MinnFinn treatment and Flukes

[yogi]

I just want to let you all know about this new treatment. First off I want to let you know I'm just talking about my results with it. I strongly suggest to anyone thinking of trying it to do your homework first by searching the web. And remember you are using it at your own risk.

I found about it from Jeff Young. I'm sure a lot of you remember him from the days he was a discus importer. Now he breeds show dogs and imports Koi. This treatment called MinnFinn www.minnfinnmax.com is only being marketed to Koi keepers at this time. It just came out in March of 2009. They have now come out with a diluted version called MinnFinn regular. This is the one I used.

I have about 30 adult wild discus spread out in 7 tanks. Some I've had for over 5 years and others for only 1 or 2 years. I have been having an on and off problem with gill flukes for years. The two main treatments I use are formalin and prazi, but not at the same time.

I decided to give this MinnFinn Regular a try. I tried it in a 29 gallon tank with 2 discus. Since a tank holds less water than what it says I estimated the tank to be 25 gallons for the treatment. I put some tank water in a quart container, I then used measuring spoons to put in the MinnFinn. I stirred it around and then poured it in the tank. My tanks have a ph about 6, conductivity about 150 ms and are about 85 degrees. It did lower the ph a little bit. The treatment lasts 1 hour. The fish seemed fine the whole time. I then put some tank water in the quart container, put in the neutralizer with the measuring spoons stirred it around and poured it in the tank. The ph went back to where it started. Even though it says no water change necessary I did one about 1 hour later.

There was an improvement in the fish. They were no longer acting like gill flukes were bothering them. No more rubbing, coughing or flashing. They even ate better.

A few days later I decided to do all my tanks. I did everything to the other tanks like I explained above. In two different tanks there was at least one fish being bothered by the treatment. They were near the top of the tank on an angle up and breathing heavy. I decided I was going to ride out the 1 hour treatment instead of pulling them and putting them in freshwater. At the 1 hour mark I put in the neutralizer, and all my fish settled down. I did a water change to all my tanks 1 hour later.

Some observations. I had a few fish that were dark from being bothered by flukes or some other parasite. They were back to normal color and are eating much better. During treatment the fish all come out and do act different. After about 15 minutes of the neutralizer being in the tank all seems to go back to normal. The 2 fish I mentioned earlier that were bothered by the treatment are fine and normal. I did a follow up treatment a week later. You could tell there was a treatment in the water by the way they acted, but none were acting distressed. I also have albino bushy nose plecos in my tanks and one zebra pleco. They also went through the treatment and are fine.

I know they will need one or two more treatments because of the life cycle of flukes, but I'm happy with this new treatment I found. Remember if you try it your doing so at your own risk. I also don't like to type and I only spend limited time on Simply, so I'm bad at answering questions.

[Eddie]

Thanks for the write-up Jerry! Looks like it is a combination of Hydrogen Peroxide and Peracetic Acid. I just wanted to add a link to some more information about the product. Looks like a good product. Definitely an option if someone is having a stubborn case of flukes.

http://www.pacific-coast-distributio...Newsletter.doc


Take care,

Eddie

[yim11]

Thanks for that link and info Eddie. I spoke to Jerry about this today and it seems like it could be a great alternative to potassium permanganate. As mentioned, it's not commonly used in tropicals outside of koi yet but definitely a treatment to keep in mind for external parasites.

-jim

[rickztahone]

great read. the Koi groups always get the heads up on the good stuff first.

[kaceyo]

Thanks for the heads up Jerry. It definitly sounds interesting and well worth doing some research on. Can you tell us if it affected your bio-filters?
At first glance it sounds like the H2O2 and peracetic acid are used exactly the same as PP. Now i'm wondering what, if anything, makes it more effective than a PP treatment. I've seen results similar to what you describe using PP.

Kacey

[scottthomas]

How much did the treatment cost if you dont mind revealing to everyone?

[yim11]

How much did the treatment cost if you dont mind revealing to everyone?

A 1 liter bottle cost $65 plus delivery (https://www.pondrx.com/products/16219.html) and treats over 2200 gallons. IIRC, Jerry said his was about $73 delivered.

It's recommended to treat 3 times for flukes.

HTHs,
-jim

[scottthomas]

Thanks, I will consider that option.

[philip69285]

I would definitly like to try this product out... anything worth a try for these gill flukes LOL.

[moik]

Thats great to hear a good med.for flukes..I am tired of these DAMM flukes...Heard some talk awhile back about Supaverm to eliminate gill flukes....Has anyome made advances about dosing and procedure to use this effectively with discus??

[philip69285]

Im def going to order this next week and give it a try... Thanks for the link

[yim11]

Im def going to order this next week and give it a try... Thanks for the link

Please let us know how it works for you, really looking forward to seeing others results with this med.

Thanks,
-jim

[yogi]

It had a slight effect on my filters the first time I used it. The next day a couple of the tanks were slightly hazy, but it cleared up within 24 hours. It did not happen the second time I used it even though I expected some to be slightly hazy again.

I'm afraid of using PP. I think this MinnFinn might be safer on the fish and on me, but I'm not certain. When you look at the MinnFinn site www.minnfinnmax.com I think it treats more things than PP.

Also the MinnFinn is clear and stays clear in your tank. The same goes for the neutralizer. When I have read about PP they talk about the tank being purple, then brown, and when is it effective and when is it exhausted. (confusing) Also I think they say PP for 4 hours, where MinnFinn is just 1 hour. Just search the web about it before you use it. You can also call the MinnFinn phone number on their web site. They answered all my questions before I decided to buy it.

[scottthomas]

Great info. Do you ever use a microscope to confirm flukes???

[kaceyo]

Thanks for the info Jerry. I have been reading up on it since you first posted and it does sound like it could be better than PP. But most of that info comes from manufacturers and suppliers. The best info will come from those that have used it on discus and after some time has past.
Please do a follow up when you think the time is right.

Kacey