Are flukes killing most of our newly arrived fish today?

[cthetoy]

I was wondering if Flukes is becoming some sort of epidemic which are silently killing our newly arrived saltwater fish more than ich or velvet.

Over the last year I lost hundred of dollars worth of fish (mostly Angels) with all the same symptoms: jerky movement of the head (shaking it back and forth here and there), discoloration of the skin, rapid breathing, frayed fins and tail and loss of appetite.

From researching another forum I finally found out that had flukes. A freshwater dip confirmed it and I saw about 50 sized flukes from Chysyrus Angel. Now Im treating all my fish with Prazipro. Last 2 months I bought 4 small to medium sized Angels and all had flukes and I purchased all my fish from different LFS with different wholesalers. I quarantine each fish in a different tank so no contimination between fish can occur.

Are flukes really that common now and are Angels more suseptible to flukes? A lot of us might think a fluke infested fish might have ich or velvet and mistreat it since some of the symptoms are identical.

[leebca]

Pests like flukes come and go in waves. The trade doesn't find them for a year or more, then suddenly they are everywhere. There are many contributing factors. Beside those that are natural, humans can cause outbreaks, encourage cross-contamination when fishes are crowded together in holding bins, etc., etc.

This is one reason I have always recommended that a FW bath is a part of the acquisition of any new marine fish -- you just don't know and it does no harm to the fish.

Angels may tend to pick up a few more than faster swimming fishes, like Tangs. Other than this 'thin' connection, there is no particular reason why Angels should have a higher percentage of fluke in any given population.

[cthetoy]

Thanks for the reply. Right now my main 150g reef tank is empty of fish right now. All my fish are in quarantine for almost a month so hopefully the fluke cycle will end. I'm afraid the fluke will lay eggs on the substrate and spread since I can't treat the reef tank with medication. Is Prazipro a good fluke medication in my Q-tank? Lots of people recommended it so thats why Im using it.

I'm hoping more people are aware of flukes now. At first I always thought my fish had some bacterial infection because of the discoloration, fin/tail rot, rapid breathing and lost of appetite and mistreated it with antibiotics and/or copper and the fish still died. Im sure more people on this board had their new fish died of flukes because they misdiagnosed and gave the wrong treatment. Who wants to post results of their failed attempts? I wouldn't

Now I will freshwater dip all my new fish just to see if it has flukes. So far almost 75% of my Angels had flukes coming from Africa, Australia and the Indo Pacific unless they got it at the wholesaler.

The flukes I am seeing can be seen with the naked eye after a freshwater drip. They are opaque white and they are the size and shape as sesame seeds. You wont see it on the fish until the dip. A flashlight pointed in the freshwater dip bucket will confirm it since they are hard to see against the white bucket.

[leebca]

Almost all the common marine fish flukes are treatable by leaving the main system fishless for 10 weeks or more.

The fish is easily treated with FW baths. Follow these guidelines except, instead of a 30 minute time in the bath, make it 8 minutes: Freshwater Dip for Marine Fishes

The use of any drug is not necessary. Just give the fish a bath every 3 days for a total of 5 treatments. It is best if all the fish were separated and can't reinfect each other.

[art_of_war]

I've had two royal gramma lorettos and both have died of fluke. I don't know why. However, I wonder if anyone has ever considered performing a FW bath prior to placement within the display tank? B/c I'm starting to think that this would be a beneficial way to go.

I'll tell you one thing, when I noticed the gramma behaving strange and even making himself able to be caught, I found out for myself what flukes were and they are no laughing matter.

[Frag Hag]

Chalk up another mortality...

After nearly two years of keeping seahorses, last week I lost my boys to fluke - and carelessness on my part.

I was very careful quarantining Spud and Jack but failed to do so with two new arrivals in October. Don't ask. I have a half of dozen reasons for not quarantining, and none of them hold water (excuse the pun).

Anyway, two months later and the tank is a salt water ghost town... It will remain so for ten weeks.

Shay

[leebca]

Sorry to hear the news. It is no fun to quarantine marine life. I always run through excuses every time I'm facing another quarantine process, then go ahead and quarantine.

[art_of_war]

ever since my bouts with fluke, I've become so leary that I've quarantined every fish.