Flukes, anyone have success?

[Eddie]

I tried Prazi several times and it was ineffective in my case

Ditto and has been the case for hundreds of others.


Eddie

[Wahter]

Prazi has worked for me. I use prazi in powder form and add a bit of vinegar to help dissolve it. No flukes were found when I had some fish checked by a vet (he checked the gills and skin of the fish).

There are reports that some flukes are resistant to prazi, so that might have been the case where it didn't work.



Walter

[Jhhnn]

Improper use of meds encourages resistance in disease producing organisms. Individual organisms that survive an inadequate treatment regimen are, by definition, resistant, and will produce resistant offspring.

Prazi has been widely used by importers and wholesalers for a variety of reasons, mostly because it generally works, it's easy on the livestock, and carries low environmental concerns. Killing 98% of the flukes in an infested batch of fish returns them to marketability, and by the time the infestation reappears, the fish are long gone from the guy who had to treat them in the first place... A few cycles of that, and the surviving strain of flukes is highly resistant to prazi... or to anything else that's been used the same way.

When a particular drug falls out of favor, nobody uses it, and the organisms may lose their resistance over time, simply because it's not useful to their survival. Trichlorphon, for example, is a rather old drug, and some of the older literature indicates that hobbyists years ago were encountering resistant fluke strains. When it was replaced with prazi and other treatments, fluke strains may well have shed their resistance, and some strains may still have resistance to it today...

There are other treatments available, so hobbyists who have recurrent fluke infestations (despite proper methods) need to adapt their treatments to to the particular strain they're dealing with...

[scottthomas]

Well, I just wanted to update the progress or rather lack of it on my battle against gill flukes. I administered the treatment as you can read in the previous posts and it appeared that the flukes were gone. I checked multiple times under microscope from gill and skin samples. Obviously the Anti-Fluke treatment did kill adult gill flukes as none were found. However, a couple weeks later I noticed some flashing and fish flaring thier gills as if irritated. I checked and bummer they are back. "The gift that keeps on giving". I feel confident that the medication works and that the problem lies with my inability to catch hatching eggs. I am going to try another round and dose every other day for two weeks. The last time killed of some of my bio filter so I am just going to remove the filtration and make frequent wc. I am not sure how long this medication is active in the water.

[yim11]

Well, I just wanted to update the progress or rather lack of it on my battle against gill flukes. I administered the treatment as you can read in the previous posts and it appeared that the flukes were gone. I checked multiple times under microscope from gill and skin samples. Obviously the Anti-Fluke treatment did kill adult gill flukes as none were found. However, a couple weeks later I noticed some flashing and fish flaring thier gills as if irritated. I checked and bummer they are back. "The gift that keeps on giving". I feel confident that the medication works and that the problem lies with my inability to catch hatching eggs. I am going to try another round and dose every other day for two weeks. The last time killed of some of my bio filter so I am just going to remove the filtration and make frequent wc. I am not sure how long this medication is active in the water.

If you remove the filtration then replace isn't there a chance it could be carrying eggs?

In another fluke thread Hans mentions de los from Fishy Farmacy, it's supposed to kill the eggs.

http://www.fishyfarmacy.com/products.html#D

Look forward to your progress, Thanks!
-jim

[kaceyo]

Jim,
De-Los has the same med in it that Anti-Fluke has. It says that it kills eggs too but it actually doesn't. When a med comes around that really does kill fluke eggs, everyone will hear about it. It will be big news.

Kacey

[scottthomas]

If you remove the filtration then replace isn't there a chance it could be carrying eggs?

I am going to sterilize my sponges. I will have to reestablish bio. Pain in the rear but like you point out, I dont want to reintroduce eggs from filter material.

[scottthomas]

De-Los has the same med in it that Anti-Fluke has. It says that it kills eggs too but it actually doesn't. When a med comes around that really does kill fluke eggs, everyone will hear about it. It will be big news.

I was skeptical of that claim also.

[Eddie]

Scott, Trichlorfon is greatly affected by temperature. Anything above 80F, and its efficiency is GREATLY reduced. If the temp is at 80F, it will generally stay active in the water for 24 hours. This is especially important when using trichlorfon because it is not the strength of the chemical, but the duration of treatment that matters most.


Eddie

[scottthomas]

Great information. I have my tank at 84. I will lower it now. Thanks

[Eddie]

Great information. I have my tank at 84. I will lower it now. Thanks

Great info on using trichlorfon.

http://www.lagunakoi.com/Applying-Me...kes-p-349.html


Eddie

[scottthomas]

Great info on using trichlorfon.

http://www.lagunakoi.com/Applying-Me...kes-p-349.html

Perfect Thanks. I am going to follow this precisely- 20 days- no more flukes. I may throw a party for my discus.

[scottishbloke]

Scott- can you tell me where you were able to get the Anti-Fluke? I too have been having problems with flukes (confirmed using microscope at school) and recently lost my 3 smallest fry (of 9, about a 1 in 3 death rate ) in the latest outbreak. I have tried both Clout and Fluke Tabs in separate outbreaks; these did work and the fish were doing well, but yesterday and today I noticed some flashing behavior again, and am about out of both meds now. I would like to try the Anti-Fluke as the experts on here strongly recommend it, but no-one seems to carry it around here, and indeed, most LFS hadn't even heard of it when I asked.

Colin

[scottthomas]

Hi Colin,

Yes, it is hard to find for some reason. I looked online and most places listed as unavailable or out of stock. I bought the last of it from Optimum Aquarium in Kennesaw. The owner said he could order more. Ask him to order the larger bottles. The small ones were a PITA. Flukes dont really bother my adult discus but they are really hard on small fry. I have lost hundrfeds of fry to flukes and many survivors are smaller and weaker from battles with these microscopic demons.

I saw these places online but have no idea about service etc.

Good Luck, and I am still going to call you this summer about a planted tank.

http://http://www.orchidgreenhouse.c...ifebearer.aspx

http://www.pondbiz.com/home/pb1/page...fe_bearer.html

http://www.macarthurwatergardens.com...febearer.shtml

http://amads.us/shop/item.asp?itemid=2000

http://www.perfectpetshop.com/index....t_detail&p=486

http://www.pondpals.com/pond_water_t...ro%20Pond.html

[Harriett]

Scott, as I understand it, the dosing schedule should be every 4th day if you want to nail freshly hatched eggs. If you do it every 2 days you will likely not catch them in the life cycle at a time you can get them all at once. From Andrew's recommendation when I did the PP dosing, he said strictly it was a dosing on day 1, 4, AND 8. 8 months out, no sign of a problem in this tank. HTH.
Best regards,
Harriett