Flukes, anyone have success?

[scottthomas]

I have had a mild problem with flukes for years it seems. Whenever I think they are gone ... well there they are again. I am tired of keeping one tank of discus in quarantine for 3 years now, afraid to spread flukes to my other tanks. I have tried formalin, Quick Cure, salt bath and then into a sterile tank, and Prazi. Anyone out there had success in completely getting rid of these pests? My fish are healthy but whenever I try to breed them the fry have problems. I have kept them seperate from my other stock which, under microscope, or from observation, dont show signs of flukes.

[yim11]

Harriett has a great write up in this post:
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showpo...09&postcount=5 that might help and Jerry just posted a potential new treatment here:
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=76928.

HTHs,
-jim

[scottthomas]

Thanks, I did read the minnfin treatment post. I have not used pp and for some reason have been leary to do so . I guess if I want to get rid of them I will have to bite the bullet. So far, it is the only method I have read about where people claim they have gotten rid of flukes for any period of time.

[Eddie]

Anti-fluke, the best...hands down. Better than Formalin or PP

Eddie

[moik]

Is it anti-fluke lifebearer??? what dose you use??

Anti-fluke, the best...hands down. Better than Formalin or PP

Eddie

[Eddie]

Is it anti-fluke lifebearer??? what dose you use??

Yup, Life Bearer. The amount recommended on the bottle, 1 drop per gallon.

Can't even remember that last time my fish had flukes.

[scottthomas]

I think Ill try the anti fluke first, before I try PP

[rickztahone]

Yup, Life Bearer. The amount recommended on the bottle, 1 drop per gallon.

Can't even remember that last time my fish had flukes.

i've heard a couple people saying that the Life Bearer is a little harsh on the fish, any truth to that Eddie? can it be used with dither fish and scaleless fish? plants?

[Eddie]

i've heard a couple people saying that the Life Bearer is a little harsh on the fish, any truth to that Eddie? can it be used with dither fish and scaleless fish? plants?

You can use it with plants but not tetras or scaleless fish. I've used it with plecos before but I didn't care if they died or not and they didn't die. And this was at double the dose. Bottle recommends another dose after 24 hours, so this is total of 2 drops per gallon.


About the harshness, it can be harsh on the fish. They will go off food, turn pale, eyes turn dark (lose redness), and the fish can become skittish.

Its take a few days for them to return to normal. Also, Life Bearer (trichlorfon) is extremely toxic to humans. It can be absorbed in through the skin VERY easy so its best to not touch the tank water at all.


Eddie

[Ben75]

Good info Eddie, you are right about effects on the fish i have noticed the same, however i didn't know about the dangers to humans, i will be more carefull in the future. I have had a run of flukes in about 50% of my tanks over the last few days. i am using the tablet form of trichorfon by aquarium science. after 24hrs i noticed the tanks that had visible flukes on fish went quite cloudy, anyone have the same thing happen when they treat with this drug?
Regards,

[pcsb23]

The best results I have had have been using prazinquantel in the pure form. For some reason it is terrifyingly expensive in the UK. Not in any of so called easy to use formats like praazi pro, truth is I have never had much success using prazi pro. Dissolved in DMSO and used for an extended time has always worked for me.

I have heard speculation that there are some super flukes out there that are resistant to prazinquantel, not come across any myself and I hope that it is only speculation.

[Eddie]

Good info Eddie, you are right about effects on the fish i have noticed the same, however i didn't know about the dangers to humans, i will be more carefull in the future. I have had a run of flukes in about 50% of my tanks over the last few days. i am using the tablet form of trichorfon by aquarium science. after 24hrs i noticed the tanks that had visible flukes on fish went quite cloudy, anyone have the same thing happen when they treat with this drug?
Regards,

Hey there Ben, sorry to hear about the flukes. I never experienced any cloudiness from using trichlorfon. There are a few things that can effect trichlorfon, like temperature and light.


Eddie

[wgtaylor]

The best results I have had have been using prazinquantel in the pure form. For some reason it is terrifyingly expensive in the UK. Not in any of so called easy to use formats like praazi pro, truth is I have never had much success using prazi pro. Dissolved in DMSO and used for an extended time has always worked for me.

I have heard speculation that there are some super flukes out there that are resistant to prazinquantel, not come across any myself and I hope that it is only speculation.

Hey Paul,
How much DMSO are you using to dissolve the prazi powder? Measured amount or just enough to liquefy?
Thanks, Bill

[pcsb23]

Hey Paul,
How much DMSO are you using to dissolve the prazi powder? Measured amount or just enough to liquefy?
Thanks, Bill

Use just enough to get a liquid.

[scottthomas]

Thanks for al the great ideas. Eddie, have you seen any flukes since treating with antifluke? I thought I had success using Prazi in the pure form as Paul suggested. No more scratching etc. from my adults. However, they spawned and some of the fry started breathing from one gill and died. I cut a piece of gill and looked under scope-a bunch of those ugly critters. They are hard to destroy IMO.