rudy
Moderator
Lately I have been battling a case of Gill Flukes in my rays and thought I would share the symptoms and antidote as I bet you this kills more fish that credited for due to the treatment required.
Firstly I will say that healthy rays can usually with stand most diseases however as I have been moving my house has not exactly been the best home to flourish in for a while. However all good now. For months my p14s have been taking turns refusing to eat and looking like they were turning up the front of their disc and trying to "expell" something from their mouths. Also at points I would find they scratching their disc up against the glass and breathing out of one side of their gills only.
After trying heat, salt, binox etc. I was at a loss and in fact almost lost my big male. Most I asked blamed it on stress and eventually so did I. I then tried prazipro which within a day the rays started eating. They continued to eat for a while as the treatment was going on for the reccomended 7 days. After the treatment the rays would continue eating for a few days to a week and then again some of them would stop. This was confusing me as I then thought the prazipro was just a fluke and it was actually stress causing them not to eat as why else would they stop again?
Gill Flukes require at least 2 doses of prazipro to be killed completely (or at least to the point where the rays can fend them off). Unlike most waterbourne fish diseases high temp and salt do not help speed up the life cycle to make sure the parasites are cured. You must treat the rays for a full seven day dose of prazipro followed by a 3 days break in treating to allow the unhatched parasites to hatch. You then follow the break by another 7 day treatment of prazi. This is apparently how you can ensure they are all gone.
The fact that the rays start eating and feel better days into the treatment has no bearing on the flukes. Keep treating or they will return. Thinking about it I have lost rays before due to "stress" may of them exibited the same symptoms that these ones did....
Firstly I will say that healthy rays can usually with stand most diseases however as I have been moving my house has not exactly been the best home to flourish in for a while. However all good now. For months my p14s have been taking turns refusing to eat and looking like they were turning up the front of their disc and trying to "expell" something from their mouths. Also at points I would find they scratching their disc up against the glass and breathing out of one side of their gills only.
After trying heat, salt, binox etc. I was at a loss and in fact almost lost my big male. Most I asked blamed it on stress and eventually so did I. I then tried prazipro which within a day the rays started eating. They continued to eat for a while as the treatment was going on for the reccomended 7 days. After the treatment the rays would continue eating for a few days to a week and then again some of them would stop. This was confusing me as I then thought the prazipro was just a fluke and it was actually stress causing them not to eat as why else would they stop again?
Gill Flukes require at least 2 doses of prazipro to be killed completely (or at least to the point where the rays can fend them off). Unlike most waterbourne fish diseases high temp and salt do not help speed up the life cycle to make sure the parasites are cured. You must treat the rays for a full seven day dose of prazipro followed by a 3 days break in treating to allow the unhatched parasites to hatch. You then follow the break by another 7 day treatment of prazi. This is apparently how you can ensure they are all gone.
The fact that the rays start eating and feel better days into the treatment has no bearing on the flukes. Keep treating or they will return. Thinking about it I have lost rays before due to "stress" may of them exibited the same symptoms that these ones did....
