One could always do a saltwater dip, with quite a high salinity, and that might help kill these little sods in future.
I hope this isn't the start of something.
Good for you for getting the autopsy done...sad to lose your fish, but you may be helping a lot of others.
Pami.
Figure 8 with Gill Flukes (?)
Forum rules
Read this before posting!!
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.
Read this before posting!!
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.
-
TheSilentPerogy
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2005 4:35 pm
- Location: Edmonton, AB, Canada
A salt water dip sounds like a very good preventative idea. Other than the salt water dip, our best bet seems to be just waiting the flukes out (short of sterilizing the tank, that is).
The professor who did the autopsy figured that the amount of salt that mollies are generally kept in should be sufficient. But my puffer died somewhere between SG 1.001 and 1.002. If yours died gasping and not from bacterial/fungal complications, Jayhawk, then maybe even low brackish isn't enough to kill these suckers.
I wonder if our fish were from the same wholesaler. Unlikely, but still...scary thought, if these things are as vicious as I was informed.
The professor who did the autopsy figured that the amount of salt that mollies are generally kept in should be sufficient. But my puffer died somewhere between SG 1.001 and 1.002. If yours died gasping and not from bacterial/fungal complications, Jayhawk, then maybe even low brackish isn't enough to kill these suckers.
I wonder if our fish were from the same wholesaler. Unlikely, but still...scary thought, if these things are as vicious as I was informed.
Wow, that is really interesting. I'm sorry about your puff, though.
Before Charlotte ended up the only one in her tank, I lost two others. The latter of which had THAT thing you showed in the pic hanging out of a gill...I had always wondered what that was.
After that one died, I started treating Charlotte for gill flukes (one gill was closed all the time) and after about a month, maybe a month and 1/2, we licked them! They obviously weren't the hardcore ones you speak of, I just thought it was interesting..
I've wondered forever what that bloodworm lookin' thing had been.
Before Charlotte ended up the only one in her tank, I lost two others. The latter of which had THAT thing you showed in the pic hanging out of a gill...I had always wondered what that was.
After that one died, I started treating Charlotte for gill flukes (one gill was closed all the time) and after about a month, maybe a month and 1/2, we licked them! They obviously weren't the hardcore ones you speak of, I just thought it was interesting..
I've wondered forever what that bloodworm lookin' thing had been.
When life gives you lemons, make grape juice.
Then sit back and watch as everyone tries to figure out how you did it.
Then sit back and watch as everyone tries to figure out how you did it.