What is wrong with my tailspot blenny? Struggles to keep weight, bones or insides visible on belly, now fins missing and red mark

[Brad Coughlan]

Tough to estimate that, but I’d go with 15%

Thanks, I will do that

The blenny is also now eating seaweed, I turned off the flow and he started pecking at it, might have been due to flow or might not, but at least he's eating it

 

[Brad Coughlan]

Tough to estimate that, but I’d go with 15%

How long should I shake the PraziPro bottle for? It's been sat in my house for a month + however long it was for sale for

 

[Jay Hemdal]

How long should I shake the PraziPro bottle for? It's been sat in my house for a month + however long it was for sale for

IDK - I shake the bottle hard for a minute and then use it.

 

[Brad Coughlan]

IDK - I shake the bottle hard for a minute and then use it.

I was thinking about what went wrong in the last prazi treatment, and I remembered that I lost no feather dusters or bristleworms, I shook on the first dose and not the second, so maybe it wasn't due to not shaking it up as not even the first dose affected these. Maybe last time I underdosed?

I want to get it right this time as I don't want to repeat this treatment anymore, as I am aware that the more you do a strain of prazi eating bacteria can build up

 

[Brad Coughlan]

IDK - I shake the bottle hard for a minute and then use it.

I'm about to dose the first round, for working out the dosage should I reduce the aquarium capacity value by 15%, or the final dosage value by 15%

For rock displacement

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I'm about to dose the first round, for working out the dosage should I reduce the aquarium capacity value by 15%, or the final dosage value by 15%

For rock displacement

If you have, say, a 50 gallon tank and it has rocks in it, you should dose for 85% of that volume, or 42 1/2 gallons. If the tank is bare, you wouldn't reduce the volume. If the tank has a sump attached to it, you need to add in the estimated volume of the sump.

 

[Brad Coughlan]

If you have, say, a 50 gallon tank and it has rocks in it, you should dose for 85% of that volume, or 42 1/2 gallons. If the tank is bare, you wouldn't reduce the volume. If the tank has a sump attached to it, you need to add in the estimated volume of the sump.

Thanks Jay, did that so I assume I should be good

I was just a bit confused as HumbleFish said I should ignore the 15% reduction, and you and Humble both share great info so I was just confused on what to do. Could I ignore the 15% reduction for the next 2 doses, or just stick with what I did today - I just want to make sure I do not have to deal with flukes anymore but not harm the inverts

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks Jay, did that so I assume I should be good

I was just a bit confused as HumbleFish said I should ignore the 15% reduction, and you and Humble both share great info so I was just confused on what to do. Could I ignore the 15% reduction for the next 2 doses, or just stick with what I did today - I just want to make sure I do not have to deal with flukes anymore but not harm the inverts

There is some confusion about the "15% reduction", that's not what I said. What I said was that you need to dose prazipro for the actual gallon capacity of the tank, If you know how much water your tank holds, you dose for that. If you don't know, then subtracting 15% from the tank's rated volume is the best way to get a good estimate because it factors in displacement by the rocks.

I'd suggest not trying to compare and contract answers from two different sites - that will only lead to confusion.

 

[Brad Coughlan]

There is some confusion about the "15% reduction", that's not what I said. What I said was that you need to dose prazipro for the actual gallon capacity of the tank, If you know how much water your tank holds, you dose for that. If you don't know, then subtracting 15% from the tank's rated volume is the best way to get a good estimate because it factors in displacement by the rocks.

I'd suggest not trying to compare and contract answers from two different sites - that will only lead to confusion.

Thanks Jay

I resorted to different sites just to get as much info as possible, as this is my 2nd prazi trearment in the DT and I am probablý feeding prazi eating bacteria.

I dosed 4.7ml yesterday, was meant to be 4.5, this dose is for my true tank volume -15% for rock displacement

I plan on doing 2 more doses, but for those I will just go with the full volume which would be a 5.3ml dose, just to make sire this is the last time I have to do this (I assume this should still be reef safe even though it would lead to a bit of overdosing) I will ofc monitor livestock throughout the treatment to determine whether it is safe ro increase the dosage.

