Parasites Still?

[mancin]

I lost my male Krib to what I think was parasites about a week and a half ago. He showed very brief signs of flicking/rubbing and heavy breathing before he passed. I just don't think I got the med to him in time. I treated the tank with Prazi Pro, full dose per the bottle. A couple of my fish started acting strangely towards the end of it, so I did a large water change (50% or 60%) and re-dosed the med, but did a 1/2 dose. The bottle does say to re-dose after 5 days if parasites are still present. All of the fish started acting normal again. Phew! Right?

I just did another water change last night and added carbon to my filter to remove the remaining medicine. Now my female Krib is not acting herself. She is breathing heavily (as my male did not long before he passed) and she keeps finding spots to hide. There are no other signs -- no flicking/rubbing, color seems normal, she did eat fine yesterday. I did feed bloodworms yesterday as a treat -- they get that every week and a half to two weeks. I used to feed brine shrimp more often, but once I lost my male I thought maybe he had gotten parasites from the frozen food so I've been nervous and have just been feeding Cichlid pellets and flakes since then, with the very occassional frozen treat.

Is it possible I STILL have parasites in there? Or is it possible she's a bit bloated from the bloodworms?

I posted a week or so ago (but didn't receive any responses) to some odd "things" that got transported to my 10 Gallon hospital/quarantine tank while I tried to artifically hatch some Ram eggs. To summarize, I figured if I was treating the tank for parasites, the eggs wouldn't stand a chance. I moved the eggs (along with some sand they were laid in) into the 10 Gallon. A few days later I *thought* I had wrigglers, but it turned out it was something else. They were small, white, appeared to have antennas and a tail, and hopped around and did not swim. I later then found a small worm about the size of a piece of thread moving along the bottom of the tank (it was easy to spot because the 10 Gallon is a bare bottom).

I'm now wondering if I should take the carbon out and re-dose the med again. All of the other fish are fine, however. Should I just wait it out a day? I hate to start medicating if I don't know what I'm dealing with. I just feel cursed lately!!

I do water changes every week, 25% - 30% and swish up the sand to get the loose waste laying around. The tank is planted, and I dose Seachem Flourish weekly and a Potassium fert daily per the bottle's instructions. I have been dosing those and have had no problems for at least over a month.

Tank Temp: 81F
Ammonia: 0
NitrItes: 0
NitrAtes: 5

 

[saz326]

...What are the current fishy symptoms?

The female krib could well be acting like this as her male has disappeared. He would have been looking after the territory and so she would have felt safer with him around. It is not unusual for a female krib to Sulk after losing her mate.

Even healthy aquariums contain some micro/white worms and other water borne species. They are not all parasites and can even be beneficial (fish fry etc love to eat them).

Please pop a list of current symptoms here for us. Assume you havent treated for anything before and go by what you are seeing now.

 

[WILDER]

Sounds like it could be internal parasites and external parasties.
What does the prazi pro treat.

Do any fish look skinny aswell as being bloated.
What does it look like when the fish to to the toilet.
Is there anus enlarged or red and inflamed.
Any red peirce marks on the fish or red sores.

I would redose the med again.
http/www.rockymountaindiscus.com/prazipro.htm

 

[mancin]

...What are the current fishy symptoms?

The female krib could well be acting like this as her male has disappeared. He would have been looking after the territory and so she would have felt safer with him around. It is not unusual for a female krib to Sulk after losing her mate.

I've wondered this too. She's the only one that is displaying any symptoms (at least right now). The only 2 symptoms are lethargy and breathing heavily. She is sticking to her hiding spots rather than venturing around the tank.

Sounds like it could be internal parasites and external parasties.
What does the prazi pro treat. Supposed to treat both internal and external parasites. I read a bunch of great things about it online and my LFS uses it all the time with good results.

Do any fish look skinny aswell as being bloated. Don't really notice either of these
What does it look like when the fish to to the toilet. Looks normal
Is there anus enlarged or red and inflamed. Looks normal
Any red peirce marks on the fish or red sores. No marks that I can see, however she keeps hiding so I can't get a good look at her up close

I would redose the med again.
[URL="http/www.rockymountaindiscus.com/prazipro.htm"]http/www.rockymountaindiscus.com/prazipro.htm[/URL]

 

[WILDER]

I would redose the med.
If you only halfed dose the med might not of worked properly.

