Fu Manchu Deworming

[Steve and his Animals]

I've had Fu Manchu lions before, gotten them to eat but never keep weight on. I plan on deworming the one I just got pretty immediately, any suggestions? I usually use metro in the water every 3 days for 2 weeks, but if there are better methods I'd love to know.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I've had Fu Manchu lions before, gotten them to eat but never keep weight on. I plan on deworming the one I just got pretty immediately, any suggestions? I usually use metro in the water every 3 days for 2 weeks, but if there are better methods I'd love to know.

Metro is effective against protozoans, not worms. Praziquantel is effective against tapeworms. So - General Cure, containing both, is one product you could consider. However, that doesn’t treat nematodes. Fenbendazole can help with those, but it is toxic to some species and I’ve never used it on lionfish.

I’ve always had poor success with this species myself……

 

[Steve and his Animals]

Metro is effective against protozoans, not worms. Praziquantel is effective against tapeworms. So - General Cure, containing both, is one product you could consider. However, that doesn’t treat nematodes. Fenbendazole can help with those, but it is toxic to some species and I’ve never used it on lionfish.

I’ve always had poor success with this species myself……

I have fenbendazole but always just used it for flukes. What dosage would you consider for internals? At our store we use 1g per 100Gal for flukes with no apparent ill effects on any fish, but we also haven't used it on lions since they go in our non-medicated systems to avoid copper exposure.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I have fenbendazole but always just used it for flukes. What dosage would you consider for internals? At our store we use 1g per 100Gal for flukes with no apparent ill effects on any fish, but we also haven't used it on lions since they go in our non-medicated systems to avoid copper exposure.

The fenben dose for non-encysted nematodes is 2 ppm weekly for three treatments.