which dewormer is best for these symptoms/fish...

[serissime]

I had a thread earlier asking about what was wrong with my new C. habrosus corys. About half of them are failing to grow and have slightly concave bellies. They have fine appetites but I lost one last week or so. I was advised that it could be internal parasites. There are also ember tetras, one female betta, and one C. trilineatus.

I have been trying to do some research regarding which dewormer is best. I have not seen any white poop or external symptoms excluding the belly. My options right now are mostly Hikari PraziPro, Jungle Parasite Clear, or Gel-Tek Ultra Cure PX but that isn't in stock where I want to order from. I can't discern which active ingredients will be the best to treat whatever kind of IP I have in my tank.

Is it safe to move a few of the snails I want to save into a non-infected tank? Can they carry parasites over? My tank is rather overrun with snails but a few of a few species I want to preserve.

 

[Lupin]

I am suspecting either internal parasites or simply internal bacterial infection.

I answered Temeraire's thread with the same issue as yours. My recommendation was praziquantel which Prazipro can cater to you if you are suspecting internal parasites otherwise go with kanaplex or tetracycline mixed with foods for internal bacterial infections.

The trouble however with praziquantel is that only apple snails can survive the dosing. Nerite snails and ramshorns become ill and die after a few days prior to praziquantel dosage. I just did a praziquantel dosing which destroyed all of my nerites. I reported my findings to a conchologist, Donya in Applesnail.net. It was now clear prazi was the suspect since the nerites started dying only after I dosed the prazi.

The fenbendazole used for internal parasites can kill nerite snails. Sounguru however could not clarify whether the apple snail of his died because of fenbendazole or not so I cannot say for sure whether fenbendazole is safe for apple snails or not.

Snails can carry flukes around. This is one of the very few issues with snails. They will not transfer any more diseases that infect fish than the flukes which is why even apple snails are treated for that with praziquantel. So far, on the record of several snailers who also keep goldfish themselves, praziquantel was never reported to kill a single apple snail making prazi the best choice for those with apple snails wishing to treat them along with fish for flukes and internal parasites.

I'll test the MTS with praziquantel dosing when I have time but I can only guess right now that as MTS are nearly indestructible, a mild treatment such as prazi would not graze them heavily.

 

[serissime]

I saw your reply right after I posted, sorry.... I have tetracycline on hand. Should I go ahead and start that while I wait for the PraziPro to come in? I think whatever it is came with the corys because no other fish have shown any symptoms. Can the praziquantel be dosed concurrently with the tetracycline?

I have a few ramshorn, a lot of pond snails, and mts in my tank. I don't really mind if my pond snail population gets cut back... a lot. I won't be too upset if the ramshorns die since I don't really have the option to safely move them I guess. Anddd you say the MTS will survive which is fine with me. All of my snails came in with my plants so they are just coincidental inhabitants.

 

[Lupin]

I'd use one med first. Go with whichever you have first. Tetracycline may be able to resolve this issue if internal bacterial problem. If the fish improves, keep the treatment for another week. If not after a few days, give it a break for at least 3 days before switching to another med. I don't like to combine meds except in few instances only.

Watch your ammonia and nitrite if your snails die as a result of the praziquantel.

 

[serissime]

Okay, will do. Thanks!

 

[bazil323]

I'd also run carbon after you quit the med to remove it out of the water column (one of the few instances I run carbon), but you don't want to have carbon in your filter if you are still dosing meds as the carbon removes it before it can affect the disease.

I've only used the Gel Tek as it was recommended to me from members on The Puffer Forum, but I know others use different meds with good results too. I used Gel Tek but soaked the food rather than dosing according to the directions into the water, and I also used garlic to help encourage feeding. Parasites also don't like garlic; it irritates them but won't kill them so you still need to use an actual med to kill the parasites. As for the inverts thing, I'd go with Lupin's advice since I only had to dose a puffer tank, and therefore, I had no inverts to worry about (puffer's natural diet).