Quite sure my tank has flukes. How to treat?

[Jonathan lee]

Im 95% sure my fishes have gill flukes. Started with a new fish added. Head twitching, swimming into wavemaker, scratching side of head/gills on rock. So i started hypo @1.009 like 5 days days ago. I did see some change. Fish were scratching less. Fw dipped my scopas(culprit), foxface and coral beauty. They looked better after the dip. But today i see the foxface with one fin clamped, now my clownfish is twitching its head to one side a few times like theres an itch. Foxface ate this morning with everyone else but in the evening when i noticed the clamped fin it had also stopped eating. This is when i grabbed it and dipped for 5 mins in freshwater. The clamped fin is no longer clamped and the fish does look better. Now i really wanna dose prazi tomorrow. I dont think i should wait any longer but my tank is running hypo and it will take a week to raise it back to 1.025. Can i start prazi now with hypo? I saw on humblefish that it can be done but isn’t recommended cause of stress. Normally hypo for 5-7 days would be enough but i dont think its working well for me. Yes i just calibrated my refractometer. Its an actual seawater one.

Can i start prazi now with hypo? Every fish is eating except the foxface now. It was eating fine before this and even this morning.

But at 5 days in with hypo and now a new fish twitching its head to one side, could it be something else instead of gill flukes? Its a fowlr system and i can nuke with copper if thats better. But still gotta wait a week to raise salinity back up if thats thw route im going with. Ive done copper in my other fowlr before and it worked. Yes the rock sucked up copper the first day but after that it was ok

 

[Nano_Man]

@vetteguy53081

 

[vetteguy53081]

Im 95% sure my fishes have gill flukes. Started with a new fish added. Head twitching, swimming into wavemaker, scratching side of head/gills on rock. So i started hypo @1.009 like 5 days days ago. I did see some change. Fish were scratching less. Fw dipped my scopas(culprit), foxface and coral beauty. They looked better after the dip. But today i see the foxface with one fin clamped, now my clownfish is twitching its head to one side a few times like theres an itch. Foxface ate this morning with everyone else but in the evening when i noticed the clamped fin it had also stopped eating. This is when i grabbed it and dipped for 5 mins in freshwater. The clamped fin is no longer clamped and the fish does look better. Now i really wanna dose prazi tomorrow. I dont think i should wait any longer but my tank is running hypo and it will take a week to raise it back to 1.025. Can i start prazi now with hypo? I saw on humblefish that it can be done but isn’t recommended cause of stress. Normally hypo for 5-7 days would be enough but i dont think its working well for me. Yes i just calibrated my refractometer. Its an actual seawater one.

Can i start prazi now with hypo? Every fish is eating except the foxface now. It was eating fine before this and even this morning.

But at 5 days in with hypo and now a new fish twitching its head to one side, could it be something else instead of gill flukes? Its a fowlr system and i can nuke with copper if thats better. But still gotta wait a week to raise salinity back up if thats thw route im going with. Ive done copper in my other fowlr before and it worked. Yes the rock sucked up copper the first day but after that it was ok

Hypo is for ich and likely won’t address issue which can also be velvet
If flukes, you want praziquantel- prazi pro applying a dosage 8 days apart with a water change in between

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Im 95% sure my fishes have gill flukes. Started with a new fish added. Head twitching, swimming into wavemaker, scratching side of head/gills on rock. So i started hypo @1.009 like 5 days days ago. I did see some change. Fish were scratching less. Fw dipped my scopas(culprit), foxface and coral beauty. They looked better after the dip. But today i see the foxface with one fin clamped, now my clownfish is twitching its head to one side a few times like theres an itch. Foxface ate this morning with everyone else but in the evening when i noticed the clamped fin it had also stopped eating. This is when i grabbed it and dipped for 5 mins in freshwater. The clamped fin is no longer clamped and the fish does look better. Now i really wanna dose prazi tomorrow. I dont think i should wait any longer but my tank is running hypo and it will take a week to raise it back to 1.025. Can i start prazi now with hypo? I saw on humblefish that it can be done but isn’t recommended cause of stress. Normally hypo for 5-7 days would be enough but i dont think its working well for me. Yes i just calibrated my refractometer. Its an actual seawater one.

Can i start prazi now with hypo? Every fish is eating except the foxface now. It was eating fine before this and even this morning.

But at 5 days in with hypo and now a new fish twitching its head to one side, could it be something else instead of gill flukes? Its a fowlr system and i can nuke with copper if thats better. But still gotta wait a week to raise salinity back up if thats thw route im going with. Ive done copper in my other fowlr before and it worked. Yes the rock sucked up copper the first day but after that it was ok

First, hyposalinity for flukes takes 30 days, so it could just be a second batch of flukes hatching out under hypo. It could also be some other issue cropping up that has similar symptoms (hypo is stressful and some protozoans like Uronema and Amyloodinium actually thrive under hypo).
I wonder if coppersafe in conjunction might be a better option than prazi? I’ve always had hypo work better for flukes than prazi anyways.

 

[Jonathan lee]

Hypo is for ich and likely won’t address issue which can also be velvet
If flukes, you want praziquantel- prazi pro applying a dosage 8 days apart with a water change in between

But dosing prazi during hypo isn’t recommended right? I too suspected velvet at first last week but two days before i started hypo i didnt see any visual signs of velvet on their bodies when they started the flashing and stuff. Really hoping its not velvet tho cause it did wipe out 80% of my fish 6-7 years ago

 

[Jonathan lee]

First, hyposalinity for flukes takes 30 days, so it could just be a second batch of flukes hatching out under hypo. It could also be some other issue cropping up that has similar symptoms (hypo is stressful and some protozoans like Uronema and Amyloodinium actually thrive under hypo).
I wonder if coppersafe in conjunction might be a better option than prazi? I’ve always had hypo work better for flukes than prazi anyways.

