I have flukes in my 150 gal and I have tried everything to get rid of them. We have medicated with several different types of medicine to no avail. I have heard and am going to try to take the fish out and get the water temp up to around 95 - 100 degrees and see if that takes care of them in the tank. While the fish are out I am going to medicate some of the fish with copper to see if that helps. I would just do copper in the tank but was told if I ever wanted loaches in the tank again not to put the copper in the tank as it seeps into the seals and will always be there. If anyone has any other sugestions please let me know as I am desperate to get rid of this problem.
Please Help (Fluke problem)
- Thread starter Butter73
- Start date
Treatments
Right from the start let me say that in many cases flukes are hard to treat and complete eradication is virtually impossible. For individuals affected with flukes, consecutive salt baths over 2-3 days can be useful. Using a quaternary ammonium compound in conjunction with, but not at the same time as,salt baths can be useful, in both clearing the skin and gills of excess mucus and debris as well as soothing damaged tissues.
Malachite and formalin is often affective, although my experience is that the stronger dose needs to be used. It most cases, where the flukes are a nuisance rather than a real danger the old M&F will probably suffice.
For all out war, the best treatments are organophosphates such as masoten.
Another promising treatment is high dose, bath treatments with chloramine-T. A few trials I have carried out show that in most cases chloramine-T is quite effective, but it is early days to draw any firm conclusions. The draw-back of bath treatments is that it does mean handling the fish and having a large treatment tank. Due to the complications of using chloramine-T in a typical pond, it is unlikely to be so successful as a pond treatment. Bath treatments also allow the life phases which exist in the ponds (eggs and embryos) to continue to survive. Your freshly "cleaned" individual fish will be returned to a pond with emerging stages in it! Whilst, with enough determination, beating skin flukes is relatively easy, however, the same can't always be said for gill flukes. Because of gill hyperplasia and increased mucus, the gill-dwellers are often afforded a high degree of protection from chemical treatments. I have had several experiences of flukes surviving multiple treatments safely ensconced in the gill. In such a situation the outlook for the fish is poor, because in addition to the gill flukes there will almost certainly be other gill damage and gill disease. The most important step in preventing a serious fluke or indeed any parasite problem is first to investigate abnormal behaviour - that is incessant rubbing and flashing or lethargy. Take a scrape and see what's going on. Don't just say "parasites" and dump some chemical into the water. It is important to know what you're dealing with and how severe the problem is. In severe cases it is important to do a follow up at the end of the treatment to see how effective it has been. How severe is severe? One or two flukes in a mucus sample is not abnormal. Any more than that definitely warrants treatment.
Right from the start let me say that in many cases flukes are hard to treat and complete eradication is virtually impossible. For individuals affected with flukes, consecutive salt baths over 2-3 days can be useful. Using a quaternary ammonium compound in conjunction with, but not at the same time as,salt baths can be useful, in both clearing the skin and gills of excess mucus and debris as well as soothing damaged tissues.
Malachite and formalin is often affective, although my experience is that the stronger dose needs to be used. It most cases, where the flukes are a nuisance rather than a real danger the old M&F will probably suffice.
For all out war, the best treatments are organophosphates such as masoten.
Another promising treatment is high dose, bath treatments with chloramine-T. A few trials I have carried out show that in most cases chloramine-T is quite effective, but it is early days to draw any firm conclusions. The draw-back of bath treatments is that it does mean handling the fish and having a large treatment tank. Due to the complications of using chloramine-T in a typical pond, it is unlikely to be so successful as a pond treatment. Bath treatments also allow the life phases which exist in the ponds (eggs and embryos) to continue to survive. Your freshly "cleaned" individual fish will be returned to a pond with emerging stages in it! Whilst, with enough determination, beating skin flukes is relatively easy, however, the same can't always be said for gill flukes. Because of gill hyperplasia and increased mucus, the gill-dwellers are often afforded a high degree of protection from chemical treatments. I have had several experiences of flukes surviving multiple treatments safely ensconced in the gill. In such a situation the outlook for the fish is poor, because in addition to the gill flukes there will almost certainly be other gill damage and gill disease. The most important step in preventing a serious fluke or indeed any parasite problem is first to investigate abnormal behaviour - that is incessant rubbing and flashing or lethargy. Take a scrape and see what's going on. Don't just say "parasites" and dump some chemical into the water. It is important to know what you're dealing with and how severe the problem is. In severe cases it is important to do a follow up at the end of the treatment to see how effective it has been. How severe is severe? One or two flukes in a mucus sample is not abnormal. Any more than that definitely warrants treatment.
I found both these threads on the internet and wanted to post them for you hope they help!!
Treatment
The only sure way to diagnose whether your fish have parasites and, most importantly, what kind of parasite is present is to have a mucus scraping done by a veterinarian.
Treatment of flukes is usually not satisfactory unless the primary cause of increased fluke populations is found and alleviated. If the disease is not in the acute phase, the simple addition of salt (1 level tablespoon per 20 litres of water) is often enough to solve the problem if combined with water changes and general cleaning of the aquarium environment.
