Esha Gdex (praziquantel)

[Guppylover3x]

I’m wondering if any members have had any luck using this product?

I think I’ll need to treat my fish with this at some point in case of worms of gill flukes that may be present. I don’t quarantine any of my fish and I’ve noticed flashing again. I added another fish around 3/4 weeks ago.

I’m aware minor infestations don’t always show either.

I was going to add salt as I didn’t leave it in the full 14 days the last time I added it in. It was left in for 12 days. But now I’m thinking it could be something more serious hence me seeking feedback on this product.

I would like to know if any members have had any luck with this treatment and if it’s harmful to plants. How long does it need to be kept in the water?

I’m quite worried about dosages too as 20mls can treat up to 300 litres and I only have a 38 litre tank.

I’ve heard praziquantel is the best for treating flukes and worms which is what has attracted me to this product.

Any advice at all would be appreciated, thank you!

 

[Colin_T]

I haven't used that brand but I have used Praziquantel on numerous occasions. According to Dr Googly on the Interweb thingy, Esha Gdex ingredients (1 ml contains: 66 mg of praziquantel).

Praziquantel is safe for all fish and treats tapeworm and gill flukes. It does not treat intestinal round or thread worms.

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Fish rubbing on objects in the tank usually have a protozoan infection and this is not normally cured with Praziquantel, although the guys at my local pet shop did try it on whitespot and said it worked, but I didn't see the actual fish so can't confirm 100%. But they were pretty reliable so it might.

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Salt doesn't treat tapeworm or round/ thread worms but will kill gill flukes and anchorworm.

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I’m quite worried about dosages too as 20mls can treat up to 300 litres and I only have a 38 litre tank.

If the dose rate is 20ml for 300 litres of water, reduce your tank volume to 30 litres and add 2 ml of the medication.

To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.

When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "How To Tips" at the top of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.

Remove carbon from the filter before treating or it will adsorb the medication and stop it working.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise oxygen levels.

 

[Guppylover3x]

I haven't used that brand but I have used Praziquantel on numerous occasions. According to Dr Googly on the Interweb thingy, Esha Gdex ingredients (1 ml contains: 66 mg of praziquantel).

Praziquantel is safe for all fish and treats tapeworm and gill flukes. It does not treat intestinal round or thread worms.

----------------------
Fish rubbing on objects in the tank usually have a protozoan infection and this is not normally cured with Praziquantel, although the guys at my local pet shop did try it on whitespot and said it worked, but I didn't see the actual fish so can't confirm 100%. But they were pretty reliable so it might.

----------------------
Salt doesn't treat tapeworm or round/ thread worms but will kill gill flukes and anchorworm.

----------------------​

If the dose rate is 20ml for 300 litres of water, reduce your tank volume to 30 litres and add 2 ml of the medication.

To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.

When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "How To Tips" at the top of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.

Remove carbon from the filter before treating or it will adsorb the medication and stop it working.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise oxygen levels.

Thank you Colin. Great advice as always.

Would you recommend treating with salt again first before adding the praziquantel in? I feel tho may be my own fault, I noticed a fish flashing in the store tank when I purchased the last one and still went ahead and purchased.

Strange because in the 22 years I’ve been alive I’ve never seen a fish flashing in a pet store even once.

Thank you for working out my dose for me! I was more worried about actually taking the right amount out, but I’ve now been advised by a seller on eBay that the product has droplet syringe that comes with it. You’ve saved me a math calculation though lol.

Many thanks for looking the product up for me too, I’m on the website now and I can see the calculator you’re referring to

 

[Guppylover3x]

Sorry I forgot to add in my previous post. I’ve been noticing clamped fins as well in my fish.

It’s not all the time, it comes and goes one minute they’ll be fine and the next they’ll be clamped.

I’ve been putting it down to territorial behaviour or the minerals I add into my tank to increase the GH as this can cause stress but now I think about it. This could be a sign of something else? A disease maybe?

 

[Colin_T]

I didn't use a calculator to work it out. I simply removed a 0 from both numbers. It's like moving the decimal place 1 spot. You can also halve the numbers
20 ml for 300 litres. or 10 ml for 150 litres.
2 ml for 30 litres. or 1 ml for 15 litres.
0.2 ml for 3 litres. or 0.1 ml for 1.5 litres.

But measure your tank's water volume and drop the level to 30 litres. Use a permanent marker to put a line at the 30 litre level in the tank. Then it's a simple 2ml dose, once a week for 3-4 weeks.

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You can use salt and Praziquantel at the same time. If you want to add salt, then treat the tank with Praziquantel one day. Do a 75% water change 24-48 hours later. Then add salt. A week after the first dose of Praziquantel, retreat the tank and do a water change 24 hours later, and add salt to the new water.

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Clamped fins is either poor water quality or protozoan infections. Some fish will move their fins about when displaying but they shouldn't be clamped up.

 

[Guppylover3x]

I didn't use a calculator to work it out. I simply removed a 0 from both numbers. It's like moving the decimal place 1 spot. You can also halve the numbers
20 ml for 300 litres. or 10 ml for 150 litres.
2 ml for 30 litres. or 1 ml for 15 litres.
0.2 ml for 3 litres. or 0.1 ml for 1.5 litres.

But measure your tank's water volume and drop the level to 30 litres. Then it's a simple 2ml dose, once a week for 3-4 weeks.

---------------------
You can use salt and Praziquantel at the same time. If you want to add salt, then treat the tank with Praziquantel one day. Do a 75% water change 24-48 hours later. Then add salt. A week after the first dose of Praziquantel, retreat the tank and do a water change 24 hours later, and add salt to the new water.

---------------------
Clamped fins is either poor water quality or protozoan infections. Some fish will move their fins about when displaying but they shouldn't be clamped up.

