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Thread: Juveniles breathing fast and clamping gills

  1. #1
    Registered Member bavaria36's Avatar
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    Default Juveniles breathing fast and clamping gills

    I have a group of 9 snakeskin pigeons which have been at me for 5 or 6 weeks. They are in 65 gallon BB tank and have been doing very well and growing fast. Last week I noticed that they had all started breathing fast and some of them are clamping one gill. I have not seen the fish flashing at any time but I assumed that they had gill flukes.


    As I suspected gill flukes, I dosed them with Prazi Pro as per the instructions of the bottle and repeated the dose 3 days later but I have seen no change in their breathing.
    The fish still look fine and feed well. I perform a 60-70-% WC every day but I do feed rather heavily. Was my diagnosis incorrect ? Could the fish have something other than flukes and what should I do next ?

    Aaron

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    Administrator brewmaster15's Avatar
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    Default Re: Juveniles breathing fast and clamping gills

    Flukes do sound like they may be the issue Aaron.. But its going to take a prolonged treatment to deal with it if these are a problem....

    You may want to consider using someing like quick cure(formalin malachite green) or just formalin... Treat every other day for several treatments..

    Try upping the aeration as well.... If you are feeding heavy...they will breath heavy at this time and thereafter for a bit.

    hth,
    al
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    Registered Member bavaria36's Avatar
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    Default Re: Juveniles breathing fast and clamping gills

    Al,

    I have been monitoring them quite closely for the past week. The breathing rate is not coming down much after feeding.

    I dosed the tank with Prazipro yesterday so I will leave it for a couple of days.

    The instructions say that one treatment should be sufficient. I am on my third round now. I thought that PP the best cure around for flukes.

    Should I stop the PP after this round and then try with FMG ? I have that available. Is it suitable for gill flukes ?

    Aaron

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    Administrator brewmaster15's Avatar
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    Default Re: Juveniles breathing fast and clamping gills

    Hi Aaron,

    In Fish speak "pp" is generally used to denote...potassium Permaganate...not prazi pro

    Prazi is a good one for flukes...but the prazi only works on the adults...not eggs of flukes which can hatch at variable times.. ...which is why many treatments are needed..

    One treatment is alls it takes for using Prazi to treat for tapeworms..


    I would try the FMG as it will work on flukes as well as other parasites that may be an external issue.


    hth,
    al
    AquaticSuppliers.com Freeze Dried BlackWorms and other foods your Discus will Love!!!


    >>>>>I am a science guy.. show me the science minus the BS

    Al Sabetta
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    I take Pics.. click here for my Flickr images

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    Registered Member bavaria36's Avatar
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    Default Re: Juveniles breathing fast and clamping gills

    Thanks Al,

    I will start FMG treatment on the next WC. I have also cut back feeding a little to make sure the tank is extra clean.

    Noted on the PP

    Aaron

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    Registered Member bavaria36's Avatar
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    Default Juveniles breathing fast and clamping gills

    I made a large WC today and dosed the tank with FMG. Should I repeat the dosage every day after a large WC and for how long should I keep doing this ?

    Aaron

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    Default Re: Juveniles breathing fast and clamping gills

    Quote Originally Posted by bavaria36 View Post
    ? Could the fish have something other than flukes and what should I do next ?
    IMO at least a half of similar behavior is caused by gills protozoan infection. Only microscopic investigation may be helpful to identify your enemy.
    Hans

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    Registered Member bavaria36's Avatar
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    Default Re: Juveniles breathing fast and clamping gills

    Quote Originally Posted by Hans Kloss View Post
    IMO at least a half of similar behavior is caused by gills protozoan infection. Only microscopic investigation may be helpful to identify your enemy.
    Hans
    Hans, according to the label on my FMG bottle it is effective against protozoans too. I am hoping then, that it will be a good cure whether the fish have gill flukes or a protozoan infection. What do you think ?

    Before this happened I had been away for a week and my wife was taking care of the fish. She did keep up the daily WC's but was probably over feeding . Could this have caused the infection or flukes ?

    Aaron

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    Default Re: Juveniles breathing fast and clamping gills

    Quote Originally Posted by bavaria36 View Post
    Hans, according to the label on my FMG bottle it is effective against protozoans too. I am hoping then, that it will be a good cure whether the fish have gill flukes or a protozoan infection. What do you think ?
    Have found it not fully effective in both cases, but it can give your fish at least temporarily relief.
    Could this have caused the infection or flukes ?
    Until WC regime is observed your fish will be relatively safe.
    Hans
    Last edited by Hans Kloss; 11-25-2007 at 02:37 PM.

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    Registered Member bavaria36's Avatar
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    Default Re: Juveniles breathing fast and clamping gills

    Update.............

    I kept the FMG treatment going dosing exactly as per the instructions for three days. I performed a couple of water changes ( 50% each time ) daily and always topped up the FMG to match the volume of water added.

    Today I did one last WC and the fish are looking good. None of them have clamped gills and their breathing has slowed down. They still breath faster than the adults I have in other tanks though . Is this normal for juveniles ?

    Aaron

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    Administrator brewmaster15's Avatar
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    Default Re: Juveniles breathing fast and clamping gills

    HI Aaron ,

    Their respiration is going to be higher because they eat more and faster.....they are more active....etc. The fact that the treatments seemed to work on the closed gills and slowed the breathing down is a good sign...

    Have you tried adding aeration to the tank? also whats the tank temp.

    -al
    AquaticSuppliers.com Freeze Dried BlackWorms and other foods your Discus will Love!!!


    >>>>>I am a science guy.. show me the science minus the BS

    Al Sabetta
    Simplydiscus LLC Owner
    Aquaticsuppliers.com


    I take Pics.. click here for my Flickr images

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    Registered Member bavaria36's Avatar
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    Default Re: Juveniles breathing fast and clamping gills

    Quote Originally Posted by brewmaster15 View Post
    HI Aaron ,

    Their respiration is going to be higher because they eat more and faster.....they are more active....etc. The fact that the treatments seemed to work on the closed gills and slowed the breathing down is a good sign...

    Have you tried adding aeration to the tank? also whats the tank temp.

    -al
    Thks Al,

    Yes, I added one airstone. Temp is 84 degf

    Aaron

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