Treating Danios With Gill Flukes

[kimchi]

I'd had my tank going for months and it was fine... until my boyfriend decided to throw in a pleco that came from his goldfish tank! I suspect it brought some unwanted guests with it- my danios seem to have gill flukes.

Inhabitants:
10 gallon tank with various live plants/rocks/ornaments
6 zebra danios (now 5)
2 bronze corys
1 young common pleco

Took water sample to fish store for analysis.
0 ammonia/nitrite
Very low nitrates
pH too low at 6.2, apparently caused by local water
Current temp: 74C.

I change about 15% of the water weekly, vacuum gravel.
Undergravel filter with airstone/powerhead. Very well aerated.

Last time I bought danios (several weeks ago), they sold me a runt with a bite out of his back at the base of his dorsal fin. The wound healed, but the fin stayed paralyzed. I suppose he was the most suceptible. He seemed fine until a couple days ago, when he appeared lethargic with clamped fins. When I got home in the morning he was dead and my long-finned danio, who is normally very feisty, was breathing heavily and hanging out at the surface by the filter. He seemed uninterested in food. I did a 20% water change and removed an ornament that was collecting debris. Yesterday he had pink swollen gills with a white filament hanging from one of them. I realized he was probably suffering from gill flukes and gave him a salt bath. He didn't like that much, but it seemed to improve his condition- swelling/white stuff disappeared, he was more energetic, and he stopped hiding. I can't add salt directly to the tank because I have cories. I gave him another salt bath today, but he's back at the filter. Haven't seen him eat in a few days- I put freeze dried blood worms in front of him and the other fish went crazy, but he wouldn't touch them. That was when I noticed that 2 of my other danios seemed to be breathing heavily- the fat female and one of the males. Their behaviour is still normal, and the other 2 males are breathing normally.

Apparently gill flukes can be difficult to treat. Any suggestions for an effective treatment, or medication available in Canada? I need to treat this ASAP before all my danios die, but I don't want to harm the cories.

 

[noshybabs]

im having the same problem with my fish at the min,

Ive been reading up on gil flukes and it seems a that a mixture of Malachite green and Formalin is about the only way to guarentee there demise, but you have to be carfull as it can be riskey.

Another metheod that seems to work is remove the fish 1 by 1, Treat them with any Paracite meds you can get, and then put them in a fluke free tank.

Then leave the original tank for 3-4 weeks, this will break there breading cycle and they should all be bead by then.

Then return the fish.......

Sounds great eh, if only i have millions of tanks stroon around the house

It also seems that if you use a med with Praziquantel and treaat over a perios of a week, raising the tanks temp to 84 Degree's (to encrease the parasites reproduction) then that will get rid of them too. Of course i can get it cause its not sold in the UK

 

[The-Wolf]

I'm sure Sera have a license to sell their products in Canada as well as the USA, so look for Mycopur by Sera
other than that formalin and malachite green will work

 

[corey01]

first of all im sorry to hear your danios have gill flukes. gill flukes are hard to treat but medications work so well so i wouldnt bother spending loads of money on them just use some aquarium salt in a quarentine tank and bath your sick fish in it for three days. iff the flukes havnt gone by then id seek expertise advise fast.