Would you also recomended doing the 3 doses or the 2? I saw you mentioned on someone's thread that 3 is a good idea for gill flukes.

Would you recomend I dose more it frequently as in day 1,5,7 and 9? Or just once every 8 days, I am just worried about it breaking down in the tank ...
I only have a 29ml bottle of prazipro also

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks Jay

I resorted to different sites just to get as much info as possible, as this is my 2nd prazi trearment in the DT and I am probablý feeding prazi eating bacteria.

I dosed 4.7ml yesterday, was meant to be 4.5, this dose is for my true tank volume -15% for rock displacement

I plan on doing 2 more doses, but for those I will just go with the full volume which would be a 5.3ml dose, just to make sire this is the last time I have to do this (I assume this should still be reef safe even though it would lead to a bit of overdosing) I will ofc monitor livestock throughout the treatment to determine whether it is safe ro increase the dosage.

Would you also recomended doing the 3 doses or the 2? I saw you mentioned on someone's thread that 3 is a good idea for gill flukes.

Would you recomend I dose more it frequently as in day 1,5,7 and 9? Or just once every 8 days, I am just worried about it breaking down in the tank ...
I only have a 29ml bottle of prazipro also

Dosing more frequently won't help with egg laying flukes. I used to use 9 day spacing. Through trial and error, I found that for most flukes seen in marine aquariums, 8 days spacing is the best. However, it doesn't always work. My go-to fluke treatment now is hyposalinity (with no invertebrates present of course).

 

[Brad Coughlan]

Dosing more frequently won't help with egg laying flukes. I used to use 9 day spacing. Through trial and error, I found that for most flukes seen in marine aquariums, 8 days spacing is the best. However, it doesn't always work. My go-to fluke treatment now is hyposalinity (with no invertebrates present of course).

It has been over 24 hours and I still notice flashing and yawning, firefish is hiding but still looks okay, but I haven't seen him hide for that amount of time ever I don't think - that's after a 4.7ml dose, would you suggest I just do 2 more 5.3ml doses 8 days apart? 2nd one will be on Tuesday. Biodegradation is my fear here, as I already used this medication on this tank a few months back. So if I do 2 more doses, this tank would have had 5 in its history which I saw you mention on another thread that that's about the amount that causes praziquantel to be ineffective in a tank, do I worry about this?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

It has been over 24 hours and I still notice flashing and yawning, firefish is hiding but still looks okay, but I haven't seen him hide for that amount of time ever I don't think - that's after a 4.7ml dose, would you suggest I just do 2 more 5.3ml doses 8 days apart? 2nd one will be on Tuesday. Biodegradation is my fear here, as I already used this medication on this tank a few months back. So if I do 2 more doses, this tank would have had 5 in its history which I saw you mention on another thread that that's about the amount that causes praziquantel to be ineffective in a tank, do I worry about this?

A slightly lower dose of prazi is still effective (except in cases of biodegradation).

Still, two more full doses at 8 days apart would be the way to go.

I should clarify - we are treating empirically based on some general symptoms. Flukes are the most likely cause, but there could possibly be some weird virus or something going on. There is also idiopathic behavior where fish flash and scratch for no apparent reason (in those cases though, the symptoms would be mild overall).

 

[Brad Coughlan]

A slightly lower dose of prazi is still effective (except in cases of biodegradation).

Still, two more full doses at 8 days apart would be the way to go.

I should clarify - we are treating empirically based on some general symptoms. Flukes are the most likely cause, but there could possibly be some weird virus or something going on. There is also idiopathic behavior where fish flash and scratch for no apparent reason (in those cases though, the symptoms would be mild overall).

