Help needed - gill flukes, betta, dwarf frogs

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Kait

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Mar 3, 2017
Messages
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I brought home a new betta about two weeks ago and put him in an already cycled 10 gallon tank. He is the only inhabitant. The tank has a stable PH of 8, is heated to 80 degrees Fahrenheit, and has a sponge filter. After a few days he started clamping his fins badly. He had no other symptoms, so I thought something was just stressing him out, but couldn't figure out what. Water changes with a little bit of aquarium salt would temporarily help, then the next day he'd be right back to clamping. Two days ago the betta started flashing. I've noticed that his gills appear to be inflamed and red underneath his gill covers. Other symptoms include spitting out food (he will spit out food a couple of times, but eventually eat it) and sitting around on the bottom of the tank.

I believe he has gill flukes, and I began treatment with API General Cure, which contains metronidazole and praziquantel, when he first started flashing. I administered the first dose, waited 48 hours, did a partial water change and administered the second dose. I have also begun feeding him Dr. G's antibacterial fish food, which contains kanamycin, metronidazole, and garlic, hoping to prevent secondary bacterial infection. I have also ordered a bottle of Seachem ParaGuard and plan to use it as a bath. It is now a few hours after I gave the second dose of General Cure; the betta is still flashing today but not as often, and he is clamping less. I tested his water before the water change; the tank still has 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and about 5-10ppm nitrates.

Now, I have a second 10 gallon tank which houses 3 African dwarf frogs. I've been feeding the betta frozen food that was thawed in the frogs' tank water, and I think that may have something to do with the betta getting parasites. The frogs have been acting totally fine, but I am still concerned that something may happen to them. So I have several questions:

1. Do my betta's symptoms sound like gill flukes? If so, is my current treatment plan good? How can I prevent the flukes from coming back once they're gone?
2. Can frogs be harmed by fish parasites? Do I need to treat the frog tank to prevent my betta from being re-infected? What medications might be safe for the frogs?

Any advice would be highly appreciated!
 
Yes it does, however the Praziquentel should have worked....
Sounds like you've done about all you can do.
Betas just dont live very long... about as long as a guppy.
You could also try something with copper in it as a med, just be careful as its toxic at too high levels.
 
Thank you, Matt. Unfortunately I didn't really see any improvement after 4 days of the praziquantel treatment. Maybe General Cure just doesn't have enough praziquantel in it? (75mg per packet/dose) Or it wasn't dissolving well? In the past couple of days I've given him two 1 hour dips in Paraguard (malachite green with aldehydes), done a huge water change to get most of the General Cure out of the water, and begun treating the tank with Paraguard. I think I'm finally starting to see some improvement; he's clamping less, a little more active, and stopped spitting out food. I haven't seen him flash today but I haven't had much time to observe him. I'll give this treatment a couple more days; if he isn't getting better I'll try something copper-based. Thanks again!
 
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