Gill flukes

[Elisabeth83]

I am just wondering how common gill flukes are? I don't think my fish are sick but I have noticed occasionally that a couple of the fish mainly one of the guppies will rub against the sand and then sometimes he'll also rest on the bottom of the tank. He becomes active though if I go up to the tank. While I know both of these things are natural and normal I know gill flukes have similar symptoms.

I also know flicking against objects can be a sign of high nitrites or ammonia but the tank has been cycled for 2 months and I do weekly water changes so I don't think it could be that. Whenever I see the guppy flick against the sand I usually do a 20% water change and I notice he stops doing it.

I've also noticed my pepper corys arn't very active especially one of them and the only time I really see them super active is feeding time. I introduced them to my tank about 2 weeks ago and I am hoping they didn't bring something in

Just wondering if this is all normal and if I am just paranoid? I've had so many problems in the past 6 months!!

 

[Elisabeth83]

I just tested my water

Nitrate 10
Nitrite 0
GH 10
KH between 2 -5
PH around 6.8-7.0

 

[WILDER]

Gill flukes can't be seen but they can have red imflamed gills, gasping at the surface and also flicking and rubbing against objects.

 

[black angel]

it could be a few things, mainly water quality though yours looks fine even though the gh looks a little high and your kh a bit low, but i dont know enough to help on that front, maybe also depends on your test kit.
do you use dechlorinator and does it remove metals too. another cause is gill flukes which cause fish to flash and be miserable. have you recently introduced anything new before this happened?

hope some one helps you soon

 

[Elisabeth83]

Well I'm probably off on the results because the tests are strips and it's hard to tell which number exactly from the color. GH goes from 5-10 and the color I got was somewhere inbetween that. So probably wasn't exactly 10 Also same thing with KH it goes from 2-5, 5-7 etc. I would say my KH was closer to 5.

What is the ideal GH and KH?

None of my fish have inflamed gills and none of them are gasping at the surface...so I know it isn't gill flukes now. Just curious as to what the rubbing was about but maybe it's normal. I know some flicking and rubbing is normal.

I posted in the cory section though about my pepper cory. He is very listless and has stopped eating. I can't see any visible signs of illness though and he's breating very calmly.

Yes I use dechlorinator but I don't usually measure it exactly. 1 capfull treats 70 litres of water and I have a 10 litre bucket so I try and put 1/7 inside the cap sometimes a little extra just to make sure I don't underdose. Yeah it removes heavy metals as well as has stuff in it to help their slime coats and reduce stress.

I've introduced a couple guppies 3 cories and 2 SAE in the last 2 months...but the guppy who does the flicking has been in the tank since the begining and he has been doing it since then. He only does it about once a week though and funnily enough it is kinda a signal for me to change the water because as soon as I go he stops rubbing. I think I'll start doing 2 20% water changes weekly instead of 1.

 

[The-Wolf]

There are many Flukes, gill flukes are just one type.
The second most common Flukes are body Flukes.

you have all the symptoms of body flukes, I.E. flashing but no gasping

Treatment is with Sterazin or other general anti-parastite medication.

 

[Elisabeth83]

Well went out to another pet store a couple subway stations away to buy the waterlife product Sterazin and I just did the first treatment.

It says to treat on days 1,3,6,8 and 10 but nothing about water changes....so I guess I dont do any water changes during the treatment??

Thanks wolf for your help!