So now both triggers are ill

Lizfrank1234 · Mar 4, 2019

hello,i posted the other day about my newly aquired male blue throated trigger having a swollen eye and not eating,now the female has white marks on her fins. They have literally appeared overnight. She is still eating well but the male still isnt eating and his eye hasnt gone down. Ive taken some photos,they arent great quality but you can see the marks on her fins. Really need to know what this is so i can start treatment straightaway. I have Prazi,copper,ruby reef rally,metroplex,kanaplex,furan 2 and general cure. Can anyone please advise me what this is,thanks very much,the males just turned sround in his pipe fitting and has the same white marks,both look as though they are only on the fins at the moment

RMS18 · Mar 4, 2019

Looks like they have flukes. Treat with Prazi, or you can FW dip them first to confirm the flukes. Flukes can suppress the fish's appetite along with making them lethargic. As for the swollen eye, i'd treat the Prazi first, after the flukes are gone if the eye is still swollen i'd treat with a broad spectrum.

Lizfrank1234 · Mar 4, 2019

Thanks @Bmwm235i ,i did one round of prazi as soon as i got them,then because the male wasnt eating,someone advised me to clean the water and try and get him eating which has failed. It was 9 days ago so will i need to start again and do two doses 5-7 days apart like i was going to? I did notice the female slap herself on the side of the glass a couple of times when i first dosed prazi so that was perhaps flukes getting dislodged and irritating her? I didnt know that flukes caused the white on fins,i was worried about velvet etc, thanks, i will start prazi again

ngoodermuth · Mar 4, 2019

I would freshwater dip one of them to start... to confirm or rule out flukes. If flukes are present, then yes you would need to re-start treatment with prazi since at this point any eggs that would have hatched have had ample time to mature and lay eggs again.

If no flukes come off in the dip, you could be dealing with another parasite ie. ich, brook, etc. At that point I would probably treat with copper/metroplex, and a broad spread antibiotic (kanaplex/furan-2) to make sure you’ve got all of your bases covered.

ngoodermuth · Mar 4, 2019

You can also dose plain epsom salt for the swollen eye, 1 Tbs per 5 gallons. And if flukes are present I would still definitely treat for the eye infection as well, with antibiotics. Just be sure to have plenty of aeration as praziquantel, while safe with antibiotics, can drastically reduce the available O2 in the water.

RMS18 · Mar 4, 2019

Lizfrank1234 said:
Thanks @Bmwm235i ,i did one round of prazi as soon as i got them,then because the male wasnt eating,someone advised me to clean the water and try and get him eating which has failed. It was 9 days ago so will i need to start again and do two doses 5-7 days apart like i was going to? I did notice the female slap herself on the side of the glass a couple of times when i first dosed prazi so that was perhaps flukes getting dislodged and irritating her? I didnt know that flukes caused the white on fins,i was worried about velvet etc, thanks, i will start prazi again

I would rule out velvet personally, fish usually do not make it very long without treatment and early detection. The pictures are a bit fuzzy but the white spots on the fins appear to resemble a fluke. Larger, less round more jelly like looking. And yes they do attach to fins as well as body, eyes, gills and internally. They will irritate the fish so the fish will try to scratch itself. I have found from personal experience that just pushing through the treatment is better than stopping, cleaning water to hope to get the fish to eat, then re-starting treatment. When a fish starts to feel better you will be surprised how strong their appetite can come on during heavy medicating like copper. Knock on wood i have not lost a fish yet with my methods, and i have received some sick ones.

Try the FW dip on the "stronger" of the two fish, once flukes are confirmed then treat with prazi. I do not have personal experience with triggers but you may want to look into soaking their food with focus and GC for internal parasites as well.

Lizfrank1234 · Mar 4, 2019

Hello @ngoodermuth , i already dosed epsom salts twice for the eye,no effect. I would normally do two rounds of prazi 5-7 days apart then treat with copper for 30 days. The spots definitely are not round and very white like ich etc. @Bmwm235i,they are definitely larger than i would have expected from ich etc. I would rather not try to catch one for a freshwater bath if possible because im scared the male hits that eye on anything,its pretty swollen. Am i safe to restart Prazipro and also use antibiotics at the same time straightaway? And what would you both recommend,Kanaplex,Metroplex,Furan 2 or a combination,@ngoodermuth, i have a power filter,powerhead and also an airstone running so o2 should be ok,thanks for your advice,both of you

ngoodermuth · Mar 4, 2019

Lizfrank1234 said:
Hello Am i safe to restart Prazipro and also use antibiotics at the same time straightaway? And what would you both recommend,Kanaplex,Metroplex,Furan 2 or a combination,[USER=15435]@ngoodermuth, i have a power filter,powerhead and also an airstone running so o2 should be ok,thanks for your advice,both of you[/USER]

Yes, and yes that combination should work fine.