So do you think biodegradation will be a risk for this tank? If I do 2 more doses, that's be the 5th dose in this tanks history, so I'm not sure if to be concered about that

I also have the window open in the room the tank is in (for pH) and as of a few days ago the room temp has gone down. The heater is set to 25c, but I checked the temp this morming and it was 24.6, I ask this because could this affect the spees of the lifecycle of flukes ans therefore when to dose next? The temp isn't sticking at 25c, but it probably goes to 25c sometimes depending on time of day/outside temp, what would you suggest?


Thanks

 

[Jay Hemdal]

So do you think biodegradation will be a risk for this tank? If I do 2 more doses, that's be the 5th dose in this tanks history, so I'm not sure if to be concered about that

I also have the window open in the room the tank is in (for pH) and as of a few days ago the room temp has gone down. The heater is set to 25c, but I checked the temp this morming and it was 24.6, I ask this because could this affect the spees of the lifecycle of flukes ans therefore when to dose next? The temp isn't sticking at 25c, but it probably goes to 25c sometimes depending on time of day/outside temp, what would you suggest?


Thanks

This link outlines what one study found with bacterial degradation of praziquantel:

Praziquantel degradation in marine aquarium water

Praziquantel (PZQ) is a drug commonly utilized to treat both human schistosomiasis and some parasitic infections and infestations in animals. In the aquarium industry, PZQ can be administered in a “bath” to treat the presence of ectoparasites ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

I do not see that small of a drop making any noticeable change in the hatching time for fluke eggs. Nobody that I know of has actually studied that though. I'd say the change would have to be more along the lines of 3 to 5 degrees F.

 

[Brad Coughlan]

This link outlines what one study found with bacterial degradation of praziquantel:

Praziquantel degradation in marine aquarium water

Praziquantel (PZQ) is a drug commonly utilized to treat both human schistosomiasis and some parasitic infections and infestations in animals. In the aquarium industry, PZQ can be administered in a “bath” to treat the presence of ectoparasites ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

I do not see that small of a drop making any noticeable change in the hatching time for fluke eggs. Nobody that I know of has actually studied that though. I'd say the change would have to be more along the lines of 3 to 5 degrees F.

Thanks, that helps a lot

I only assumed the temp would affect it because the calculator site for dosing makes you imput a temperature value, if you input 25c is says 2nd dose on day 8, if 24c then day 9

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks, that helps a lot

I only assumed the temp would affect it because the calculator site for dosing makes you imput a temperature value, if you input 25c is says 2nd dose on day 8, if 24c then day 9

IMO - 24.6 C rounds up to 25, so I don't think it is going to make all that much of a difference (only 0.8 degrees F.)

I think the calculator is just using a "best guess" scenario, which is what I'm doing, nobody really knows for sure, and certainly different species of flukes have different times for their egg stages.

 

[Brad Coughlan]

IMO - 24.6 C rounds up to 25, so I don't think it is going to make all that much of a difference (only 0.8 degrees F.)

I think the calculator is just using a "best guess" scenario, which is what I'm doing, nobody really knows for sure, and certainly different species of flukes have different times for their egg stages.

Thanks Jay

Over 48 hours after the first dose I just saw the blenny flash against as rock, pretty sure he was aiming for his gills, the other fish still are yawning.. Does this indicate the first dose was ineffective and should I next time overdose a little bit?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks Jay

Over 48 hours after the first dose I just saw the blenny flash against as rock, pretty sure he was aiming for his gills, the other fish still are yawning.. Does this indicate the first dose was ineffective and should I next time overdose a little bit?

Sorry - I can't say. I would not overdose the second dose though.

 

[Brad Coughlan]

Sorry - I can't say. I would not overdose the second dose though.

My bad, I should've made it clearer
My "overdose" I meant perhaps take off the 15% reduction for displacement just to ensure I 100% am dosing enough, so a 5.3ml dose instead of a 4.5ml (I did 4.7 last time) Should I expect symptoms of flukes to stop so soon? From what I've seen Praziquantel should work within 24 hours (I might be wrong) but surely this would mean symptoms stop

 

[Brad Coughlan]

Sorry - I can't say. I would not overdose the second dose though.

4 days after and still flashing... What would you recommend I do next? Has the first treatment failed