problems!! calling all ray owners!! i need help. i'm slowly loosing my rays!

CANAMONSTER

Redtail Catfish
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Dec 5, 2012
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Barrie
So are these flukes only a danger to Rays and don't affect any fish tank mates?

Is it possible to totally eradicate flukes from a system?
 

keepinfish

Potamotrygon
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Jun 29, 2007
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Well things are starting to improve here. All the rays are back to eating and eating aggressively. prazi, prazi and more prazi!

I have no doubt it is flukes. i have no doubt the prazi is working. hopefully by the end of the week i will be flushing the 2nd round of prazi out and things will start getting healthy again. when this is all over with, i will start a new thread explaining in detail, in case someone else goes through this someday down the road.
i will say how important it is to run the 2nd dose of prazi, because the eggs will hatch and you will start the whole process all over with. The Leo on the first post of this thread might could of been saved if i would of done the 2nd dose like i was suppose to. i think he got weak and a secondary infection caused his death.
 

spotfin

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Glad they are doing better.
 
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Reedmaster16

Piranha
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Well things are starting to improve here. All the rays are back to eating and eating aggressively. prazi, prazi and more prazi!

I have no doubt it is flukes. i have no doubt the prazi is working. hopefully by the end of the week i will be flushing the 2nd round of prazi out and things will start getting healthy again. when this is all over with, i will start a new thread explaining in detail, in case someone else goes through this someday down the road.
i will say how important it is to run the 2nd dose of prazi, because the eggs will hatch and you will start the whole process all over with. The Leo on the first post of this thread might could of been saved if i would of done the 2nd dose like i was suppose to. i think he got weak and a secondary infection caused his death.
You nailed it. Last time I trated flukes was maybe 3-4 years ago and that second or even third treatment is so important. The rays can make a rapid recovery and seem fine after that first run. But weeks/months later flukes can come back and multiply rapidly with stress or water quality hiccups.

Its definitely a tough ensuring the rays are strong enough to endure the treatment while eradicating the flukes from the system.

In my opinion the comment oldfish oldfish mentioned about the drip is worth noting for a lot of those who rely on drip systems. For heavily stocked breeding systems I know a drip can be a requirement when tank water volume per ray is limited. But it's a difficult balancing act not hamstringing the filtration system too much with fresh water drip. Something to maybe touch on when you do your write up.

So sorry to hear about the losses but great job keeping calm and sticking to basics.
 

keepinfish

Potamotrygon
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I do agree Reed, however like i mentioned i dont drip crazy amounts. i usually only drip 3gph max, and at times i shut my drips off for a few days at a time with no issues. but i dont have the crazy filtration systems a lot of guys with big set ups do, so i guess it is poss. Now when you go back and see when all this started, it started after introduction of new ray, and spiraled out of control fast. so in my mind it was all caused from the introduction of a "bug" from the new ray. My system has been way more stocked than it is now.
but either way with the help of prazi, things are getting better. they are not 100% yet, but i would suspect that in a week or so if i do not have an outbreak again, things should be back in shape.

One thing i am not sure of is how long it takes prazi to kill the bugs in the tank. i wonder if the bugs usually die 2-3 days after prazi, and then you have around 4 days for the new bugs to hatch from the eggs?
i treated for 5 days then gave them a break for 3 then going 5 days again. i think this should cover the cycle from what i read and understand.
 

Reedmaster16

Piranha
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Oct 13, 2005
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One thing i am not sure of is how long it takes prazi to kill the bugs in the tank. i wonder if the bugs usually die 2-3 days after prazi, and then you have around 4 days for the new bugs to hatch from the eggs?
i treated for 5 days then gave them a break for 3 then going 5 days again. i think this should cover the cycle from what i read and understand.
Sounds like a good plan to me. Assuming everyone is eating and appears to be improving it may be worth it to do a 3rd run. I dug up an old post I made in one of DB's threads mentioning the prazi regiment I ran for my P14 that had flukes LINK.

I did 5-7 days recommended dosage followed by large water changes and waiting a couple days to give him a break. Then another 5-7 day treatment followed by large water change and a couple days rest. Then a final week long treatment and the system never had a reappearance. Overlapping treatment regiment like that 3 times ensures the newly hatched trematodes are hit with the prazi before they can lay eggs. Not sure on the kill time of prazi off the top of my head.
 

keepinfish

Potamotrygon
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Well the adults are back to normal ran prazi twice with 3 day rest in between. Ran a dose of prazi on the female p14 and the marble. Then gave a break and working on second dose now they are 24 hours into the second dose. The female p14 is breathing out of one spiracle still and not feeding very good at all. Not sure what to do at this point. Marble in with her is 100% better and no problems at all.
You would think the first dose would of killed the flukes and she would be improving at this point.
What do y'all think?
 

CANAMONSTER

Redtail Catfish
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Dec 5, 2012
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Well the adults are back to normal ran prazi twice with 3 day rest in between. Ran a dose of prazi on the female p14 and the marble. Then gave a break and working on second dose now they are 24 hours into the second dose. The female p14 is breathing out of one spiracle still and not feeding very good at all. Not sure what to do at this point. Marble in with her is 100% better and no problems at all.
You would think the first dose would of killed the flukes and she would be improving at this point.
What do y'all think?
Sorry to hear she is still breathing through one hole. When mine did that the prazi snapped her out of it in less then 24hrs. Try metro in her food if she's eating, buddy told me to do this and I will do it to my ray once the prazi treatment is done.
 
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