Praziquantril

[DiscusEden]

Hi guys,

Just wondering if prazi knocks out the bio-filter?

There are white poos - clear in sections, white through most of it - hanging from the rams and one of the discus.

The discus had a course of Octozin over a week ago, all this white poo came out & he looked briefly better, but is still dark, hanging in the back corner by himself & hasn't eaten for weeks - even live food.

I suspect I should do everything in the tank, and don't want to stuff them all in the 2ft tank from the 6ft.

Can I do the prazi in the main tank?

TIA :)

[fishgeek]

no praziquantel will not affect the biological bacteria

prehaps feed higher levels of medication to the fish, rather than just in water treatment
soak some food in a concentrated colution of meds before feeding, i am assuming octozin is liquid?

if it is powder or tablet i have recently been involved in n interesting discussion about using daphnia as a carrier
because they are filter feeders they will take up a suspension of medication relatively quickly and can then be used to orally medicate

andrew

ps do you discus guy's have nay issue's with daphnia?

[Merrilyn]

Daphnia are great food Andrew, just a bit hard to find. All the usual sources of daphnia seem to have dried up with the drought that's affecting the whole of Aus at the moment.

Brine shrimp are, I think, also filter feeders. Wonder if they could be used in the same way as daphnia to take up a suspension of medication?

PS - Octozin is in tablet form.

[DiscusEden]

Thankyou both very much!

I'll look tonight at how many bottles of prazi I'll need to do the 540L tank.

If I did take them out to treat them & did 1/2 at a time then swapped them over, would any poos left in the tank in the meantime re-infect them?

If I put them all in the 2ft at once to treat them, would any poo left in the main tank re-infect them when they went back in? Not that I intend to leave a mess, but I might miss something.

Thanks again!

[fishgeek]

if you are treating for tapeworm then yes it is possible

tape worm grow from head to tail in segments , with each segment maturing to adulthood as they progress toward the tail
once mature and fertile, they basically become an egg sack and fall off at the tail end

each segment can therefore contain many egg's

i would be inclined to treat as you wish and then make some food with praziquantel mixed in to feed the tank in approx 2 weeks after the intial treatment

andrew

[mistakes r crucial]

Brine Shrimp are filter feeders and its been suggested on a few occasions thqat meds can be administered this way but for mine it's too hit and miss. How do we know just how much of a med is being administered to our fish? Bit iffy for me.
MAC

[fishgeek]

i dont think there is any accurate fish dosing , when it comes to in feed medication
how much does each fish eat?

if you want guaranteed systemic levels then injectable is properly only way

in water god control for external parasites , but then there is all the bioavalability , absorbtion chelation issues which vary form fish to fish and in different aquaria water and ight situations

so many variables

andrew

[DiscusEden]

Hi guys, sorry to ressurect this, but I'm back on this project agan (there was a whole side issue that's now resolved).

Is the prazi safe with royal whiptails, peppermint bristlenose, cardinals, freshwater garfish, apisto trifasciatuum, treadfin rainbows, blue (& gold) rams, bolivian rams & discus?

Thanks again!

[mistakes r crucial]

From the information I have Prazi is fine with all of the fish you have listed but I know nothing of Garfish so couldn't tell you one way or another. Prazi is very gentle compared to some treatments so I suspect it would be OK but you may need to hear from someone that has exerience with them.
MAC

[DiscusEden]

Thanks MAC! Much appreciated - and since the garfish cost $4, it can take its chances - I was far more concerned about the catfish, and the overall health of the tank.

Thanks again for your help!

[mistakes r crucial]

Just make sure you don't under dose, it's the main reason half these treatments don't work after a while.
MAC

[DiscusEden]

Thanks!

I figured the tank was 560L before substrate, etc, so:
1 tablet /20L
560L /20L = 28 tablets

Sound about right, or is that overdosing?

[Greggy]

RE: Prazi

I think I might have a slight gill fluke problem (my hungry & otherwise healthy looking Discus are often seen flicking the sides of their heads on plant stems a little too often to be 'normal') and so I have just purchased a bottle of 25 Prazi tablets (thats all the LFS had left in stock).

The full 25 tablets in my 6x2x2 display tank should almost be the correct dosage (1 tab every 20L = approx 5ppm) however...

- Do I need a second treatment after 3 or 4 days to erradicate the gill flukes or will it also kill the fluke eggs with just one treatment?
- Would it perhaps be better to treat at lower doses twice, eg. 13 tablets on day one and then 12 tablets on day 4, which is more like 1 tablet for every 40L (approx 2.5ppm) which I've read is still very effective against (gill) flukes.

I don't think my fish have worms, as I've already treated them with Levamisole (as a general precaution when they where 1st purchased) and I don't think they have tape worms either (they show no signs of such infection).

Thanks guys!

Regards,

Greggy

[ozarowana]

You should do the full dose and repeat in approx 3-4 days at 28-30 degrees. I have noticed gill fluke symptoms disappear in fish treated with prazi and then a few days later show them again. So you should definately retreat.

The internal dimensions of a 6x2x2 equates to about 600L. You are only dosing for 500L with 25 tablets (I'm not including substarate etc). You can lower the water level to save on the amount of meds you need.

[samir]

put a uv in and it'll bring things under control.