copperband twitching its head

[shrimpchips]

Prazi will also hit internal parasites, so it's often advisable to treat with prazi anyways.

What you might want to consider (now and in the future) is that many fish will stop eating for a while after prazi. So you may want to get the new fish eating first, before you treat with prazi if the infestation with flukes isn't too bad. With my incoming fish, I try to get them eating my foods first and then after about a week or so, then I'll give them a prazi treatment.

Also, if you're up for trying it, a freshwater dip of 5 - 10 minutes will kill most external parasites, including flukes. This can be 'gentler' - I did this with a Potter's angelfish instead of an initial prazi treatment since it wasn't eating well yet. Just make sure to match your tank temp and pH and aerate well when doing the dip and keep and eye on the fish during the whole dip, and remove the fish if it's showing signs of a lot of stress.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by shrimpchips

With my incoming fish, I try to get them eating my foods first and then after about a week or so, then I'll give them a prazi treatment.

That's what I do these days too. For the last while I have been letting fish settle into a pseudo-QT (I keep rubble in there, and it stays through medication) for a week or so to reduce stress and get them eating. After that, I will medicate as needed. Only in really dire circumstances will I medicate right away. I used to do prolonged dips on all incoming fish then toss them in the sump for a week before introduction into the main tank, and that was hit or miss. It was also hit or miss just plopping the fish in the sump with no dips...kinda scary too.

[daniella3d]

That's a bit what I am afraid of. I remember that with my discus they would become extremely skittish and stop eating for sometimes 2 to 3 weeks, even when the treatment was over. So with the butterfly wich is already a bit on the skinny side, that is scary.

So I will fatten him up for another week and do the treatment after he's nice and fat. I feed it about 10 times per day and he eats each time so should not take too long.

Tonight he seemed not too bad, breathing slower but he still twitch and dash for no apparent reason as if something is biting him. I looked at him with a magnifying glass but could not see anything.

What about Seachem Paraguard? will that kill flukes? fish seem to tolerate this quite well, at least it worked well for my triggerfish with popeye and it did not stop the fish appetite.

Originally Posted by shrimpchips

What you might want to consider (now and in the future) is that many fish will stop eating for a while after prazi. So you may want to get the new fish eating first, before you treat with prazi if the infestation with flukes isn't too bad. With my incoming fish, I try to get them eating my foods first and then after about a week or so, then I'll give them a prazi treatment.

Also, if you're up for trying it, a freshwater dip of 5 - 10 minutes will kill most external parasites, including flukes. This can be 'gentler' - I did this with a Potter's angelfish instead of an initial prazi treatment since it wasn't eating well yet. Just make sure to match your tank temp and pH and aerate well when doing the dip and keep and eye on the fish during the whole dip, and remove the fish if it's showing signs of a lot of stress.

[Delphinus]

FWIW, praziquantel didn't seem to affect the apetite of any of my fish when I treated my tank. Not that I noticed anyhow.

[shrimpchips]

You can also try a cleaner shrimp to see if it will help to alleviate the flukes - certainly helped for the potters when it was in qt. I wouldn't use a cleaner fish, as they're just another fish to qt, and they're not terribly long lived in captivity either.

[daniella3d]

That's a good idea because he seem to go near my peppermint in hope of being cleaned by it but the peppermint is not really keen on cleaning the fish and just move away.

Although I am not sure it's going to do the job 100% if there are some flukes on the gills. I looked very hard with a magnifying glass but could not see any flukes. Maybe it,s ich on his gills? When I first got it the fish had one white spot on a fin but that was gone the day after, so not sure what it is at this point. There is no white spots on the fish since that so not sure if that white spot I saw was just a little pimple from being cought in a net.

He's breathing faster in the morning and better in the evening so maybe the micro algae in my aquarium are producing lots of oxygen in the day time and at night it is much lover. I have the pump spraying upward to the surface and I have put a skimmer to help this so I will see.

yesterday he had quite a few episodes of sudden dashing and shaking but he's not scraching or flashing on the rock. He's starting to realise that my pipette is the food source as he now come to the pipette for food and almost eat from it. Still has a good appetite so I want to fatten him up before I treat for parasites.

What I am not sure is weather to go with paraguard or prazi. I don't have access to praziquantal, just prazipro and prazipro is a hit or miss with flukes (was with my discus anyway) as it is too weak. Paraquard treat for flukes and ich. prazi treat for flukes and some internal worms, but does nothing for ich.

hmmm...

Originally Posted by shrimpchips

You can also try a cleaner shrimp to see if it will help to alleviate the flukes - certainly helped for the potters when it was in qt. I wouldn't use a cleaner fish, as they're just another fish to qt, and they're not terribly long lived in captivity either.

[Myka]

If you keep feeding it and you find it isn't fattening up, consider cyanide poisoning. A Methylene Blue dip can help to alleviate symptoms of cyanide poisoning.

[daniella3d]

that's interesting because methylene blue is a antipoison for cyanide in human.

but I am wondering if a fish is poisoned by cyanide if there is actualy some cyanide remaining in its system weeks later. I thought that what was left after cyanide poisoning was liver or kidney dammage and that cyanide itself was gone?

I have that fish for 4 days only.

Originally Posted by Myka

If you keep feeding it and you find it isn't fattening up, consider cyanide poisoning. A Methylene Blue dip can help to alleviate symptoms of cyanide poisoning.