Internal parasites will not go away!

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Your location is "Berkshire" - is that England? If so, you may have difficulty getting certain medications.

Internal parasites are difficult to diagnose. The issue could be bacterial, protozoan or worms. Of worms, there are a number of different types, with two being the most common: nematodes and cestodes.

In tank treatments will be difficult because of the clam and snails. One medication that works is Praziquantel, but only on cestodes.

Oral medications are safe for the other animals in the tank, but are extremely difficult to do properly. This article describes that:
https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/proper-dosing-of-medicated-foods.780/
Jay

 

[The Deep]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Your location is "Berkshire" - is that England? If so, you may have difficulty getting certain medications.

Internal parasites are difficult to diagnose. The issue could be bacterial, protozoan or worms. Of worms, there are a number of different types, with two being the most common: nematodes and cestodes.

In tank treatments will be difficult because of the clam and snails. One medication that works is Praziquantel, but only on cestodes.

Oral medications are safe for the other animals in the tank, but are extremely difficult to do properly. This article describes that:
https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/proper-dosing-of-medicated-foods.780/
Jay

Thanks Jay,
I am in England. I can see that one of the anthias is about to die and I hope to be able to get hold of it and open it up to ascertain better what I am dealing with. If successful I will post a picture and hopefully that will help with identification. I was going to ask my local fish shop (where all my fish come from) if they will look after the clam whilst I am adding any medication. I run the Triton other system and at this point have a very 'natural' set up without carbon or refugium. The parameters are well within guidelines as per Triton test results and the fish appear very healthy. That said obviously something is wrong and if it were not for the darkened area which 'appears' as they decline I would not have suspected internal parasites.
I will read the article and get back with some pics when I get hold of the fish. Will that be ok do you think?
many thanks once again.

 

[The Deep]

Thanks Jay,
I am in England. I can see that one of the anthias is about to die and I hope to be able to get hold of it and open it up to ascertain better what I am dealing with. If successful I will post a picture and hopefully that will help with identification. I was going to ask my local fish shop (where all my fish come from) if they will look after the clam whilst I am adding any medication. I run the Triton other system and at this point have a very 'natural' set up without carbon or refugium. The parameters are well within guidelines as per Triton test results and the fish appear very healthy. That said obviously something is wrong and if it were not for the darkened area which 'appears' as they decline I would not have suspected internal parasites.
I will read the article and get back with some pics when I get hold of the fish. Will that be ok do you think?
many thanks once again.

ps there are far too many snails but I can grab the cowries as well.