Praziquantel used at 2-3 mg/L is very effective for control of both gill and body flukes and has a wide margin of safety for fish. Praziquantel is toxic to flukes on contact, paralysing the parasites within 15 seconds under laboratory conditions. There are a number of proprietary products available from aquarium suppliers that will treat flukes effectively. Follow the manufacturer's recommendations.
These preparations must be dosed high enough and long enough for effective treatment. In cool water, the parasites move through their life cycles slowly, so it is important to medicate long enough to intercept the emerging larvae. When temperatures are above 25º Celsius, treat once every 3 to 4 days for a total treatment time of 20 days. When temperatures are between 20 and 25º Celsius, treat once every 4 to 5 days for a total treatment time of 25 days.
Change 50-75% of the water in between the chemical treatments. Fish, which are obviously weak and heavily parasitised may not survive. Management to lessen the chance of infestation by these parasites includes maintaining the fish in a good nutritional state and avoiding water quality problems that might weaken the fish.
Other choices include potassium permanganate, formaldehyde and maybe others. These chemicals can be dangerous when used incorrectly and should only be used by experienced aquarists. There have been reports of flukes being resistant to certain types of treatment such as formaldehyde.
Potassium permanganate can be administered as a prolonged bath at a concentration of 2 mg/L or as a short-term bath (30-60 minutes) at a concentration of 10 mg/L. Again, fish must be observed carefully while they are in contact with the chemical and they should be removed at once if adverse effects are noticed.
Formaldehyde can be administered as a prolonged bath at 25 mg/L or a short-term bath at 175-250 mg/L for 30-60 minutes. Fish, which are very sick, do not tolerate formalin well and all fish should be carefully watched during chemical administration. If adverse reaction is observed, fish should be removed from the treatment tank at once and placed in clean water.
Organophosphates can be used to treat flukes as well as leeches and crustacean ectoparasites. The two most commonly used organophosphates are dichlorvos and trichlorfon. They work by interfering with the nervous system and thus affect vital physiological processes. However, organophosphates are potentially dangerous to both fish and humans and, for a variety of reasons, their use in fish disease control has been banned in many countries.
© Copyright Adrian R. Tappin
Created July, 2005.
Updated February, 2007.
Treatment
The only sure way to diagnose whether your fish have parasites and, most importantly, what kind of parasite is present is to have a mucus scraping done by a veterinarian.
Treatment of flukes is usually not satisfactory unless the primary cause of increased fluke populations is found and alleviated. If the disease is not in the acute phase, the simple addition of salt (1 level tablespoon per 20 litres of water) is often enough to solve the problem if combined with water changes and general cleaning of the aquarium environment.
Praziquantel used at 2-3 mg/L is very effective for control of both gill and body flukes and has a wide margin of safety for fish. Praziquantel is toxic to flukes on contact, paralysing the parasites within 15 seconds under laboratory conditions. There are a number of proprietary products available from aquarium suppliers that will treat flukes effectively. Follow the manufacturer's recommendations.
These preparations must be dosed high enough and long enough for effective treatment. In cool water, the parasites move through their life cycles slowly, so it is important to medicate long enough to intercept the emerging larvae. When temperatures are above 25º Celsius, treat once every 3 to 4 days for a total treatment time of 20 days. When temperatures are between 20 and 25º Celsius, treat once every 4 to 5 days for a total treatment time of 25 days.
Change 50-75% of the water in between the chemical treatments. Fish, which are obviously weak and heavily parasitised may not survive. Management to lessen the chance of infestation by these parasites includes maintaining the fish in a good nutritional state and avoiding water quality problems that might weaken the fish.
Other choices include potassium permanganate, formaldehyde and maybe others. These chemicals can be dangerous when used incorrectly and should only be used by experienced aquarists. There have been reports of flukes being resistant to certain types of treatment such as formaldehyde.
Potassium permanganate can be administered as a prolonged bath at a concentration of 2 mg/L or as a short-term bath (30-60 minutes) at a concentration of 10 mg/L. Again, fish must be observed carefully while they are in contact with the chemical and they should be removed at once if adverse effects are noticed.
Formaldehyde can be administered as a prolonged bath at 25 mg/L or a short-term bath at 175-250 mg/L for 30-60 minutes. Fish, which are very sick, do not tolerate formalin well and all fish should be carefully watched during chemical administration. If adverse reaction is observed, fish should be removed from the treatment tank at once and placed in clean water.
Organophosphates can be used to treat flukes as well as leeches and crustacean ectoparasites. The two most commonly used organophosphates are dichlorvos and trichlorfon. They work by interfering with the nervous system and thus affect vital physiological processes. However, organophosphates are potentially dangerous to both fish and humans and, for a variety of reasons, their use in fish disease control has been banned in many countries.
© Copyright Adrian R. Tappin
Created July, 2005.
Updated February, 2007.