-19 feeding and laying more eggs. Temp in the 78-79 range gets them moving. Lower temps can cause delay hatch times. Which extends the time line to a possible 5-6 months.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

@Jay Hemdal
Last question. When should turn my Uv filter back on. I read it helps with the free swimmers for fluke. As well as my GFO reactor? Should i also leave my skimmer head off the entire 8days ? or should i put it back on at some point between the 8 days?

UV breaks down praziquantel, so you need to limit its use during treatments. However, bacteria also breaks down prazi, so after about 24 to 72 hours, there isn't much prazi left and you can turn the UV back on if you want to.

UV does not control flukes - the eggs and free swimming larva are not killed by UV and of course, the adult flukes, living on the fish, never get exposed to the UV in any event.

Public aquariums that get flukes in their systems because their quarantine process failed are in a bit of a pickle - most public aquariums use both UV and ozone, but that doesn't stop flukes. Praziquantel on large systems is problematic because of bacterial degradation. Hyposalinity works well, but many public aquariums have sharks and rays in their systems which cannot be exposed to hyposalinity.

 

[Bobobble]

@Jay Hemdal
Last question. When should turn my Uv filter back on. I read it helps with the free swimmers for fluke. As well as my GFO reactor? Should i also leave my skimmer head off the entire 8days ? or should i put it back on at some point between the 8 days?

At least 24 hours. Within 24 hours the bacteria will have eaten up the prazi. The only reason for the 8 days is incase there are any left that are in egg stage which usually hatch in 4-6 days. They will surface and be killed by the next dose. As Jay said, some can be persistent and need a third dose.

Flukes have a 4-5 day hatch time frame after which it’s 17-19 feeding and laying more eggs. Temp in the 78-79 range gets them moving. Lower temps can cause delay hatch times. Which extends the time line to a possible 5-6 months.

ok perfect i keep my halio at 78 so sounds perfect. Does GFo affect prazi pro?

 

[Bobobble]

@Jay Hemdal
Last question. When should turn my Uv filter back on. I read it helps with the free swimmers for fluke. As well as my GFO reactor? Should i also leave my skimmer head off the entire 8days ? or should i put it back on at some point between the 8 days?

UV breaks down praziquantel, so you need to limit its use during treatments. However, bacteria also breaks down prazi, so after about 24 to 72 hours, there isn't much prazi left and you can turn the UV back on if you want to.

UV does not control flukes - the eggs and free swimming larva are not killed by UV and of course, the adult flukes, living on the fish, never get exposed to the UV in any event.

Public aquariums that get flukes in their systems because their quarantine process failed are in a bit of a pickle - most public aquariums use both UV and ozone, but that doesn't stop flukes. Praziquantel on large systems is problematic because of bacterial degradation. Hyposalinity works well, but many public aquariums have sharks and rays in their systems which cannot be exposed to hyposalinity.

Ok so just best to keep it off. Or should i turn it on around day 4? what’s would you do hahaha. And should i run my gfo or leave it off? As well when should i add my protein skimmer head/ foam trap back on too?

 

[lubeck]

Ok so just best to keep it off. Or should i turn it on around day 4? what’s would you do hahaha. And should i run my gfo or leave it off? As well when should i add my protein skimmer head/ foam trap back on too?

It’s okay to turn everything back on after 48 hours.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Ok so just best to keep it off. Or should i turn it on around day 4? what’s would you do hahaha. And should i run my gfo or leave it off? As well when should i add my protein skimmer head/ foam trap back on too?

I don't know if GFO affects prazi. You can turn both back on between doses, just wait 24 hours after each dose. Protein skimmers can pull particles of prazi out of the water, so they need to be run (don't turn them off - you need that extra aeration!) just run the skimmer without collecting any skimmate during the first 24 hours.

 

[Bobobble]

Thank you

 

[christinna77]

@Jay Hemdal, I have a question about PraziPro in tank treatment vs. bath.

Let's assume:

• The fish has been properly acclimated for a few days at least, so no shipping stress
• The fish is active and eating well
• The fish has a mild fluke infestation

In this situation, would doing a PraziPro bath at 10 ppm for 3 hours (I've also heard of doing 7.5ppm for 6 hours - not sure which one is better and safer?), transferring the fish to a new sterile tank, and repeating this every 6 to 7 days each time, be more effective than in tank treatment?

My thinking is that:

• We don't have to worry about bacteria breaking down the medication too fast before it works if we already dosed the quarantine tank several times before
• We only need to deal with any unhatched eggs still on the fish, instead of the entire tank
• We can combine it with other treatments if needed, especially ones where dosing PraziPro at the same time is not recommended

Transferring the fish can be somewhat stressful, but it would only need to be done every 6 to 7 days.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

@Jay Hemdal, I have a question about PraziPro in tank treatment vs. bath.

Let's assume:

• The fish has been properly acclimated for a few days at least, so no shipping stress
• The fish is active and eating well
• The fish has a mild fluke infestation

In this situation, would doing a PraziPro bath at 10 ppm for 3 hours (I've also heard of doing 7.5ppm for 6 hours - not sure which one is better and safer?), transferring the fish to a new sterile tank, and repeating this every 6 to 7 days each time, be more effective than in tank treatment?

My thinking is that:

• We don't have to worry about bacteria breaking down the medication too fast before it works if we already dosed the quarantine tank several times before
• We only need to deal with any unhatched eggs still on the fish, instead of the entire tank
• We can combine it with other treatments if needed, especially ones where dosing PraziPro at the same time is not recommended

Transferring the fish can be somewhat stressful, but it would only need to be done every 6 to 7 days.

That process is done in some cases.

However, it doesn't work for Neobenedenia flukes (one of the common species). They have sticky eggs and will get caught up when you move the fish from tank to tank. Just a single egg can restart an infection. Also, you would want to do this after the fish have been cleared of any potential protozoan diseases, as those kill fish much faster than flukes do, so should be treated first. finally, don't discount the stress of moving the fish tank to tank. The issue is not only the physical stress of moving the fish, but then, in many cases, the tanks the fish are being moved into are not cycled, exposing the fish to ammonia burns.

As you mention, the one benefit of this method is that it gets around much of the issue with prazi - degrading bacteria.

Another benefit (for large public aquariums) is that the amount of PZQ required is much less than in treating huge systems, so there is a cost benefit.

I usually use the 10 ppm dip for three hours with good aeration and temperature control.