Gill flukes but not gill flukes?

[eag]

Hello everyone. The fish in my tank appear to have gill flukes, but there's some inconsistency: when I did a prazi round some months ago, the fish did not seem to improve, and when I did a FW dip yesterday, I did not see any flukes come out after waiting 5 minutes.

Two of the three fish are breathing quicker than normal. Two of them also display flashing, twitching, head shaking. One of them hangs out near the surface a lot and gulps air. I observed that same fish twitching/head shaking and gulping air again in less than 60 minutes of having been dipped. I haven't seen him do it this morning, though.

I am thinking that I should run another round of Prazi anyway, maybe I did something wrong on the first go around... I'm not sure what else I can do. I live in a small apartment and have no QT I could put them in.

Are there flukes that are too small to see? Could it be something else altogether?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

First, rule out low dissolved oxygen levels. Is there good aeration that breaks the surface tension? Skimmers do that, as do airstones.
Gill flukes are tiny, you won’t see them in dips unless you use a microscope, and then, after a dip, they just look like little balls of mucus. Many gill flukes are egg layers - this means you need to run multiple prazi treatments, and the timing is tough, you need the eggs to hatch out, but you need to kill the hatchlings before they lay their own eggs. I typically go for 3 doses, 7 to 10 days apart.
Jay

 

[eag]

First, rule out low dissolved oxygen levels. Is there good aeration that breaks the surface tension? Skimmers do that, as do airstones.

I measured dissolved oxygen to be around 90% at night and 96% in the day. My return breaks the surface, and I have a skimmer. So I think I'm ok there?

Many gill flukes are egg layers - this means you need to run multiple prazi treatments, and the timing is tough, you need the eggs to hatch out, but you need to kill the hatchlings before they lay their own eggs. I typically go for 3 doses, 7 to 10 days apart.

Oh wow, three doses... ok, thank you for that.

Gill flukes are tiny, you won’t see them in dips unless you use a microscope, and then, after a dip, they just look like little balls of mucus.

Oh ok, interesting... I guess that could explain why I didn't see anything. The fish I dipped yesterday is still hanging out near the surface though, and gulping air from time to time... is there any chance it could be something other than gill flukes?

 

[eag]

is there any chance it could be something other than gill flukes?

Bump - I don't want to treat with Prazi if there's a chance it might not work. It's a long process and my fish are suffering I'd like to get the diagnosis right. The fish I dipped yesterday looks slightly calmer than yesterday but is still gulping air and twitching.

Is there anything else that could be causing these kinds of symptoms? And if so, any way to test for it? If not, I'll start with Prazi tonight.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I measured dissolved oxygen to be around 90% at night and 96% in the day. My return breaks the surface, and I have a skimmer. So I think I'm ok there?



Oh wow, three doses... ok, thank you for that.



Oh ok, interesting... I guess that could explain why I didn't see anything. The fish I dipped yesterday is still hanging out near the surface though, and gulping air from time to time... is there any chance it could be something other than gill flukes?

A few diseases can cause rapid breathing; gill flukes, bacterial gill disease and velvet. I can't diagnose them from one another based solely on the one symptom of rapid breathing. Basically, gill flukes tend to cause scratching and darting, velvet typically kills very fast (< 36 hours) and bacterial gill disease is pretty rare in SW fish (more common in FW). So - I guess gill flukes, but there is no was to be positive.

Jay

 

[eag]

A few diseases can cause rapid breathing; gill flukes, bacterial gill disease and velvet. I can't diagnose them from one another based solely on the one symptom of rapid breathing. Basically, gill flukes tend to cause scratching and darting, velvet typically kills very fast (< 36 hours) and bacterial gill disease is pretty rare in SW fish (more common in FW). So - I guess gill flukes, but there is no was to be positive.

Jay

Ok, in that case it definitely seems like gill flukes. It's not velvet, this is a long-term thing. I'm observing scratching and darting. And maybe my assumption here is incorrect, but a bacterial gill infection is probably not super contagious unless the entire system is super stressed?

Sounds like I'll start Prazi tonight. Please let me know if I've missed anything here... thanks for your help @Jay Hemdal

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Ok, in that case it definitely seems like gill flukes. It's not velvet, this is a long-term thing. I'm observing scratching and darting. And maybe my assumption here is incorrect, but a bacterial gill infection is probably not super contagious unless the entire system is super stressed?

Sounds like I'll start Prazi tonight. Please let me know if I've missed anything here... thanks for your help @Jay Hemdal

Be sure to increase the aeration during the prazi treatments.
Jay

 

[eag]

Be sure to increase the aeration during the prazi treatments.
Jay

Is that because the meds have some direct effect on the oxygen? Or because bacteria bloom is likely and it gets out of hand faster than can be normally reacted to?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Is that because the meds have some direct effect on the oxygen? Or because bacteria bloom is likely and it gets out of hand faster than can be normally reacted to?

Bacterial blooms from the prazi, or if you use prazipro, the solvent.

Jay