Basic Parasite Prevention/Treatment?

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Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.

1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.

2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.

3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)

4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.

5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.

We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.

While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.

Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
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STJackson
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Basic Parasite Prevention/Treatment?

Post by STJackson »

It looks like one of the minnows I added to my dwarf puffer's tank a month ago could have internal parasites (I noticed clear stringy poop, which you can see in the pictures I attached). I've removed the minnows, but I'm guessing I should treat the puffer; if that doesn't seem necessary, though, or if the pictures don't look like IPs, I'd be relieved not to do it.

I've read the article "Internal Parasites: Prevention and Treatment," but I still have some questions:

1) How do I know which medication to use? The article lists Metronidazole and Levamisole Hydrochloride (as a combination), Praziquantel, and Fenbendazole, but do those all do the same thing, or do they treat different types of IPs? Which one is best for this situation? (Any links to Amazon would be appreciated!)

2) I got some PraziPro awhile back, but never used it because the directions said to add it to the tank water rather than to the food. The "Contents" only lists "oxybispropanol (as an inert solubilizing agent) and <5% praziquantel by weight." Is this the right stuff to use if I use Praziquantel, or do I need another concentration?

3) The Prazi- and Fen- directions both say to give a certain amount of meds per pound of body weight, but I have no idea how much my DP weighs. Is there a way for me to weigh him (I do have a kitchen scale)? Or is it better to dose with a certain number of medicine-soaked black worms? And how often/how long should I do this?

4) Could the minnows have gotten IPs from the black worms that they steal from the puffer, or from the snails that my puffer eats? I'm wondering if I need to make changes to his diet, or to the source of his foods.

5) Would it help to do a large water change, or clean any decor in the tank?

Here are a couple of rough pictures of the clear poop in question (it's attached to a chunk of light-colored stuff, maybe normal minnow poop):

Image

Image
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Pufferpunk
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Re: Basic Parasite Prevention/Treatment?

Post by Pufferpunk »

50% WC & substrate cleaning should be done weekly anyway. Different meds do kill different parasites but Prazi or Metro works well on most. A few drops of liquid or a salting of powdered med in the soaking water with food & garlic is recommended. Soak a few hours or overnight, before feeding.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

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eieio
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Re: Basic Parasite Prevention/Treatment?

Post by eieio »

many puffers are parasite infested long before they show symptoms
it's just as likely that the puffer had the parasites to begin with, just didn't show symptoms yet
this is why many people treat them for parasites as soon as they get the puffer
so the minnow may have nothing to do with it, or may have gotten the parasites from the puffer
also, a quarantine tank is a good idea if you can swing it
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STJackson
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Re: Basic Parasite Prevention/Treatment?

Post by STJackson »

Thank you both! Luckily I have an extra 10 gallon, so I've moved the minnows in there. Pufferpunk, how long would you recommend feeding the medicated worms to a DP? I feed him once a day as of now; should I give him medicated worms for a week?
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Re: Basic Parasite Prevention/Treatment?

Post by pokeystar »

I think puffer punk reccomendationz treatment for three days.
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Pufferpunk
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C lorteti
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suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles
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Re: Basic Parasite Prevention/Treatment?

Post by Pufferpunk »

3-5 days. May have to retreat.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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