help i think my clownfish has gill flukd

thefez510 · Mar 25, 2023

hi guys, so i noticed last week my clownfish started scratching her her face on the sand and would twitch. i ignored it thinking it was nothing, 3 days ago she stopped eating and started staying in the corner of the tank. so i decided to doze the tank with prazipro shes looks better very erratic but better after prazi still not eating but i was wondering is this gill fluke? my other fish which are clownfish, blue damsel and royal gramma are perfectly fine i posted a video and sorry for the dirty glass thank you in advance

vetteguy53081 · Mar 25, 2023

thefez510 said:
hi guys, so i noticed last week my clownfish started scratching her her face on the sand and would twitch. i ignored it thinking it was nothing, 3 days ago she stopped eating and started staying in the corner of the tank. so i decided to doze the tank with prazipro shes looks better very erratic but better after prazi still not eating but i was wondering is this gill fluke? my other fish which are clownfish, blue damsel and royal gramma are perfectly fine i posted a video and sorry for the dirty glass thank you in advance

The two things that cause them to do this in which they are trying to dislodge what is irritating them are ich or Flukes. With the other occupants showing no signs, I too lean towards flukes. What you can do is give the fish a 5 minute freshwater dip in a clean container the same temperature as display tank. Afterwards , return fish to display. Look at bottom of container (may need flashlight) and see if you see what looks likes seeds or fish scales those are your fluke worms.
This is not a cure but offers relief and dislodges some of the worms.

thefez510 · Mar 25, 2023

vetteguy53081 said:
The two things that cause them to do this in which they are trying to dislodge what is irritating them are ich or Flukes. With the other occupants showing no signs, I too lean towards flukes. What you can do is give the fish a 5 minute freshwater dip in a clean container the same temperature as display tank. Afterwards , return fish to display. Look at bottom of container (may need flashlight) and see if you see what looks likes seeds or fish scales those are your fluke worms.
This is not a cure but offers relief and dislodges some of the worms.

ok thank you i shall do that, will dosing prazi get rid of flukes?

vetteguy53081 · Mar 25, 2023

thefez510 said:
ok thank you i shall do that, will dosing prazi get rid of flukes?

If its determined flukes- Yes.
To be safe , dose at 80% of recommended and apply initial dosage known as an interval for 8 days, do a water change and do one more 8 day dose interval
Use airstone with prazi as it does reduce both oxygen and appetite

thefez510 · Mar 25, 2023

vetteguy53081 said:
If its determined flukes- Yes.
To be safe , dose at 80% of recommended and apply initial dosage known as an interval for 8 days, do a water change and do one more 8 day dose interval
Use airstone with prazi as it does reduce both oxygen and appetite

got it thank you so much ill update once i know it is flukes im heating up freshwater right now so i can dip her for 5 min

thefez510 · Mar 26, 2023

@vetteguy53081 just finished 5 min dip shes back in the tank she looks way better digging up sand like she used to before getting sick there was a lot of white dots in the water im guessing are the gill flukes how often should i dipped her while treating her with prazipro? thank you again for helping out a fellow reefer brother

Jay Hemdal · Mar 26, 2023

thefez510 said:
@vetteguy53081 just finished 5 min dip shes back in the tank she looks way better digging up sand like she used to before getting sick there was a lot of white dots in the water im guessing are the gill flukes how often should i dipped her while treating her with prazipro? thank you again for helping out a fellow reefer brother

The previous prazi treatment should have helped with gill flukes. What was the time from when you dosed the prazipro and now?

FW dips only show one species of fluke, Neobenedenia, gill flukes are too small to see in the dip unless you use a microscope.

Jay

thefez510 · Mar 26, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
The previous prazi treatment should have helped with gill flukes. What was the time from when you dosed the prazipro and now?

FW dips only show one species of fluke, Neobenedenia, gill flukes are too small to see in the dip unless you use a microscope.

Jay

from doing prazi treatment to fw dips it was 24 hours shes doing better but i do still see her twitching and scratching a little on the sand though

Jay Hemdal · Mar 26, 2023

thefez510 said:
from doing prazi treatment to fw dips it was 24 hours shes doing better but i do still see her twitching and scratching a little on the sand though

You should give a fish at least 48 hours to recover from flukes - when they drop off, they leave holes in the fish’s skin that bother the fish about as much as the flukes did. Those need to heal for the fish to act more normal.
Jay

thefez510 · Mar 26, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
You should give a fish at least 48 hours to recover from flukes - when they drop off, they leave holes in the fish’s skin that bother the fish about as much as the flukes did. Those need to heal for the fish to act more normal.
Jay

got it, thank you so much she looks much better i shall do that

thefez510 · Mar 26, 2023

@Jay Hemdal hi sorry to bother you she looks better a little neurotic but much better compare to 2/3 days ago is this a normal behavior?

