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Home      Reply		Viewed: 521 -- Replies: 13
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Posted	Gill and Body Flukes?
10-02-2006 23:56 by alex	My 300 litre tank contains some mixed Malawis and 2 Frontosa. They are all exhibiting symptoms of gill and body flukes (flicking). I have been treating the tank with Sterazin. The course is for 10 days, 5 treatments. I have already administered 3 of the treatments and there is no change in the symptoms, in fact the flicking is worse now and i'm worried I may lose the entire tank. I do not know what to do next. The water has been tested several times and tests fine. Would anyone be able to suggest an alternative treament as the Sterazin does not appear to be working at all... Alex
11-02-2006 00:01 by telboy	hey alex im no expert mate but panic ye not wait the full 10 days see wot happens then if prob still with ya then look for alternative try leaving the lights off so flicking doesnt wind ya up so much itll also make ya calmer so youll be able to think more fluidly bout the prob think calm im ahippie calm im a hippie calm
11-02-2006 02:36 by ploppy	prazi pro- if you can get hold of some. you may need to import it from america though.
11-02-2006 10:29 by yanton	sure its not some white spot instead?
11-02-2006 11:38 by raymalawi	Hello Alex, how long has the tank been set up? What are you testing for? Some flicking with Malawis is natural,but constant flicking usually denotes a water quality problem.
11-02-2006 16:28 by alex	Thanks for your suggestions. raymalawi: The tank in its current state has been setup for 5 months. I have had the water tested and have tested myself for Nitrites, Nitrates, Ammonia, PH. The flicking is constant and not part of the natural behavior of these fish. To be more clear, it is not only flicking. The fish also swim against rocks, scraping the side of their faces against the rocks as if trying to get rid of something. I assumed this was from gill flukes or some similar parasite. There is definately something wrong here. I have previously lost almost the entire tank when 4 frontosa died and 5 other malawi cichlids died about 1 month ago. Since then I have cleaned the gravel and changed half the water, testing and re-testing all along. This particularly affects my African Cichlids as my 2 Parrot Cichlids remain unaffected and with no symptoms. I am still confused as to what to do and do not want to lose another tank full of fish... I cannot figure out
11-02-2006 16:39 by MC	It might be something bateriological in which case sterazin wont do much, if anything. If you dont mind, can you give some more detail ie: 1/How, many fish do you have in the tank and what size are they 2/ How often do you do water changes and how much 3/ How often do you test the water 4/Do you have carbon in your filters 5/ How deep is your gravel bed 6/ What are your actual water parameters Basic stuff, but might be helpful for others trying to diagnose your problem.
11-02-2006 21:14 by alex	MC, Thanks for your help... 1/ 12 fish at the moment, 2 frontosa (male 8", female 7"), 2 Parrot Cichlids (male and female medium size breeding pair), the rest mixed Malawis (from 3" to 5"). the tank is 5x2x2, about 300 litres. 2/ I change 30% of the water about once per month, although when I lost the first group of Frontosa, I changed the water 2 times in a week. 3/ I don't normally test the water often as I don't normally have any problems, its only in the last month or so, I have tested it several times... 4/ I'm using an Eheim 2329 wet/dry and the filter only comes with a white substrate material. I am not sure if this could be the problem although there is no mention in the filter's instruction manual on whether or not to use alternative media. I have never changed this although I do clean it from time to time by rinsing it with a high pressure cold water spray... 5/ The gravel is 2" deep. 6/ I do not know the actual water parameters as the testing kit I have limits me to colour ranges. These all appear normal. I have also had the water tested at my local Aquatics shop and they have confirmed my results. Though the last time the water was tested was 2 weeks ago, before I restocked the tank.