Impressive! You should have become an accountant lol

I’m not sure how much 30 litres would be in this tank without measuring it all properly. I think it would be a guessing game so I’ve used the calculator you recommended and entered the amount in litres. An image is attached below.

From what I’ve gathered I’d have to do water changes 3 days in a row and increase the amount of drops each time?

I didn’t know I could add both at the same time, so thank you for clarifying

I may use them separately though in case I end up loosing track or getting confused knowing my luck.

I didn’t quite catch your last sentence when you mention moving them around when displaying? If you could explain further I’ll be able to identify if it’s normal behaviour or if it actually is clamping.

Thanks again! Your help is much appreciated.

 

[Colin_T]

I put the formula for tank volumes in post #2.

To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.

When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

If your tank has 38 litres of water in, then make a line 10mm below the water level and work out the volume of water for that mark. If it's still more than 30 litres, then make another line 10mm below that line and work out the volume. Continue until you get to 30 litres, then remove the other lines.

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If you are using Praziquantel, you only need to dose the tank once a week for 3-4 weeks.

The worms or flukes are killed within hours of being treated. Worm eggs are unaffected by the medication so you retreat the tank once a week for 3-4 weeks to kill any baby worms or flukes that hatch from eggs.

There's no need to treat the tank for 3 days in a row. Just one full dose each week for 3-4 weeks.

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If you are treating an aquarium, use a permanent marker and write the dates for all the treatments on the tank. When you treat the fish, cross out that date and put the time you treated it, and initial it so you know it has been treated on that day.

After you have finished treating the tank, use some alcohol on a tissue and wipe the dates off the glass.

If you don't want to write on the glass tank, use a piece of paper and sticky tape it to the tank. Write the dates on the paper and cross them off when you treat the tank.

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Fish use their fins to swim and to communicate with other fish. They might flare their fins out to show off to a prospective mate, or to try and drive away an intruder. Some fish will flick their fins from left to right or up and down when displaying to other fish.

If their fins are clamped up and not open fully, then there is either a water quality problem or a protozoan infection. Fungus and bacteria can also cause fins to clamp up but they aren't as common.
Fungus will develop a white film over the clamped fin.
Bacteria will cause the fin to fray and dissolve.

 

[Essjay]

I admit that have never used Gdex but the eSHa medications that I have used were easy to dose.

The bottles themselves have a plastic dropper on the top. Just turn the bottle upside down and gently squeeze the dropper to dose the drops. Don't squeeze too hard or they'll come out too fast to count.
The instruction leaflets have a chart with the volume in both litres and gallons. The dose is marked in drops. Click on 'product information' here https://www.eshalabs.eu/english/products/esha-gdexsupregsup.html and you can read the instruction on page 2.

Day 1, the dose for 38 litres is just in the 40 drop band. For days 2 and 3, 38 litres is just in the 20 drop band.



The '20 ml for 300 litres' is the size of the bottle. It contains 20 ml which is enough for a 3 day course of treatment for tanks up to 300 litres.

 

[Guppylover3x]

I put the formula for tank volumes in post #2.

To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.

When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

If your tank has 38 litres of water in, then make a line 10mm below the water level and work out the volume of water for that mark. If it's still more than 30 litres, then make another line 10mm below that line and work out the volume. Continue until you get to 30 litres, then remove the other lines.

-------------------------
If you are using Praziquantel, you only need to dose the tank once a week for 3-4 weeks.

The worms or flukes are killed within hours of being treated. Worm eggs are unaffected by the medication so you retreat the tank once a week for 3-4 weeks to kill any baby worms or flukes that hatch from eggs.

There's no need to treat the tank for 3 days in a row. Just one full dose each week for 3-4 weeks.

-------------------------
If you are treating an aquarium, use a permanent marker and write the dates for all the treatments on the tank. When you treat the fish, cross out that date and put the time you treated it, and initial it so you know it has been treated on that day.

After you have finished treating the tank, use some alcohol on a tissue and wipe the dates off the glass.

If you don't want to write on the glass tank, use a piece of paper and sticky tape it to the tank. Write the dates on the paper and cross them off when you treat the tank.

-------------------------
Fish use their fins to swim and to communicate with other fish. They might flare their fins out to show off to a prospective mate, or to try and drive away an intruder. Some fish will flick their fins from left to right or up and down when displaying to other fish.

If their fins are clamped up and not open fully, then there is either a water quality problem or a protozoan infection. Fungus and bacteria can also cause fins to clamp up but they aren't as common.
Fungus will develop a white film over the clamped fin.
Bacteria will cause the fin to fray and dissolve.

Ahh yes so you did, apologies. I didn’t catch it. Thank you!

I think it may just be normal behaviour then because my parameters all seem within range.

I will carry out treatment over 3 weeks with one large 75% weekly change.

Just to decide which to carry out first now the salt or the treatment. But I’m going in favour of treatment first because of how well my plants are doing, and how much they’ve grown have grown.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[Guppylover3x]

I admit that have never used Gdex but the eSHa medications that I have used were easy to dose.

The bottles themselves have a plastic dropper on the top. Just turn the bottle upside down and gently squeeze the dropper to dose the drops. Don't squeeze too hard or they'll come out too fast to count.
The instruction leaflets have a chart with the volume in both litres and gallons. The dose is marked in drops. Click on 'product information' here https://www.eshalabs.eu/english/products/esha-gdexsupregsup.html and you can read the instruction on page 2.

Day 1, the dose for 38 litres is just in the 40 drop band. For days 2 and 3, 38 litres is just in the 20 drop band.



The '20 ml for 300 litres' is the size of the bottle. It contains 20 ml which is enough for a 3 day course of treatment for tanks up to 300 litres.

Thank you for your help!

I’ve followed up the link you sent me