skin flukes....yet another joy of reefing

[Delphinus]

The instructions online said 1/4 teaspoon per 40g, so I took a half shot glass of vodka I found in my pantry (impressed I had any at all, I'm not sure where it came from !!) mixed 3/4 teaspoons powder into that (tank is a 115g so I rounded up to 120g), it turned a bright pink, I stirred it for about 2 minutes. It was definitely not very soluble still, lots of particulate in the tank that took about a half hour to settle out. Did notice a nudibranch looking thing I'd never seen before floating around (maybe it was a big flatworm? I dunno) so I think some effect must be there.

I did call around and did find a LFS with Prazipro, just basically ran out of time today and couldn't get to that store but I'll be able to stop by tomorrow. I can see the advantage to a bottled solution over something I have to mix myself.

So I should be ok to hit the tank again tomorrow? Man, I absolutely hate the idea that I'm nuking my display tank but I don't see what other option I have (at least there are plenty of stories out there to reassure me that the tank ought to come out the other side!)

I'll see if I can post a picture of the tang. His face is covered in ulcers, there are ulcers along his back and one of his fins is a bit eroded as well. I just hope made the right call deciding that it's flukes and it's not something else.

[Delphinus]

Each of those black splotches on his ride back side there were raised little white lumps yesterday. His face doesn't look so bad in this photo but when I look at him in person I think it looks pretty rough. You can see white spots on his eyes still.

[Carmen]

ugh Tony, I can see why you feel the need to treat the display. Fishy looks pretty rough. Hope it goes well. Fingers crossed for you!

[OceanicCorals-Ian-]

Fluke damage can cause secondary infection. If this is the case, you may need to find a way to capture the tang and treat it. Mose antibiotics are toxic to reefs.

The ulcers that you mention could be the result of a bacterial infection and it will start to erode away at the wound.

The flukes typically attack the fins and make them look ratty. They also make the eyes look cloudy.

Is the tang starting to look ematicated? Is his lateral lines starting to show and is he still eating at all?

The main priority is to maintain his ability to eat. If he still can, feed him lots and often so that he has the energy to fight off the parasite. Once the fish stops eating, you basically only have a couple of days before it succumbs.

Hope you're no where near that stage yet.

Careful on dosing the Prazipro when you get it tomorrow. Although difficult to overdose on that stuff, it can still be done. Watch your inverts.

Paul

[Delphinus]

He's still eating. I have an autofeeder dumping in pellets every 4 hours now (was 6 hours before today) and a second one that dumps in maybe twice a day (not controllable). Everytime I put food in the tank he responds by chasing it down, he also hangs out under the feed ring for the one feeder and picks off all the floaters.

Hospital tank though for antibiotics, oh man that's not good. I have a 30g I could set up in a pinch but when I used it as a QT tank a few months ago it was a complete disaster (every fish I tried to QT, died). So needless to say the prospect of housing him in there for antibiotic treatment scares me a lot. I'm really hoping he will come around without capture at this point!

What would I do to ensure I don't overdose the Prazipro? Should I go half-dosage when I get it tomorrow?

if the ulcers are realy bad and there are alot your have to get antibiotics into him you can get antibiotic food very pricy. if the ulcers are not bad you can use melifix in the water to aid in the healing process. Melifix this does not get rid of infection but will aid in healing. I have used it your skimmer will go nuts.

Bill

[OceanicCorals-Ian-]

Any update on the tang's status?

Paul

[Delphinus]

He looks better today, but still has a way's to go. I did find some Prazipro in the end yesterday, but decided against adding a second treatment just for the time being. So today he looks better, his face has cleared up, but there is still the grey discoloration spots on his backside so I assume he's not 100% healed up. His eyes have cleared up. There are a few suspicious spots though (mostly on his fins, one on his chin under his mouth) and thus I'm considering a second treatment, although now I'm not sure if I should use the liquid Prazipro I just bought or try the Praziquantel again (as per RC I understand Praziquantel is a much stronger dosage).

The tank itself looks like sewage (film algae over everything) but this could be due to the skimmer and carbon shutdowns more than the pharmaceutical itself. I'm unsure if I should do a water change first and then a second treatment or whether I should just add the second treatment now and then do the water change later in the week (and reinstate the carbon and skimmer and stuff).

Any thoughts?

[Delphinus]

So compare this taken today (Feb 24) to my last photo (Feb 6), so, what is that, 18 days? A little over two weeks, not quite three weeks difference..



The light patches you can see in the photo are the areas that are still healing, perhaps scarring. The worn fins have pretty much healed and regrown.

Score one for the Praziquantel!

I haven't ruled out a second treatment at some point as I am still seeing, on occasion, little white dots on the fish that I can't identify. Sometimes they are not there anymore the next day, but sometimes they are, until maybe 2-3 days later. So I wonder if there are still flukes in the system and the occasional one is getting through the slime coat barriers but otherwise for the most part held at bay by the fishes' own immunities.

[freezetyle]

wow. thats quite the improvement!