11-02-2006 22:15 by MC	alex - I can see a couple of things here that would improve your tank manitenance but nothing that would directly point to the cause. It still sounds to me that your fish are either stressed by water conditions, or there may be a bacterialogical infection (given that the sterazin hasnt helped so far). Once youve finished this treatment do a big water change and leave for a few days and then treat with Melafix & Pimafix, I always mix both and have seen fantastic results but I know there are some who would disagree with that. Before undertaking any more treatment I would suggest you consider the following in order to make sure you have the basic's right first. 1/ Realistically, a 25% water change every week would be best and make sure you syphon out as much of the detritus as you can, especially under rocks etc. Your gravel may also need a good syphon as dirt gets in between it. Thats why a lot of people use sand because the *** stay's ontop., 2/ I know some people only test thier water when things dont look right but I would suggest you do a quick test every week after your WC. The easiest way is to use all in one test strips that do PH, nitrite, nitrate, & harness checks, maybe not the most accurate but better than nothing. 3/ Depending on your ph which ideally should be around 8, the hardness is also important. This can be raised very quickly using epsom salts & bicarb, but you need to know the hardness first and if you need to raise it, do it gradually 3. One last point, your method of cleaning the filter media will kill all the bacteria which you need for breaking down the harmful elements in the water. Your basically starting from scratch every time you clean the media and run the risk of new tank sydrome after every clean (when did you last do this ?) The best way is to clean the media gently in tank water being taken out during water change. Do not clean this vigourously, just enough to wash of the surplus detritus Apart from the above suggestions I'm at a bit of a loss, maybe someone else has an idea
12-02-2006 10:50 by raymalawi	I think it is new tank syndrome, if the media has been washed in tap water it is dead and needs to build up a bacteria colony,if you washed it two weeks before putting new fish in you are now cycling the tank.I dont know what your PH is but for Malawis you need a high PH and hard water, try some calcium plus or crushed cockle shell in your filter,your parrots wont like this. Gravel can be made of many different stones that can have an effect on the water parameters,could I sugggest you change it for silver sand.I would also put some absorbant media in the filter to remove the Sterazin,if you live in the Brighton area I will be happy to give you a hand full or mature media and some calcium plus, regards Ray.
12-02-2006 18:49 by alex	Thanks for all your suggestions, MC and raymalawi... Strangely enough, I have stopped my filter and the flicking behavior has reduced quite alot. I am not sure if this is due to the Sterazin or the fact that it is not being passed through the filter any longer. Another question that may or may not be of relevance... I have just acquired a load of ocean rock (tufa) that was used in a marine setup and still in water when I wen to pick it up. I am planning on filling the tank with it. I have rinsed it in the bath tub with cold water and soaked it twice. Would this be safe to add to the tank? If so, this being ocean rock (containing salt and other things), would it help the water in any way, perhaps rasing the PH?
12-02-2006 19:28 by MC	Alex - firstly, DONT STOP YOUR FILTER. The bacteria need to build up a healthy colony and need flowing water to do this. In the interim go to your LFS and get some filter boost which will help in the process but make sure it can be used in the tank that already contains fish In order to combat the effects of not having a fully fuctioning filter you will need to do frequent water changes, especially when the fish start flicking again. Its important that you follow these steps and once everything is up & running properly, and you adopt the tank maintenace I suggested, you should have little or no problem. As for the rock, its porous, so you will need to soak it for about a week just to be on the safe side, and dont forget to change the water regulary.
12-02-2006 20:19 by alex	Mc, Thanks for the advice. The filter is running again. I will get some of that filter boost as well... It looks as though I will have to do partial water changes everyday for a week or so now as i've already added the rocks into the tank. I have no facility in which to soak them over a long period anyhow and could only do some thorough rinsing with the shower and short term soaking in cold water...
12-04-2006 11:11 by Alan	Don't bother with sterazin its useless had the same problem with it no good results. Find a remedy that is a combination of Malachite green and formalin I used sera costapur it has done the job I did have to use a very high dose though that I would not recommend but it has worked. I wouldn't bother with sterazin it just isn't strong enough I contacted waterlife to discuss my problem they suggest the normal dose twice a day for ten days that didn't even work! I also added a salt made by sera called ectopur it is not straight sodium chloride I don't know exactly what it is but it helped as it strips the gills of excess mucus and makes the treatment more effective the difficulty of gill flukes is they are protected by the mucus in the gills this needs to be reduced significantly before remedies can be effective. I know your post is quite old but if you are still having problems this should of course eliminate water quality problems as well as this will just make the situation worse. You could also try feeding sea weed to them get the stuff normally used for wrapping sushi from your supermarket the malawis will love it. It gives a boost to their immune system that will also help their natural defences and the healing process.

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