Med For Parasite, With Corydoras & Plants?

[BBrain]

You may have read in my post about Lemon Tetras with columnaris, that there is now a problem with gill flukes in the tetras, in the same tank. I thought this should have its own topic.

My problem: I don't know what medication to use for the gill flukes, since there are also Corydoras, a pleco, and many plants in the same tank.

All the common anti-fluke meds that I've read about have ingredients that are dangerous to either the Corydoras or the pleco (organophosphates, salt, malachite green), or dangerous to the plants (copper). (Apparently salt is not effective against gill flukes, anyway).

The only anti-parasite med that I have not seen such warnings about is potassium permanganate, but I can't find much info on how to use it. I do have a med here, (actually it's called a water conditioner product; Jungle Labs' Clear Water) that I've read has potassium permanganate, but it is not labelled with active ingredients, nor concentration level of ingredients. I just asked the manufacturer for this info, but they will not tell me. Jungle Labs told me: "Any information regarding ingredients or their concentration that is not
listed on the package or bottle is considered proprietary information, to which we do not have access."

There is one other med that I know is used against gill flukes; formalin. I have not found any information on its safety to corys, plecos, or plants.

Can anyone help me, please?

 

[dylema]

I am having a problem with parasites at the moment with my plecos. The med I have is not safe for Corydoras or snails but in my thread some people have suggested a worming med called levamisole which you can apparently buy from a vet. I don't know if it is safe for your corydoras but nothing I have read suggests it is bad.

It might be worth a look and see if you can find out if it will work for you and if it is safe.

Try this link

Or this link

These came from replies to my thread.

Hope this helps.

 

[BBrain]

Thanks a lot, Dylema. I'll look into levimasole, and see if it would be good in my case.

There's a medicated food containing levimasole: Jungle Labs Anti-Parasite Medicated Fish Food (active ingredients: metronidazole, praziquantel, and levimasole). I believe it's aimed at internal parasites, rather than external ones, so it may be more suited to your situation than mine. However, if I can't find anything else, I might try it anyway, since it's sold at a store nearby, and I think it's safe for cories and plants.

Good luck with your plecos...they are really cool fish, aren't they?

 

[WILDER]

http/www.fishdoc.co.uk/treatments/potass...ermanganate.htm

 

[BBrain]

Thanks very much, Wilder!

It sounds like potassium permanganate is a bit risky to use. I think it may also damage my plants, since it "oxidizes organic matter." But I could use it for a dip treatment right now, because I only see two fish with gill fluke symptoms. Then, if the gill fluke problem becomes widespread in my tank, I will could go to a full-tank treatment.

For that, I could use Mardel's Coppersafe (chelated copper sulphate, which label says "may be harmful to plants"), or Jungle's Parasite Clear Tank Buddies (which I have used before, and it didn't harm my plants). The only problem with it, is damage to beneficial filtration bacteria. Their literature says it "will not harm biological filtration", but that is WRONG!!!! Within days of using it, in two separate tanks, serious nitrite spikes occurred (no doubt due to its anti-biotic ingredient, acriflavine). However, I think that risk can be reduced with a type of clinoptilolite that I have, which is incredibly good at removing ammonia and nitrite. My daughter used this media while starting up a new tank, and had no high spikes of ammonia or nitrite. The good thing about Parasite Clear, is that she also used it, at full strength, with no problem for her Cory cats.

Actually, I think I'll just go with the Parasite Clear now, and be done with it. The stress of capture, dip, and recovery might be too much for the already weak fish.

Wish me luck, and thanks again!