Gill flukes on my tomato clowns

[Mighty Fish]

I recently bought a bubble tip anemone and a pair of small tomato clowns and immediately I noticed the fishes scratching, head twitching and rapid breathing. There is no any visual signs on the fish so I suspect it's gill flukes. My tank is 12 gallon, 8 months old. I transferred the anemone to a 5 gallon container with tank water and added a flow and light, and lowered my tank salinity to 1.012 from 1.025 in 3 days to treat with hypo salinity. As per Humble fish, egg laying flukes require 30 days and live bearer require 2 weeks in hypo but what about gill flukes? Are they egg laying or live bearers? My country doesn't sell prazipro or general cure either and I can get copper safe but after 15 days of shipping. Any help is appreciated.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I recently bought a bubble tip anemone and a pair of small tomato clowns and immediately I noticed the fishes scratching, head twitching and rapid breathing. There is no any visual signs on the fish so I suspect it's gill flukes. My tank is 12 gallon, 8 months old. I transferred the anemone to a 5 gallon container with tank water and added a flow and light, and lowered my tank salinity to 1.012 from 1.025 in 3 days to treat with hypo salinity. As per Humble fish, egg laying flukes require 30 days and live bearer require 2 weeks in hypo but what about gill flukes? Are they egg laying or live bearers? My country doesn't sell prazipro or general cure either and I can get copper safe but after 15 days of shipping. Any help is appreciated.

Im seeing guesswork and while symptoms suggest flukes, it is not confirmed. Hyposalinity and FW dips are measures for temporary relief of flukes and will not eradicate flukes. True medication is Prazipro and I understand you're in India and you should be able to obtain and use API general cure which contains PraziPro Or Blue Planet Fluke treatment

 

[fishywishy]

35 days in hypo should work if it’s actually flukes.

 

[Mighty Fish]

Im seeing guesswork and while symptoms suggest flukes, it is not confirmed. Hyposalinity and FW dips are measures for temporary relief of flukes and will not eradicate flukes. True medication is Prazipro and I understand you're in India and you should be able to obtain and use API general cure which contains PraziPro Or Blue Planet Fluke treatment

General cure is rarely available but no stock over here atm. I also have seachem paraguard ready right now. Would it be any useful if I add it along hypo? My clowns are really small and I don't want to stress them

 

[fishywishy]

General cure is rarely available but no stock over here atm. I also have seachem paraguard ready right now. Would it be any useful if I add it along hypo? My clowns are really small and I don't want to stress them

Paraguard doesn’t do anything against flukes. hypo should do the trick if its actually flukes.

 

[Mighty Fish]

Both of them stopped eating today(day 1 of hypo). Is it normal for fish to stop eating when in hypo?

 

[vetteguy53081]

General cure is rarely available but no stock over here atm. I also have seachem paraguard ready right now. Would it be any useful if I add it along hypo? My clowns are really small and I don't want to stress them

Hypo mainly at level 1.012 keeps fluke eggs from hatching, and again not always a cure. I have no faith in paraguard which is Aldehde based

 

[vetteguy53081]

Both of them stopped eating today(day 1 of hypo). Is it normal for fish to stop eating when in hypo?

Yes, it can alter appetite and hypo is Not for all fish as some are highly stressed and clowns would be one I dont recommend hypo with.

 

[Hot2na]

Fwiw : I usually go down to:1.010 salinity .. with no ill effects .. Fenbednazole is something you should look up also ..I use it soaked in food and treat 3 days with it.. in.combo with hypo ...

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I recently bought a bubble tip anemone and a pair of small tomato clowns and immediately I noticed the fishes scratching, head twitching and rapid breathing. There is no any visual signs on the fish so I suspect it's gill flukes. My tank is 12 gallon, 8 months old. I transferred the anemone to a 5 gallon container with tank water and added a flow and light, and lowered my tank salinity to 1.012 from 1.025 in 3 days to treat with hypo salinity. As per Humble fish, egg laying flukes require 30 days and live bearer require 2 weeks in hypo but what about gill flukes? Are they egg laying or live bearers? My country doesn't sell prazipro or general cure either and I can get copper safe but after 15 days of shipping. Any help is appreciated.

Gill flukes are Dactylogyrids and are egg-layers. Since a positive diagnosis isn't possible without a microscope, you should always go with 30 days of hyposalinity to treat flukes.

That said, sometimes, sometimes, aggression between two clownfish can be confused with flukes; head shaking and rapid breathing for example. Do you know if these are tank raised clowns, or wild caught?