Just a quick question. If one fish in the tank has flukes do they all have it and all need to be treated for it?

Also if all the fish are removed from the tank, will the tank still be infected?

Cheers,

Scott

All fish are likely to be affected with the flukes treat them all if you are treating one, even if only a few show signs it could be because they are more affected by it the others likely still carry them.

The fluke or fluke eggs may hang around in the tank sometimes they have a large incubation time.. I guess it would depend on the type of fluke that has affected them etc it is probably safer to treat everything in the tank with prazi or pp or something like that and wipe them all out.

pp as in potassium permanganate? Does that kill bacteria in the filter etc.? What about plants?

Yeah PP kills all bacteria and wouldn't be that nice to plants I don't think.. Prazi is probably much nicer on the fish and easier to use etc..

Ok what is the full name for prazi? and I'm guessing it's prescription only? Also what dose would you recommend? What procedure? Like when do first water change? How many times would you dose etc.

praziquantal is the full name it is avaliable over the counter from vets as a few various drugs droncit is probably the easiest to get. 1 50mg tablet treats 25L and lasts a few days, you will need to treat twice to break the cycle..

http://fins.actwin.com/aquatic-plants/m ... 00146.html

If you google "praziquantel for treating fish" you will find tons of info..

Praziquantel is probably the safest and most effective medication you can get for flukes. It is commonly sold as Droncit in your local vet clinic. The standard dose for fish is 2mg/litre tank water. If you can, take the fish out and put them in a treatment bath with the medication for 24 hours then place them back in the tank. Repeat in two weeks.

Thanks for the advice and information guys. I think I will just treat the whole tank (approx. 50L after gravel etc.) because surely that's the only way to get the buggers that aren't currently on the fish? And I will treat again in 4 days time.

Off to the vet tomorrow, hopefully this stuff doesn't cost me a bomb.

Cheers,

Scott

One other thing. I have some carbon in my hang on the back filter, it is old... like more than 6 months should I bother removing it? Or will it be fine to leave it in? From my understanding the carbon becomes saturated and no longer perform unless you replace it often.

You should always remove old carbon as it will start releasing the toxins back into the water. Also be sure to remove it before any medication. Most would recommend adding fresh carbon just after a treatment but a few days should suffice to remove any residual chemicals after which time the carbon should be removed and disposed of.

Also, if you are going to treat the tank again in 4 days, you might want to repeat again in 10 days or so since some flukes can have a longer lifecycle depending on water conditions...just to be safe.

Ok will do. Thanks for that.

Ok so little update/query.

I dosed with droncit and then yesterday (day 4) I did a water change and dosed the tank again. I notice today that they are still flashing a bit, didn't notice them doing it yesterday or the day before. I'm assuming not all the parasites will be gone yet that's why I'm re-dosing the tank? I'll be be doing another water change and a final dosing next Tuesday (day 14).

When do people usually start noticing improvement? Is it typical for the fish to still be displaying symptoms at this stage? Does droncit expire?

Yes, droncit will expire - the date should have been given to you when you purchased the medication. It will start loosing potency when it is exposed to light and oxygen.

Praziquantel will NOT kill fluke eggs. Depending on the temperature and salinity of the water it will take 1 to 6 days (sometimes longer) for the eggs to hatch into larvae that can then be killed with a repeat treatment. That is why it is a good idea to treat once and then again in 10 days. It is the flukes on the fish that are of a concern as these are the ones that will reproduce.

Flashing is a sign of many different things so if the medication is not helping at all I would start investigating other causes.

Well I will see if they're still doing it in a few days time. The Droncit I got was from the fish guys "private stash" because the petshop/vet didn't have any in stock at the time. He said it was quite old. Perhaps I should've waited a few days and got some new stuff, seems like I've added another variable to the fish diagnosis (whether the meds work or not). Bugger.