I’m starting this thread because over the past year I lost numerous of new fish for unexplained reasons. Until a few months ago I found that my fish were not dying of ich or velvet but FLUKES! Flukes are so common that I can even spot fish at the LFS that has symptoms of flukes.
Just a warning for anyone buying new fish from any LFS that a lot of fish carries flukes now. It’s more common in small and large Angels but I’ve seen them in small butterflies as well. I’m not sure about tangs since I haven’t purchase any of them the past year.
The obvious symptoms:
1) Fish twitching the head side to side once in a while like if wanted to shake something off his head.
2) Discolored blotches of skin (Most people think this is velvet or some bacterial infection and misdiagnose it with antibiotics)
3) Frayed fins or tail.
4) Sudden loss of appetite. Fish was fine yesterday but today it’s not eating at all.
5) Cloudy eye(s)
6) Rapid breathing
If you can catch it early the fish will recover fine. If not they will never recover and stop eating completely. In my experience if I caught it after it stops eating for 3 days there’s a chance it will recover. Beyond that it’s usually too late.
Easy Treatment:
You can not see flukes on the fish but if you freshwater dip them you can see them literally fall off the fish from the eyes, gills and under the scales. Its amazing to see how much of it falls off. I kept saying "Where did all these flukes hid?" My small week old 3" Regal Angel had symptoms 1, 4 and 6 so I freshwater dipped it for 10 minutes. The next day his appetite came back. Same goes for my Chysyrus Angel and Goldflake Angel. Flukes are almost the same size and shape as sesame seeds but opaque white after a freshwater dip. Use a flashlight to find them because it’s hard to see the flukes against a white bucket.
Prazipro from Hikari is a great fluke cure as well. I once treated 5 fish that all had flukes. Using the recommended dosage and on the 2nd day my quarantine tank looked like it had a bad case of dandruff but actually they were dead flukes all over the water column.
If you freshwater dip your fish the flukes may come back. I had this happen to me. Some flukes lay eggs on the fish and some lay eggs on the gravel, rocks, etc. Only Prazipro or any fluke medication can kill the flukes in its egg stage. After searching Prazipro is the best fluke medication.
A 10 minute freshwater dip usually works for me. Why 10 minutes? Usually after 3 minute dip most flukes will fall off. Most fish will have flukes on the eye as well and there was one fluke that was still on the eye after 3 minutes. I had to wait till the 10th minute before that fluke finally came off.
Here are some pics from another thread that shows what flukes look like after a freshwater drip
Here is a picture of Prazipro
