Hi everyone Before I start getting more Praziquantel for treating flukes (I think it is anyway, the fish sometimes does clamped fins, and flashing a bittt - and I can see the very small white worms ~1mm increasing in numbers over time), I've checked out the lsf for other fluke chems they have. Unfortunately some do not really say much on the packaging so I'd appreciate all feedback from people who have used them, and if they recommend this (it'll be great if it's as mild as Prazi too):

1. Wardley's Para-Ex Aquarium tablets - 20mg Trichlorphon per tablet (for anchorworms, fish lice, gill flukes). I know it's an organophosphate, but how exactly does it work and does it affect fish/plants etc?
2. Formalin Malachite Solution by Aquasonic Pty Ltd (an Aussie brand) - 37% formaldehye (sounds too strong for my liking)
3. Sterazin by Waterlife Research Ind Ltd, Great Britain (parasiticide for gill&body flukes & internal worms)

I would prefer to have something that won't harm my goldies too much...I have a couple of life plants too. Oh, Blackie has an injury on her (my bad, a scratch from rough handling) which should heal in a bit, and the other is a bubble eye, so it'll be great to know if these chems might hurt weak/injured fish. Oh, and if these chems affect the bio cycle badly, do let me know too.

The elementary Prazi doses I've used doesn't seem to affect these worm/flukes I've had, but this could be due to the low temperature (winter) and they didn't dilute well. I have got a heater ready to work on this possibility, but wanted to know if the above might be useful (just in case it's not a temperature issue, but super bugs).

Many thanks in advance from my goldies and myself

I've done more research and it seems that Praziquantel supersedes organophosphates (the latter is usually used on wild fish or something like that) http://www.koivet.com/html/articles/articl...rm=praziquantel . I was just a bit curious that the Prazi dose I've used Aquamaster Fluke & Tapeworm tablets (100mg praziquantel per tablet, and they recommend 1 tablet per 20Litres) did not seem to nudge off most of the worms I have. (w/o heating the water up that is). I will try again though with heating the water around say 24C (thank goodness Prazi is harmless for goldies) and hope it helps. Maybe those fluke/worms were in hibernate mode or something.

Nevertheless if anyone has any experiences with treatment for flukes do share them here

i would say Sterazin by Waterlife Research Ind Ltd would probly be your best bet. it shouldnt hurt your other fish but with all meds your plants will be affected one way or another. just take them out for now.

about sterazin, ive looked and looked and it seems that sterazins ingredients are proprietary information. but, with the way that they have the treatment regemine laid out in the directions, it sounds to be a good possibility.....

malchite green/formalin. read these:
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FORMALIN – An aqueous solution of 37% to 40% formaldehyde gases. Formalin is volatile and irritating with a very pungent odour. The commercial grade has darker colour and sometimes with brownish precipitates. The better B.P. grade is more stable and the liquid is practically colourless. As a prolonged immersion in aquarium use, 0.015 ml to 0.025 ml per litre every other day, for three days. For one-hour bath, use 0.125 ml to 0.250 ml per litre.

MALACHITE GREEN is a diarymethane dye, which is the most effective agent for treating water mold infections of fish and eggs. Also effective against protozoan ectoparasites. Toxic to some fishes such as fries or baby fish, tetras, catfish, and loaches. Be careful and watch out for adverse reactions when treating fish without scales. There are many grades of Malachite green in the market. Make sure you use only the Zinc Free oxalate grade. Use 0.1 mg per litre for prolonged immersion and 100 mg per litre as swab to skin lesions.
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both of these are commonly found as the main ingredients in many different brand name treatments.

from what i read here, the % on the bottle that you saw was spot on! i can tell you that none of my fish showed any kind of bad reaction to the same% combo of mg/f other than a little extra lethargy. they bounced right back after treatment and were fine for a week. then they came back. since then, i think that the combo (mg/f) should be used for up to 2 weeks (fish permitting).

also, in doing some calculations, i see that your prazi source calls for a level of prazi that is considered a double dose (its very safely done). thats good and all but, them not reacting to the prazi that you put in tells me that either the stuff really has lost its efficacy (past exp date), or, its not diluting quite enough.

anyway, didja find anything else yet?

Cool have you used sterazin before kissez? It's actually the most expensive fluke drug at the lsf so far. The reason why I am shying away from Para-ex (I did buy two tablets from the lsf, but am wary about using it) since my lsf are saying things like "do not touch the tablets", resources saying it actually can affect humans, some organophosphate thing (I think it dissolves cellulose or something).

But, I have got updates....not sure good or bad. I got a heater for Blacks+Bubs's tank yesterday, and placed it in...it was increasing the temp about 2C per hour (from 12C). During the time, Black had quite a lot of the worms clinging onto her sides and head, and she did the quivering thing (her fins were also clamped) I quickly gave her a 2-3% salt bath with the warming up water for 6 mins. But after putting her back, although most worms on the sides (easily seen) were gone, she was still clamped, darty, and Quivering! (I was so devastated seeing her like that....this must have been on her for a long time now, she's such a brave fish and I do hope we can save her from these pests once and for all).

At this time, I was actually considering the para-Ex triclorphon tablets I have (it says 1 tablet per 40L). But then I remembered I had to test whether the Prazi I have works better under warmer water. The water only reached 19C max so far (eventhough I tuned the heater to 26C - will ask heater Qs in another thread), but I placed Prazi anyway. A slightly positive news - I do think the Prazi diluted better this time, because most (if not all) of the visible worms were gone after a while. This was yesterday btw. And this morning I had a look Blackie had 3-5 visible worms on her body (mind you I bet there's still heaps hiding in her gills/slime), and Bubs had 2 I could actually see on her side. Black still does the fin clamping thing but not as persistent (Bubs doesn't have dorsal fins so I can't tell). She also sometimes (but not persistent) hanging at the bottom, like thinking, last night. But this morning she was very swimming (I fed her of course ).

Paul, I think I'll stick with Prazi treatment you've recommend (the every 3 days one with fish in main tank) for now, the one I have, plus buying more from the lsf (the lsf only had Prazi batch expiring in September2004 - they say it doesn't expire easily, so I am with my not-diluting-in-cold-water theory now). I do hopeee that the Prazi will knock off the bugs In their gills though....I get so happy seeing my goldies chew on the Prazi pieces and spitting them out...I hope this will help too. I am quite surprised to see a few (living) worms still on the fish a day after the Prazi treatment in warmer water though...are these the super-bug ones? Well, I do hope they die anyway from old age a week or two from now anyways

Ok....I realised I've written a novel now...thanks for bearing with me

Hi Kat,
I've got my fingers crossed for you and your fishies.. the dramas continue at my place too

Thanks for the well wishes Wendy, I do hope all will work well for your goldies too. It breaks my heart to see Blackie doing the quivering thing...it looks so painful Thus i'm being wary about using chems to worsen her. I hope the ick meds are kicking in? From my recent experience looks like heaters do wonders in canberra winters for our medicating our aquariums....brrr.

im glad that the prazi seems to be working a bit better for you. as chemical reactions happen faster at higher temperatures, im not surprised that the raise in temperature helped with the effectiveness and dispursion of the prazi.

i dont blame you for treating them in the tank for now. many people have succombed to the fact that they may never totally get rid of the flukes in their infected fish and treat them as we do for fleas on a dog (you know the flea drops that you put on a dogs neck?). they just add a monthly dose of prazi so the flukes stay in too small of numbers to pose any real threat.

good luck and keep us posted!