Lizfrank1234 · Mar 4, 2019

All of them @ngoodermuth ?

ngoodermuth · Mar 4, 2019

Lizfrank1234 said:
All of them @ngoodermuth ?

Yes, they are often referred to as the “trifecta” on here and dosed together offer a wide-spectrum of coverage. You can dose them together at the same time, although some people like to spread the doses out over a few hours to reduce stress.

Should treat for at least 10 days, dosing every 48 hours after a 20-25% water change. The Furan-2 has different instructions, so you can follow those... or just dose every 48 hours with the others. I’ve done the same with no ill effects. Just remember if you are doing water changes outside of the normal 48 hour dosing schedule for the other two, you’ll need to re-dose the new water according to volume.

Lizfrank1234 · Mar 4, 2019

Ok thanks @ngoodermuth,i have a schedule off here where you dose all 3 and the furan 2 on alternate days with a 25% water change on the all 3 days,sound about right? And just dose the Prazi as normal,2 doses 5-7 days apart?

HotRocks · Mar 4, 2019

ngoodermuth said:
Yes, they are often referred to as the “trifecta” on here and dosed together offer a wide-spectrum of coverage. You can dose them together at the same time, although some people like to spread the doses out over a few hours to reduce stress.

Should treat for at least 10 days, dosing every 48 hours after a 20-25% water change. The Furan-2 has different instructions, so you can follow those... or just dose every 48 hours with the others. I’ve done the same with no ill effects. Just remember if you are doing water changes outside of the normal 48 hour dosing schedule for the other two, you’ll need to re-dose the new water according to volume.

We have recently learned that when using the trifecta that Kanaplex and Furan-2 should be dosed together for maximum effectiveness. If you'd like to space out the metro that's fine as well. I typically just dose all three at the time.

You are in good hands here with @ngoodermuth.

ngoodermuth · Mar 4, 2019

Yes, the prazi schedule as normal. As long as you have at least 24 hours after dosing the prazi before the next water change, should be fine.

Lizfrank1234 · Mar 4, 2019

Thanks @ngoodermuth,@HotRocks and @Bmwm235i, ive dosed the Prazi,waited a little while,dosed the Furan 2 and Kanaplex together then dosed the Metro. I will follow the schedule for at least 10 days and see how we get on,fingers crossed. Thank you all for your advice and i will post progress as it happens

Lizfrank1234 · Mar 9, 2019

Thought i would post an update, @ngoodermuth,@Bmwm235i ,@HotRocks. I dosed Prazi and the Trifecta. Been following the schedule,all 3 of the trifecta and Furan 2 alternate days with a 25% water change on the days with all 3. It is day 6 today and 2 weeks today since we brought the pair of triggers home. The males eye is still swollen but today is the first time in 2 weeks that i can definitely say he ate something. It was only a piece of mysis and a few really small pieces of flake but at least its a start! He has also been out of his pipe fitting swimming round a few times which is another first. Tomorrow is another 25% water change,the trifecta and their second round of prazi,hopefully,his eys will start to go down and he will gain more of an appetite,fingers crossed! Forgot to say,the white marks on their fins have all but gone so it looks as though they were indeed flukes. I will post again in a few days,thanks

ngoodermuth · Mar 9, 2019

Glad to hear they are on the upswing!

RMS18 · Mar 13, 2019

Making progress, I like it.

Lizfrank1234 · Mar 13, 2019

Well i thought i was making progress but he hasnt ate anything else since the other day. It was the 10th day of the trifecta today. There might be a slight reduction on the eye swelling but im not 100% sure although im pretty sure he is blind in it. Was gonna stop the trifecta after 10 days but to give it the best chance im gonna go the full 14,even if he is blind in the eye,we still need to get the swelling/infection cleared up. More concerned about the not eating but not much i can do except keep trying and hoping he comes around, ill post results after 14 days , thanks @Bmwm235i ,@ngoodermuth ,@HotRocks

Lizfrank1234 · Mar 17, 2019

Hello @Bmwm235i ,@HotRocks,@ngoodermuth,the pair of triggers have now had 3 rounds of Prazi,2 doses of Epsom salts and 14 days of the trifecta. The males eye has not improved whatsoever and he has barely eaten in 22 days. Dont really know what else to do. I was gonna wait a couple more days and remove all meds with water changes and carbon and see if i can get him to eat something before using copper or anything else but have ran out of things to try to fix his eye except to leave it and see what happens.