Has anyone had any experience SUCCESSFULLY treating flukes with a malachite green/formalin combo? I have been trying to treat my tank for flukes and have had success in the past with Praziquantel. But, this time it doesn't seem to be doing the trick. I am not sure if I have a more resistant strain, but I almost doubled the recommended dose of prazi and I still have fish scratching and seeming irritated. I also have some Quick Cure that is malachite green & formalin that says it works for mild fluke outbreaks, which is what I could call this one. Not all fish are scratching, just a few angels and have been for a couple weeks. Has anyone treated for flukes with Quick Cure or anything similar? I have mixed Quick Cure and Prazi before after reading about others having success with it and neither chemical affecting the action of the other. I have them together in my tank now and the fish seem fine. I was just wondering if Quick Cure will help. Otherwise, I might do a water change, get rid of the prazi, and treat with straight 37% formalin.
Formalin/malachite green for flukes?
- Thread starter jjohns
- Start date
i have used Formalin successfully against gill flukes on my discus....just have to be careful not to overdose....i QT and did a 45min soak...after two soaks they were gone
Malachite Green is actually a dye used to color some things like clothes and what not so I would be hessitant to use it in a display tank and suggest that you pick up a small tank for quaranteen/hospital uses if you do not have one and want to use Malachite Green. I am under the impression that it is a good Ich med, but not sure how well it would treat anything else. Like NinjaPirate points out, there are a lot of meds spacifically designed for flukes and they might be the better solution for you. Alot also have dyes in them so be careful there too.
I won't be able just to do a quarantine of the affected fish, since they are in the main tank and if they are the true egg laying gill flukes, the whole tank will have to be treated. So, putting the fish in a formalin bath for a few minutes probably won't be enough of a fix. Have you ever used formalin as a parasite treatment in your main tank? I know I have read that it can affect (or pretty much kill) your biofilter. I would like some advice from anyone who has used formalin in their tank--and how much they dosed, for how long, and if they changed water in between or not. Does formalin stay active in the water long, or does it break down quickly with organics? The dose instructions on the bottle say like 2 drops formalin/gallon of water and to treat every day I think. It said to do a water change after a 5 day treatment. Should a partial change be done each day?
Prazi is listed as a fluke medication, but it seems to be only effective in a very high (and expensive) dose. I have used Trifon which is a fluke specific med as well, but it made my fish very aggressive towards eachother. It appeared to take care of the flukes at first and I treated for 25-28 days with it, which is over the recommended treatment time of 21 days. Plus, I turned up the heat to speed up their life cycle more. But, the flukes came back a couple weeks later, and then with a vengence. The Trifon wouldn't touch them that time, and there are stories of flukes becoming resistant to it. It contains the same active ingredient as Fluke Tabs, so I know I won't try that again either. I do have a quarantine tank, but it is only a 10 gal. and my big tank is a 90 gallon with lots of fish. So, to QT them all is out of the question. I have used malachite green before, so my silicone is all ready a blue color. Not much you can do about that. The Prazi worked for me before, but this time, it doesn't seem to be relieving my fish as quickly as before. That was why I am concerned that maybe I need to try something else since I haven't been seeing any improvements in a couple weeks with Prazi. Formalin or formalin/malachite green was nexted on my list to try.
formalin is an effective treatment for gil flukes(formaldehyde in aqueous solution) it has a half-life of about 10 day and most of it will gass off. note: it can rect with O2 and create formic acid)
the problem with prazi is that it is used so much that the parasites, flukes in this case) can become resistant to it.
I have used malachite green with formalin in it..jungle labs sent me a sample..I think they must have sent the ick :joke: (kiddin)
actually, I have my black neons in a q tank with my discus..they brought the ick. I used the treatment as directed..but redosed as I did not believe the ick would perish in 3 days.
it was a light infestation..only a few neons had it and they were lightly infected.
but that was several weeks ago.no more ick.
the problem with prazi is that it is used so much that the parasites, flukes in this case) can become resistant to it.
I have used malachite green with formalin in it..jungle labs sent me a sample..I think they must have sent the ick :joke: (kiddin)
actually, I have my black neons in a q tank with my discus..they brought the ick. I used the treatment as directed..but redosed as I did not believe the ick would perish in 3 days.
it was a light infestation..only a few neons had it and they were lightly infected.
but that was several weeks ago.no more ick.
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