# Treating Gill Flukes with Hikari PraziPro



## Duke79 (Jul 16, 2010)

I need some advice to help me treat what I believe are gill flukes. My fish are flashing constantly and scratching the area of their gills on the sand or rocks. They are eating fine (NLS Thera A), but flash all the time. That has made me believe they have gill flukes, introduced by some new fish that were added to the tank.

The tank is a 75 gallon tank with 6 OB peacocks juveniles, 9 Labeotropheus Fuelleborni juveniles, and 5 juvenile BN plecos (I know the peacocks shouldn't be with mbuna -- they will be rehomed, and the number of plecos will be reduced once I can sex them). Filtration consists of an Aquaclear 110 and a Marineland C-360. I've taken the carbon out of the filters.

I am pretty sure that my diagnosis is accurate because the environmental conditions of my 75 gallon tank are pretty stable. Nitrite = 0, Amonia = 0, Nitrates = 15, PH = ~8.0, KH = ~180, GH = ~150.

I tried treating the aquarium with Jungle Parasite Clear because one of my lfs had it in stock. I've done 3 treatments following the suggested 48 hours between treatments including a 25% water change. But the fish are still flashing constantly (maybe just a little bit of improvement after the last treatment -- but that may just be wishful thinking).

I picked up some Hikari PraziPro at a different lfs today because when I researched treating gill flukes using the search function many people on the forum suggested in other threads that it was the best medication for treating gill flukes. As I was making the purchase the clerk suggested that I treat the tank every day after a 10% water change. That doesn't follow the treatment plan suggested in the instructions on the medication bottle.

If I am reading the instructions on the PraziPro bottle it says that I should treat the tank at the rate of 1 teaspoon per 20 gallons of water. I understand that part. But then it says, "A single treatment lasting 5 - 7 days is normally sufficient. Repeat as necessary, but no more than once every 3 - 5 days." What do they mean? Do I treat the tank and then wait 3 days and treat it again? Am I supposed to treat it every day for 5 to 7 days?

I have to confess that I am confused. I realize to eliminate the flukes you are trying to kill the adults that hatch from the eggs and kill them before they lay more eggs. You have to break the life cycle of the gill flukes. But what is the best way to do this?

So I thought I would check with the forum to learn what you would suggest.


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## jrf (Nov 10, 2009)

Duke79 said:


> If I am reading the instructions on the PraziPro bottle it says that I should treat the tank at the rate of 1 teaspoon per 20 gallons of water. I understand that part. But then it says, "A single treatment lasting 5 - 7 days is normally sufficient. Repeat as necessary, but no more than once every 3 - 5 days." What do they mean? Do I treat the tank and then wait 3 days and treat it again? Am I supposed to treat it every day for 5 to 7 days?


I've used Prazi to proactively treat some new fish before adding them to the main tank. Those directions confused the heck out of me too. After searching around the Internet, I came to the conclusion that it means that you should only dose the tank every 3 to 5 days. I split the difference and dosed once every 4 days with a big water change before each dose. I did this for the entire quarantine period (4 weeks). For gill flukes, I think I would do it for at least 3 weeks.


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## Duke79 (Jul 16, 2010)

Thanks for the response jrf.

I did a lot of research using Google and web site search engines and finally found this treatment schedule recommended several times for treating gill flukes and other hard to kill parasites:

Day 1 -- remove carbon, perform water change with vacuuming, and add Prazi to tank.
Day 2 -- add Prazi again (full dose)
Day 3 -- do nothing
Day 4 -- do nothing
Day 5 -- do nothing
Day 6 -- add Prazi
Day 7 -- add Prazi
Day 8 -- normal partial water change with vacuuming
Day 14 -- normal partial water change, then add prazi
Day 21 -- normal partial water change, then add prazi
Day 28 -- normal partial water change, then add prazi
Day 35 -- normal partial water change, add carbon, treatment is complete

It seems to me that if this treatment schedule doesn't kill the flukes it ought to kill the fish! 

But it does make sense if you are trying to kill the parasites as they hatch from the eggs. The only step that I wonder about is Day 8 when you do the partial water change and vacuum after adding PraziPro on Day 7. But I think I'm going to give the treatment schedule a try since the Jungle Parasite Clear didn't work.

I did the partial water change tonight and added the first dose of PraziPro. Carbon has been out of my filter for a couple days so I hope this treatment schedule works!


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## metsfan421 (Apr 11, 2015)

What ever happened to your fish? Did the treatment work? I know it's been a while but I never saw a follow up post with a resolution.


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

I doubt we will know since the OP hasn't been on here since 2013!


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