Humble said 5-7 days for flukes but some tougher strains may need 35 days or something like that. So I thought of doing 7 days and seeing if it persisted and if it did i would go the 35 days. But now that a clownfish started having head shakes im abit scared hypo isnt working to keep the flukes(if even this) at bay. The fish is very clearly twitching/shaking its head and scratching its gill. So i know something is irritating its gills so i suspected gill flukes. Im also currently deworming all of them with medicated pellets. Not homemade general cure soaked pellets. I dont know whats the active ingredients in thid but its what a breeder and importer use during their quarantine. He says it contains an antibiotic to kill internal parasites and stuff.

I can get coppersafe or Cupramine. Those are the only ones sold in my country. A few of my lfs dose cupramine in their fish systems but at 1/4 or 1/3 the dose because its more toxic at lower salinity (?) since they keep salinity at 1.015 to 1.018. They told me they cant do the normal dose in that salinity. So now with hypo im scared to use copper together after reading on forums.

The prazi i have isnt prazipro cause not sold in my country. its pure prazi powder suspended in pure water sold as prazi gold. So its white cloudy liquid not clear like prazipro. But it works.

I think i will continue hypo for now unless i really see the fish acting lethargic. Basically all are still eating so i guess its ok. Just the foxface not eating since evening but tomorrow when i feed nori i will see if it eats

 

[vetteguy53081]

But dosing prazi during hypo isn’t recommended right? I too suspected velvet at first last week but two days before i started hypo i didnt see any visual signs of velvet on their bodies when they started the flashing and stuff. Really hoping its not velvet tho cause it did wipe out 80% of my fish 6-7 years ago

It can take days before you see signs on velvet
Hypo is my last choice as the time it takes to be effective, the issue will take hold of the fish
Some of the humblefish posts are from 2016
It’s going to be hard to give anyone direction if you’re going to go to another source and jump back and forth and conclude a remedy

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Humble said 5-7 days for flukes but some tougher strains may need 35 days or something like that. So I thought of doing 7 days and seeing if it persisted and if it did i would go the 35 days. But now that a clownfish started having head shakes im abit scared hypo isnt working to keep the flukes(if even this) at bay. The fish is very clearly twitching/shaking its head and scratching its gill. So i know something is irritating its gills so i suspected gill flukes. Im also currently deworming all of them with medicated pellets. Not homemade general cure soaked pellets. I dont know whats the active ingredients in thid but its what a breeder and importer use during their quarantine. He says it contains an antibiotic to kill internal parasites and stuff.

I can get coppersafe or Cupramine. Those are the only ones sold in my country. A few of my lfs dose cupramine in their fish systems but at 1/4 or 1/3 the dose because its more toxic at lower salinity (?) since they keep salinity at 1.015 to 1.018. They told me they cant do the normal dose in that salinity. So now with hypo im scared to use copper together after reading on forums.

The prazi i have isnt prazipro cause not sold in my country. its pure prazi powder suspended in pure water sold as prazi gold. So its white cloudy liquid not clear like prazipro. But it works.

I think i will continue hypo for now unless i really see the fish acting lethargic. Basically all are still eating so i guess its ok. Just the foxface not eating since evening but tomorrow when i feed nori i will see if it eats

You may have misunderstood him. Hyposalinity doesn't work at all on some brackish water flukes, but those are pretty rare unless you've put brackish fishes into the tank (or the dealer did with the fish you got from them). Then, it is a matter if the flukes species involved is viviparous (live bearing) or oviparous (egg laying). Live bearing flukes can be killed off in as short as 7 days, but 14 days is safer. Egg laying flukes can be killed off in around 21 days (to kill the eggs) but 30 days is safer.

Do NOT soak pellets in General Cure! I wish I could erase that idea from the Internet, but it just keeps getting spread around. GC has two different medications in it and they have two different oral dosages, so it can never work. Even soaking other medications in foods is a bad idea: you have no idea of the dose, you do not know how much of the medication is being washed off before the fish eat it, and then, oral medications for external parasites just isn't a good treatment method. If you want to look at oral medication dosing, you need to read this first:

Proper Dosing of Medicated Foods

Proper Dosing of Medicated Foods Jay Hemdal c. 2020 Oral medications are an excellent way to target internal diseases of fishes. Marine fish absorb aquarium water, so in certain cases, they “drink” enough medication from the water to effect a cure. However, freshwater fish actively export...

www.reef2reef.com

We also have a oral medication calculator that you need in order to do it correctly:

Fish Disease Calculators

During the course of caring for our fish, we often need to make calculations regarding several recommended treatment options. Most water quality maintenance steps are supported by calculations provided in the "Reef Chemistry by Randy Holmes Farley" forum. Taking it a step further, additional...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[MnFish1]

I agree with @Jay Hemdal and @vetteguy53081. If it were me - I would treat all the fish with copper for 30 days as per the protocol at the top of the disease forum. Though not usually recommended, I would add prazipro and gradually increase your salinity during the treatment. This is perhaps a more 'stressful' approach, but - having a disease is likely more stressful.

Unfortunately (and I'm not saying this to be mean), you've kind of painted yourself into a corner because hypo salinity can worsen velvet - and even as you said you're not sure 'what it is'. Since these diseases can progress quickly, I would favor treating sooner than later no matter what you decide to do.

Hope this helps!