Flukes and Prazipro

[threebuoys]

@Jay Hemdal you have described the problem with bacteria consuming prazi that affects how the doses and water changes must be managed. Has there been any indication that the bacteria is in the water column and that it might be destroyed by UV filtration? If this happens to be the case, would this alter the dosage / water change protocol?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

It is unlikely that many of the prazi consuming bacteria are free in the water column - almost all heterotrophic bacteria in aquariums grow on some solid surface, and thus never are exposed to the UV light inside the sterilizer.

Here is the abstract for one of the studies that looked at prazi degradation by bacteria:

Praziquantel degradation in marine aquarium water

Praziquantel (PZQ) is a drug commonly utilized to treat both human schistosomiasis and some parasitic infections and infestations in animals. In the aquarium industry, PZQ can be administered in a “bath” to treat the presence of ectoparasites ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Jay