Gill Flukes Won't Go Away

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Extended gills like that is an indication of gill disease or low oxygen levels in water. There may be other reasons, but those two stand out.

Fenbendazole is safe to dose orally, however, oral anthelminthics to treat external parasites isn't very effective, external baths work better. In the case of fenbendazole though, I think I mentioned, can have toxicity issues when dosed in the water.

You cannot just add fenbendazole to some food, the dose is very specific: 25 to 50 mg/kg of fish weight, fed daily for 3 days at the low dose or weekly for 3 weeks at the high dose.

Jay

 

[vtecintegra]

Heads up on the Fenbendazole. I dissolved it in DMSO. When I poured it in, it precipitated like crazy. I decided to ride it out for a 12 hour bath and it killed 6 out of 8 fish, with the 7th not eating and laying on the bottom. I don't know if the precipitate clogged their gills, or they ingested a a toxic amount, but it was a $300 mistake.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Heads up on the Fenbendazole. I dissolved it in DMSO. When I poured it in, it precipitated like crazy. I decided to ride it out for a 12 hour bath and it killed 6 out of 8 fish, with the 7th not eating and laying on the bottom. I don't know if the precipitate clogged their gills, or they ingested a a toxic amount, but it was a $300 mistake.

Do you think the DMSO had anything to do with it? I have had issues with fenbendazole being toxic to some species, but not broadly across larger groups....flashlight fish, catfish and darters all 100% die with even a low dose. However, I hear people using it on general SW fish with no issues.

I only offer dosages/usage for this drug if asked....too many open questions.

Jay

 

[vtecintegra]

I've used the same bottle of DMSO to dissolve Prazi powder with no issues before, so I don't believe it contributed. Losses- Flame Hawk, Purple Fire Fish, Chalk Bass, Yellow Lined Goby, Kamohara Blenny, Pygmy File Fish. Not eating or swimming much (4 days)- Storm Clown. Only one that seems not effected is a Neon Goby. The precipitation was pretty bad. I'm thinking they ingested too much over the 12 hour bath. At 48 hours they started to die.

 

[Lil Puff]

I've talked with my dad and we can set up a hospital tank at least to treat the lionfish. He's pretty lethargic and his gills seem red, hanging around near high-flow areas (overflow weir and sump return).

Is another round of prazi a good idea? (as the HT wont have any established bacteria to eat the Prazi?) I'm not sure what else to try.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I've used the same bottle of DMSO to dissolve Prazi powder with no issues before, so I don't believe it contributed. Losses- Flame Hawk, Purple Fire Fish, Chalk Bass, Yellow Lined Goby, Kamohara Blenny, Pygmy File Fish. Not eating or swimming much (4 days)- Storm Clown. Only one that seems not effected is a Neon Goby. The precipitation was pretty bad. I'm thinking they ingested too much over the 12 hour bath. At 48 hours they started to die.

That’s what we saw with fenbendazole toxicity - 24 to 36 hours the deaths began and we couldn’t stop them even with complete water changes, with 100% mortality by 72 hours.
Jay