how do I scope them?

[peterhql]

I've been guessing that my discus have had flukes for months now. I'd like to confirm it with a scope. They scratch themselves on airline tubing thats just hanging around or my heaters when they aren't suctioned cup. I've seen my younger ones make sudden movements to flatten out and rub themselves onto the tank floor. Sometimes its very frequent, sometimes its very very infrequent. I guess when my water quality is good.

Now... you'll have to forgive me but I've never really used microscopes all that much. Whats the general procedure?

Am I scoping dead fish? Or do I do some sort of scraping and place it on a slide? Am I using a kitchen knife??? Whats the safe way of doing this?

Anyone with tips?
Thanks in advance for the help,

-Peter

[jimg]

Checking for skin flukes you can gently scrape their fins and side with the edge of a slide or similar. There are those who know how to do gill washes, but I have tried that on fish that I know had flukes and never seen any. I wait for fry and cull them, so I can only scope for gill flukes when they are dead. I cut the gill from them and scope under low power.
I ended up having gill flukes in all my 14 tanks and I never knew they were there until a batch of fry started dying. I never had any fish flash or scratch against anything. Sometimes one might breath with one gill closed, but that doesn't rightfully mean flukes.
On The plus side after years of trying to eliminate them, I finally found how to beat them 100%. But it is not easy!
I am quite sure that many discus keepers have flukes in their tanks. The only time the flukes are a problem is when the fish are sick, stressed or fry.

[peterhql]

thank you for your reply, i'm sure alot of people out there are interested in your 100% removal of flukes.

PP?

[jball1125]

Make sure that when you scrape the skin of the fish You do so from heat to tail. Never against its scales. Next to the Gill and behind his fins are good places to scrape.

[peterhql]

Thank you! I wouldn't have known to do from head to tail along the scales. I might have gone either way!

[jimg]

thank you for your reply, i'm sure alot of people out there are interested in your 100% removal of flukes.

PP?

pp anti fluke and filter less tank changes