Kilgore
Aquarium Advice Activist
Hello Helpful Forum Members,
In an attempt to end my guppy plague, I have been told to try consecutive treatments of PrazTastic (i.e. pure powdered Praziquantel) by my LFS. They said that there is probably a lifecycle overlap and that by treating once, I have killed off most of the parasites, but then the new ones hatch a couple of weeks later, reinfecting the fish. That makes sense based on the fact that I think I have the problem beat, and then it comes back 2-3 weeks later.
My question is - should I treat once every 7 days or once every 10-14 days? The med instructions say to administer one treatment, wait seven days, and then do a 25% water a change. I called the company and they said it was fine to repeat the treatment after the water change. However, I am concerned that the medication may be less effective by, say, the 14th day, if that is the lifecycle of the parasite in question. So perhaps someone knows how long praziquantel stays effective in water?
I also want to run my Vortex diatom filter to help kill any free-floating parasites. If I run it for several hours each day (as the instructions recommend for treating parasites), is that sufficient? I know some of the parasites can hatch and find a host in just a few hours, so it seems like I could miss that brief time period. But I do not want to run the filter constantly if it isn't necessary (the extra water movement is hard on the fry).
I can't even count the number of times I have posted on this issue, and I am sure you are sick to death of it, but not as sick as my guppies.
I am resigned to the fact that I will probably never figure out what is wrong, but I would sure like to get rid of it. Next on the list is Clout, but that requires removing shrimp and snails, and going through a new cycle with a fully-stocked tank - not my idea of fun. Plus, Clout may not work either given the whole life cycle issue!
History (FYI):
This unidentified, presumably protozoan agent, is causing guppy deaths over a series of weeks and months - symptoms include flashing, severe fin clamping, eventually heavy breathing, uncontrollable movements, and death. Some fish have stringy, pale feces, and some of the affected fish show signs of mild dropsy in the late stages - only the belly scales on the underside of the fish stick out. From the time the flashing begins, death usually occurs within 1-3 weeks. And not all the fish develop such a severe case that it leads to death, either. The 4 Pristella tetras in one of the affected tanks seem completely unaffected.
In an attempt to end my guppy plague, I have been told to try consecutive treatments of PrazTastic (i.e. pure powdered Praziquantel) by my LFS. They said that there is probably a lifecycle overlap and that by treating once, I have killed off most of the parasites, but then the new ones hatch a couple of weeks later, reinfecting the fish. That makes sense based on the fact that I think I have the problem beat, and then it comes back 2-3 weeks later.
My question is - should I treat once every 7 days or once every 10-14 days? The med instructions say to administer one treatment, wait seven days, and then do a 25% water a change. I called the company and they said it was fine to repeat the treatment after the water change. However, I am concerned that the medication may be less effective by, say, the 14th day, if that is the lifecycle of the parasite in question. So perhaps someone knows how long praziquantel stays effective in water?
I also want to run my Vortex diatom filter to help kill any free-floating parasites. If I run it for several hours each day (as the instructions recommend for treating parasites), is that sufficient? I know some of the parasites can hatch and find a host in just a few hours, so it seems like I could miss that brief time period. But I do not want to run the filter constantly if it isn't necessary (the extra water movement is hard on the fry).
I can't even count the number of times I have posted on this issue, and I am sure you are sick to death of it, but not as sick as my guppies.
I am resigned to the fact that I will probably never figure out what is wrong, but I would sure like to get rid of it. Next on the list is Clout, but that requires removing shrimp and snails, and going through a new cycle with a fully-stocked tank - not my idea of fun. Plus, Clout may not work either given the whole life cycle issue!History (FYI):
This unidentified, presumably protozoan agent, is causing guppy deaths over a series of weeks and months - symptoms include flashing, severe fin clamping, eventually heavy breathing, uncontrollable movements, and death. Some fish have stringy, pale feces, and some of the affected fish show signs of mild dropsy in the late stages - only the belly scales on the underside of the fish stick out. From the time the flashing begins, death usually occurs within 1-3 weeks. And not all the fish develop such a severe case that it leads to death, either. The 4 Pristella tetras in one of the affected tanks seem completely unaffected.