What fish do you have in the tank.

 

[mancin]

I would redose the med.
If you only halfed dose the med might not of worked properly.

What fish do you have in the tank.

OK I'll do that. I did do a full dose the first time, but towards the end of the treatment some of the fish were acting strangely (darting around a bit). That's when I decided to continue treatment, but first did a large water change and redosed 1/2. I will try a full dose again.

Other fish in the tank: group of Harlequins, a Ram Pair, a BN Pleco, 1 Angel

Prazi Pro is supposed to be safe for all fish and plants, and in addition not destroy the bacteria in the filter.

 

[WILDER]

The other parasite was it disc shaped and looked flat.
Not sure if fish lice have tails.

The hair like worm did it have a forked tail. Was the worm white or red.

 

[mancin]

The other parasite was it disc shaped and looked flat.
Not sure if fish lice have tails. It was very hard to see with the naked eye, but stood out since it was white and hopping around on black sand. I really need to get myself a magnifying glass. It didn't look completely flat to me. That's why at first I thought maybe they were wrigglers. It appeared to have a circular body. It was about the size of the tip of a pen or pencil.

The hair like worm did it have a forked tail. Was the worm white or red. The worm was white. Did not notice a forked tail.

 

[WILDER]

Post in tropical discussion about the parasite that looks round and hops with a tail. Members might know which parasite it is.

Hair like worms can be anchor worm but usually they will have a forked tail. Or its a internal parasite.

Do you feed live foods.

Have you seen anymore parasites since using the med.


This is a pic of anchor worm.

 

[mancin]

Post in tropical discussion about the parasite that looks round and hops with a tail. Members might know which parasite it is. I had done this, but hadn't received any replies. I can bump the thread up.

Hair like worms can be anchor worm but usually they will have a forked tail. Or its a internal parasite.

Do you feed live foods. Don't feed live, but I was feeding frozen more frequently, but now I've been scared to feed them (even though on the packaging it says 'parasite free')

Have you seen anymore parasites since using the med. I never actually saw them in the 55 Gallon. I only saw them in the 10 Gallon after I transferred over sand and Ram eggs from the 55 Gallon. I have been treating the 55.


This is a pic of anchor worm. Nope, that's definitely not what I saw.

 

[WILDER]

Try and look for red prick marks and red sores as they are signs of external parasites have been feeding on the fish.


I would redose again and get back to the board if there anymore problems.
I will take a look at your other thread for you.


I doubt its the frozen food.
Parasites can enter a tank by plants, wood, new fish.

 

[mancin]

I re-dosed the Prazi Pro (full dose) over my lunch break. Almost forgot to remove the carbon. Keeping my fingers crossed!

 

[WILDER]

Keep us updated on there progress.
Good Luck.

 

[mancin]

Ah, now she's flicking a bit. If I were to guess, I'd say gill flukes as that's the part of her body she was rubbing. I can't get a good enough look at her gills to see if they are red and/or inflamed. I suspected my male had gill flukes before he died. It's almost like watching him all over again, as she's displaying the exact same symptoms.

I took a pretty poor quality vid of her. Keep in mind that she's hiding as she's not feeling well, so unfortunately this the best I could get. The lighting is terrible, but maybe it will at least give a visual. It's almost as if she has something stuck in her throat and/or gills, which is why I was thinking flukes. In addition to the heavy breathing, her mouth is opening and closing. I'll see if I can get a better video of her. I would have preferred to upload to youtube, but their video upload is currently unavailable.

Video

Here's hoping that med starts working soon! It's supposed to treat flukes. When my male looked like this he didn't last more than a day and a half.

 

[WILDER]

Have you posted the vid in your other thread aswell.
Can't make to much out as the video to dark.

Signs of flukes are.
Opaque body with excess slime.
Red inflamed gills or pale gills with excess slime.
Flicking and rubbing.
Darting, or erratic swimming.
Fish will sometimes swim in a jerky movement.
Sores on red pierce marks on a fish.
Weightloss sometimes.
Spitting food out.