How long have you had this fish? I ask because ammonia burn can cause irritation too and might cause flashing, if he was kept poorly before you got it? From what I understand, flukes are present in all tanks, and are virtually impossible to eliminate. They don't really cause any harm when the tank is well maintained, but can begin to cause problems when conditions are poor. Correct me if I'm wrong on that.
Itchy Fish
- Thread starter rrkss
- Start date
I've had this fish for about 3 months. He is kept in an established tank which has not shown any signs of disease for a while now. I do a 50% waterchange every week with gravel vacuuming. He has 6 other Rosy Barb friends in the tank with him and those Rosy Barbs are in top shape.
This is actually a myth similar to the ich myth claiming the same.
Flukes do not generally cause a lot of problems, but will quickly attack any weak or stressed fish. The fish usually ends up with a fungal or bacterial infection which subsequently kills them. Flukes do cause flashing, but so does ammonia burn, and virtually any other issue that could irritate the gills As mentioned.
When I had Flukes, it was in my guppy breeding tanks, and showed via occasional flashing, but I also had issue with older females getting fungus and dieing. After treatment with Prazi all flashing ceased completely, and I have not had any more fungal outbreaks or fish deaths in those tanks.
Prazi will kill flukes with finality (or at least in my experience) it is also benign in every other way I coulkd think of. I treated two tanks, one with fry, shrimp, and snails. Both with plants. Nothing showed any signs at all of a problem.
I do not know if Flukes, Gill burn, or any number of other possibilities is your problem, but do know you can do a prazi treatment with no ill effects on anything, and if done properly it will eliminate Flukes as a possibility once and for all.
Dave
For flashing fish, I would treat with salt first, and then a formalin based medication before trying anything else. So you’re on the right track.
As far as flashing, there are a large number of ectoparasitic protozoans that will irritate fish skin and gills . My own personal Excel sheet on this group has 98 species scattered among 23 genera for FW fish. Out of this, 8 species have been plucked off BW fish in addition to FW fish, so salt treatments probably won’t work with them. Ichtyobodo necator (Costia) BTW has also been found on marine salmon in addition to FW fish.
The majority of these protists are bactivores and basically just use the fish as substrate. They can cause flashing in sufficient numbers and most can enter a tank via fish, invertebrates, plants, and the water the fish were transported in.
Tom
As far as flashing, there are a large number of ectoparasitic protozoans that will irritate fish skin and gills . My own personal Excel sheet on this group has 98 species scattered among 23 genera for FW fish. Out of this, 8 species have been plucked off BW fish in addition to FW fish, so salt treatments probably won’t work with them. Ichtyobodo necator (Costia) BTW has also been found on marine salmon in addition to FW fish.
The majority of these protists are bactivores and basically just use the fish as substrate. They can cause flashing in sufficient numbers and most can enter a tank via fish, invertebrates, plants, and the water the fish were transported in.
Tom
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Excellent med choice, rrkss. I think I'll pick some of that up as an alternative to more heavily-loaded malachite green products.
Roan
Roan
pl*co said:
rrkss, just for your info and future reference, the problem with the low pH turned out to be due to a change I made. I added a medium size piece of driftwood a couple of weeks ago, forgetting that it would soften the water and lower the pH. I didn't see much tannins being released, so I put it out of mind. tsk. All is well now, after adding a bit of baking soda. I will have to keep a closer eye on the pH until the driftwood has less of an effect.
Thanks for the info Pleco. Just to give you and update, after a full 7 day formalin treatment the flashing is still existing at the same pace as before. I am going to pick up some prazi and treat all my tanks with it to take care of any flukes that I could possibly have. I'll see if this helps.
I bought the ready to use version, it is called prazi-pro. Most LFS in my area do not stock it, I was fortunate to find one that did. You should be able to find it online, if not at Big Al's check out...
http://www.mops.ca
http://www.mops.ca
