Want Your Serrasalmus To Grow Quickly?

[Ripdevil]

I treat mine with quick cure, I had the prazipro at one point, might get more, i think you need to get somethign else too to cure the water first

 

[jp80911]

How big was his rhom to begin with? rhom still grow fast when small, but once they hit like 6 or so then they slows down.

 

[cchhcc]

I don't argue that treating serra. with parasites will aid the growth; however, no one dose the river in the wild with Praziquantel but rhom still grows faster in the wild then in our tank..........

Haha! Good point, but the infestations generally are at low levels in the wild. The stress of collection and shipping allows it to become more serious......and of course the water conditions in the wild are generally superior to that in most tanks.

 

[Ohio Entusiast]

How big was his rhom to begin with? rhom still grow fast when small, but once they hit like 6 or so then they slows down.

He was about 5-6'' last time I saw him and he's now 7-8''

 

[jp80911]

He was about 5-6'' last time I saw him and he's now 7-8''

that's about 1" per month since you mentioned that you haven't seen his rhom for 2 months.

I got some jungle lab parasite clear today, going to give it a try this weekend then a 30% water change, hopefully mine will grow to 10" soon

 

[Diogenes]

I would think the number 1 factor in the wild is diet. There is no way to duplicate a Piranhas' natural diet. Secondly one can not duplicate the natural ecosystem nor the sheer size and volume of the Amazon river or it's tributaries. Throw in factors such as current and minerals unavailable in the hobby and there's no comparison between nature and an artificial environment.

I would say if you took a Large Mouth Bass or other North American native fish and threw it in an aquarium you'd see the same results in regards to growth.

Increased growth or otherwise, it warms my heart to see thousands of dead parasites once attached to my fish now floating around dead....

I would argue that the number one factor in the wild is the constant water change. My P eats a much more nutritious diet than I imagine they get in the wild, but I can't compete with the amazon when it comes to clean water and expansive space.

 

[Ohio Entusiast]

I would argue that the number one factor in the wild is the constant water change. My P eats a much more nutritious diet than I imagine they get in the wild, but I can't compete with the amazon when it comes to clean water and expansive space.

You're right. About 5 minutes after posting I thought of that. Ain't no auto-trickler that can compete with Mother Nature!

Has anyone else tried this medication yet? I told my buddy about all the ''worms'' hanging on the glass and he said he's never seen anywhere near as many as I did. I'm just wondering if mine was completely infested or if it's the norm.

 

[Diogenes]

I looked up Praziquantel. It's an antihelminthic. It's used to treat flat worm (like tapeworms) infections. It looks pretty safe and shouldn't effect the biological cycle in the tank at all.

Drugs.com (Professional) had an entry:

praziquantel is rapidly taken up by helminths and also appears to increase permeability of helminth's cell membrane, leading to a loss of intracellular calcium; massive contraction and paralysis of the helminth's musculature rapidly result; after exposure to praziquantel, tegument in neck region of adult helminths develops blebs, which appear to burst and disintegrate; praziquantel also produces intense vacuolization at several sites in tegument of adult schistosomes (flukes)... this is followed by phagocytic attachment to parasite and, ultimately, death.

Looks like it has central nervous system, and liver (hepatic) side affects, so I would wait until your fish settles in before I dosed. Could be dangerous to an over stressed fish I'd imagine. Looks like its contraindicated with a few seizure medications. That's good because I don't know of any fish taking phenytoin .

 

[Ohio Entusiast]

that's about 1" per month since you mentioned that you haven't seen his rhom for 2 months.

I got some jungle lab parasite clear today, going to give it a try this weekend then a 30% water change, hopefully mine will grow to 10" soon

That's what he claims...1-11/2'' per month as juveniles. He claims a couple inches every year thereafter. I have no experience with it but I do know his has grown faster than any I've read about by a long shot.

Hopefully my Sanchezi is taking this well. I've watched him extensively since treating him and he has more color and seems more comfortable. He even came to the front of the glass and kind of stared at me a couple minutes. I figure he was either thanking me or cussing me for all he's worth...

Let's hope in the long term it's actually beneficial rather than harmful.

 

[baytown]

can it be used if i have puffers and an albino frog in my tanks or will it hurt them?any help would b nice as i think 1 puffer has internal parisites