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Gills Inflamed

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2.9K views 8 replies 2 participants last post by  Collie  
#1 · (Edited)
Does this look inflamed. One side of the fish seems to have exposed red gills. Why does it look like the gill cover is deteriorating.

Fish is acting normal.

If an infection. can I use SeaChem MetroPlex.

Options.

Should I treat the hole 90 gallon tank. I noticed another Ellioti had a similar issue.

Would a small seeded sponge filter work in a 9 gallon tank.

Will the fish eat if I put a tank divider in and soak the food in the 90.

I see people treat for 4 days doing a 50 % water change every second day. Do you redose the amount of water removed.
Just follow the instructions on dosage.
 
#3 · (Edited)
What's the best medication. Is Praziquantel better. I have another fish that has had this for a while. Seems to be ok. Swimming and eating normally.

Just follow the info in this Post ? https://www.cichlid-forum.com/threads/gill-flukes.464728/#post-3184822

I will test my water. I noticed my water supply seems to be overly chlorinated lately. I usually let the water sit then drink it. its been tasting funny lately.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Here's a list of products for Gill Flukes


Praziquantel
Fritz Prezi cleanse
Fritz Para Cleanse
API General Cure
Seachem Paraguard
Prazi Pro

Potassium Permanganate – Old school method. Should only be used in emergencies. 30 to 45 second dip. Dose needed is close to toxicity levels. This is a colorless salt that can be very effective at killing gill flukes, but it’s difficult to get rid of the chemical after treatment because some species are resistant to it. Risky treatment.


I found some Praziquantel SR Aquariums from my LFS

Disease is always hard to diagnose. Not sure if this is a genic issue. I say this because most fish with Gill Flukes are irritated by it and rub on things.
The two fish are not doing this. It does seem to be getting larger. Confused how I would eradicate this in the whole tank. The other fish seem fine.
Usually caused by high Nitrates and dirty water. I did let the water change slip to 2 weeks, but Nitrates were close to zero

This does help that I understand not to spread it to other tanks. I was seeding a filter to use media in other tank. I will not seed my media in this tank. In the future I will move some fish to another tank. Will medicate/quarantine them. I was also going to use some seeded gravel, but I will not put it in a new tank.

This is good to know: Gill flukes are obligate fish parasites so without fish hosts they don’t last very long. A newly hatched larva has perhaps 48 hours at the very most to find a host or it dies. Adults without a host might last a week or so but not longer. So if I use seed media in a new tank with no hosts for a week it should be ok.


Things like this in your tank is why its important to wash your body parts that have been in contact with the aquarium water. Can cause flu like symptoms.
 
#6 ·
That doesn't look like gill flukes to me. In fish where I have seen that, the gills are swollen, but pale in color. Yours look a deep red, which can be indicative or Ammonia, Chloramine or Chlorine poisoning. If that is indeed the case, I would NOT treat those fish with any of the medications you list above.
So, is it possible you underdosed with the dechlorinator recently for a water change? In the municipal area where I live, I have to constantly dose with usually twice the amount of Seachem Safe, because they like to 'shock' our water system at random times with these really big chloramine dumps in it. And unfortunately, this sort of thing often happens without any advance notice.
So, if you suspect your water is smelling stronger in chlorine than it usually does? (My own source water out of the tap, can get quite 'fragrant' during these Chloramine dumps - almost like a municipal swimming pool!). That may be happening to the water system in your area now.
If that is actually what happened? There isn't any recommended treatment beyond possibly conducting a more enhanced schedule and frequency of cleaning and water changes in the aquarium to keep the bacteria load in the water down as low as possible. Adding salt at a low rate of 1 tablespoon per three gallons, will help to prevent opportunistic fungus or bacteria infections from attacking the swollen, inflamed gill areas on affected fish.
 
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#7 · (Edited)
Thanks @Auballagh

I have noticed the Chlorine does not seem to dissipate the way it previously did. I drink my tap water after sitting 24 hours. I did a large water change over 50% this weekend. Will use more Prime in the future.

I have found medicating fish in a Quarantine tank another a big learning curve, a bit of hit and miss.

I salted a UARU one time successfully and put it back in the main tank. Very upsetting the male bit it between the eyes and it died. So you learn through repeatedly running a hospital tank. I would just do a seeded sponge filter. Last time I did it the current was to powerful tiring the fish out.

I wish to keep learning to do it correctly. One other good point is to not be lazy netting the fish. Take all the objects out of the main tank if possible. So you are not stressing the fish more to catch it.

Hospital Tank:

So if I medicated a fish for a week do I feed it. Just concerned about uneaten food.
I see you can put a garlic formula on food to make it more appetizing.

Would you dose the main tank with the recommended salt level or net fish and do a hospital tank. Maybe just a more frequent water change.
 
#8 ·
I would personally salt the main tank, and also conduct the enhanced cleaning/water changes with it. That way everyone will get to enjoy those benefits (The other fish in the main tank may have more subtle symptoms that aren't as visible or easy to see, as your two acute cases).
 
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#9 ·
I was excited to get home from work and drain off 40 % of the water. Mix my salt up in hot water in bucket. Convert table spoons to cups. First off did a one to one ratio had 5 cups of salt for my 90 gallon. Opps, reread the suggested ratio. 1 cup to 3 gallons. Mild dose. Even though the boxes said different ratios. Had fine and course salt.
Mix my salt up in hot water first in bucket. Then brought down to correct temp.

Doubled my Prime ratio. Most likely burned gills with chlorine.

Felt good taking care of my wet pet's.