1epauletteshark · Mar 26, 2023

thefez510 said:
@Jay Hemdal hi sorry to bother you she looks better a little neurotic but much better compare to 2/3 days ago is this a normal behavior?

Don’t get me wrong, I am no expert but that looks like it could be normal clownfish mating behavior or egg laying behavior?

thefez510 · Mar 26, 2023

1epauletteshark said:
Don’t get me wrong, I am no expert but that looks like it could be normal clownfish mating behavior or egg laying behavior?

oh ok cool im surprise shes having those type of behavior when she still has gill flukes

thefez510 · Mar 27, 2023

thefez510 said:
@Jay Hemdal hi sorry to bother you she looks better a little neurotic but much better compare to 2/3 days ago is this a normal behavior?

and she still hasnt eaten this would be day 5 now of not eating

Jay Hemdal · Mar 27, 2023

thefez510 said:
and she still hasnt eaten this would be day 5 now of not eating

The not eating is what doesn't make any sense. This clown is exhibiting normal territorial/courtship behavior. It is breathing a bit fast though.

The tank has a lot of free-floating detritus in it. Can you siphon all that out with a water change? Also, if the tank doesn't have one, add an air stone or otherwise ensure there is good aeration.

Jay

thefez510 · Mar 27, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
The not eating is what doesn't make any sense. This clown is exhibiting normal territorial/courtship behavior. It is breathing a bit fast though.

The tank has a lot of free-floating detritus in it. Can you siphon all that out with a water change? Also, if the tank doesn't have one, add an air stone or otherwise ensure there is good aeration.

Jay

yeah shes looking better, i do noticed her still twitching from time to time and scratching on the sand and she tried to eat this morning but spit it back out. can i do water change right now even though I did put prazipro in there 3 days ago? and ok i shall put airstone once i get home today thank you.

thefez510 · Apr 3, 2023

@Jay Hemdal hi sorry to bother you but i just have a question, so i treated my female clownfish with flubendazole for gill flukes 3 days ago since i read that they can get rid of gill flukes that are immune to prazi. i dont see her scratching on the sand anymore or flashing her gills but she is still not eating as she used to (spits food out) when can i expect her to return to normal when it comes to feeding?

Jay Hemdal · Apr 3, 2023

thefez510 said:
@Jay Hemdal hi sorry to bother you but i just have a question, so i treated my female clownfish with flubendazole for gill flukes 3 days ago since i read that they can get rid of gill flukes that are immune to prazi. i dont see her scratching on the sand anymore or flashing her gills but she is still not eating as she used to (spits food out) when can i expect her to return to normal when it comes to feeding?

First, there is no such thing as "prazi resistant flukes" - any issues with that stems from not using it properly. for example, many gill flukes are egg layers. Prazi doesn't harm the unhatched eggs. You dose the tank once, or even twice and the unhatched eggs then hatch and reinfect the fish. I've had to treat as many as five times in a row to get rid of the eggs. In many cases, hyposalinity is easier to do (but can't be done with inverts present of course).

I have not used flubendazole very often, so I can't say if it has toxic reactions in some fish like fenbendazole does. However, the clownfish not eating/spitting food out may be another issue altogether, as that isn't a symptom of gill flukes. Have you tried cutting up the food into small bits, or trying different, softer foods?

Jay

Weeb · Apr 3, 2023

thefez510 said:
not eating as she used to (spits food out)

As Jay wrote, try different sizes of food. You might get some food and feeding suggestions from the Fish Nutrition post.

thefez510 · Apr 4, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
First, there is no such thing as "prazi resistant flukes" - any issues with that stems from not using it properly. for example, many gill flukes are egg layers. Prazi doesn't harm the unhatched eggs. You dose the tank once, or even twice and the unhatched eggs then hatch and reinfect the fish. I've had to treat as many as five times in a row to get rid of the eggs. In many cases, hyposalinity is easier to do (but can't be done with inverts present of course).

I have not used flubendazole very often, so I can't say if it has toxic reactions in some fish like fenbendazole does. However, the clownfish not eating/spitting food out may be another issue altogether, as that isn't a symptom of gill flukes. Have you tried cutting up the food into small bits, or trying different, softer foods?

Jay

sorry for the late reply i gave her different pellets with selcon and she still spits them out i might try out mysis shrimp hopefully that will help her appetite