Guppy gasping after adding Prazipro

[Kyanite14]

A few weeks ago, one of my guppies passed away. He was gasping for air and clamped his fins. He died within an hour or two of this.

A week later, I noticed one of my other guppies rubbing against the gravel. I researched that it could be gill flukes, and that Praziquantel was the best to use. I bought some today and dosed 1 teaspoon in my 20 gallon tank.

A few hours later, he started opening his mouth, flaring his gills, and staying at the top of the water. Similar to what the previous guppy did, but not as extreme. Does this mean the medicine is working? Or is he dying? I don’t know how they expel the parasite, so if this is part of the process, then I’m hopeful that I diagnosed correctly.

For the record, THE OTHER FISH ARE FINE, so I know I did not overdose. He is the smallest of the 5, though, and recently was treated with Melafix for a nipped fin about a month ago.

 

[GaryE]

I've never used prazi for flukes, but I have treated for tapeworms with it. The fish have never reacted in the least. But I would guess if there were a lot of flukes in the gills, having them die wouldn't be a great feeling. As they die, the fish may also feel the damage the parasites have done. They injure the fish, sometimes too much for it to recover afterwards.

It gets around, so if it's flukes, the others have milder cases. Beware though, flashing can also be velvet or early Ich, or a symptom of not doing weekly partial water changes. You'll have to be vigilant even if he survives and flourishes.

If it was flukes, you did right. I don't know the dosages without the bottle, but if you followed instructions, you did right. Now let's see how far advanced the problem was and if the fish will bounce back.

 

[Kyanite14]

I've never used prazi for flukes, but I have treated for tapeworms with it. The fish have never reacted in the least. But I would guess if there were a lot of flukes in the gills, having them die wouldn't be a great feeling. As they die, the fish may also feel the damage the parasites have done. They injure the fish, sometimes too much for it to recover afterwards.

It gets around, so if it's flukes, the others have milder cases. Beware though, flashing can also be velvet or early Ich, or a symptom of not doing weekly partial water changes. You'll have to be vigilant even if he survives and flourishes.

If it was flukes, you did right. I don't know the dosages without the bottle, but if you followed instructions, you did right. Now let's see how far advanced the problem was and if the fish will bounce back.

Yeah I followed the instructions, and right now he seems ok. He’s still slightly flashing his gills, but no longer gasping at the top and has now rejoined the group on their nightly food gravel scavenge. It’s so weird how they’re at the top during the day and bottom during the night.

I will check on him tomorrow before I leave for work. Hopefully he feels better, I would assume it feels similar to a REALLY bad cold or maybe pneumonia in humans, but with more pain.

The poor guy can’t catch a break. He’s 2/3 the size of the others and his fins still haven’t fully grown back. Luckily I don’t notice any bullying on him, as the original perpetrator was removed.

I’m very on top of water changes, I do 30% weekly. If ich or velvet appear I will be sure to get the medication for it as well. I’m guessing prazipro is more for internal stuff rather than external.

 

[GaryE]

Yup. Prazi is great for flukes and for gutworms other than Camallanus, the red ones that show up sometimes.

You're taking good care of him. He's a lucky fish.

 

[Kyanite14]

Yup. Prazi is great for flukes and for gutworms other than Camallanus, the red ones that show up sometimes.

You're taking good care of him. He's a lucky fish.

He was looking good this morning. No more flashing or gasping. I’ll maybe do a second dose in a week just to be sure I get everything.

 

[plebian]

He was looking good this morning. No more flashing or gasping. I’ll maybe do a second dose in a week just to be sure I get everything.

If it actually was a case of gill flukes, you'll need to continue treatment for much longer than that. As I recall, 4 weeks is considered a reliable minimum and the spacing of doses is something like day 3, day 7, day 14 or similar. You should also be aware of side effects, appetite suppression being the most common. Depression is less common but I've seen it happen with Discus.

Lastly, it may not be flukes. There are protozoan parasites that can cause similar symptoms. Diagnosis based on behavior is very much hit and miss because different illnesses can result in very similar symptoms.

 

[Colin_T]

You should increase aeration/ surface turbulence whenever using medications in an aquarium.

 

[Kyanite14]

If it actually was a case of gill flukes, you'll need to continue treatment for much longer than that. As I recall, 4 weeks is considered a reliable minimum and the spacing of doses is something like day 3, day 7, day 14 or similar. You should also be aware of side effects, appetite suppression being the most common. Depression is less common but I've seen it happen with Discus.

Lastly, it may not be flukes. There are protozoan parasites that can cause similar symptoms. Diagnosis based on behavior is very much hit and miss because different illnesses can result in very similar symptoms.

If he starts acting weird again after treatment I’ll try something else. I couldn’t find fenbendazole which I heard was the best one