# Praziquantel treatment guidelines



## greenbirds (Jul 30, 2007)

Have a 125 gallon tank that was recently stocked with ~40 hap/peacock juveniles. Tank was fishless cycled (able to convert 5ppm ammonia in 12 hours) -- Has been 1 week since fish were added, no ammonia/nitrite spikes, nitrates ~15ppm. buffered with baking soda/epsom salt, pH 8.3, kh 10, gh 15, temperature 79 F. 2x Emperor 400, wet/dry sump. No water change since day before fish addition; first will be tomorrow (30%) with Prime.

photo of tank:









Species:
Albino Taiwan Reef 
Copadichromis Borleyi "red fin" 
Copadichromis Borleyi "yellow fin" 
Copadichromis Sp.Midnight Mloto 
Cyrtocara Moorii 
Otopharynx Lithobates 
Placidochromis Electra 
Protomelas Taeniolatus 
Red Empress 
Protomelas Sp.Taiwan Reef 
Placidochromis sp. "Phenochilus " 
Aulonocara sp.Lemon Jake 
Aulonocara sp. Maleri Rubin Red 
Aulonocara maylandi

All juveniles, 1-1.5" right now. All fish came from bluegrasscichlids and were shipped overnight, arrived in terrific condition, no DOAs. Seemed right at home swimming like crazy just an hour after being acclimatized and introduced into the tank. Every fish ate NLS the following 3 days.

Then one Albino Taiwan Reef stopped eating, became sedentary, and would not join the feeding group. Floated calmly staring at the class with little movement. No visible skin or fin problems. Stringy, translucent feces. Belly became concave over the course of 3 days. Died today. One of the Borleyi displayed similar behavior during this time, but is now eating (still with a concave stomach). Now one of the C. Moorii has hidden under a rock and will not eat.

I suspect internal parasites and do not want an outbreak. I have 10g praziquantel powder on hand that I purchased on ebay. They say 2 mg / liter, or about 700 mg / 100 gallons. I'm considering doing this treatment regimen, leaving for a week, WC, repeat, repeat. Does this sound like a good plan?


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

Well first of all congratulations on your tank. It's beautiful--love how you've arranged the rocks.

I've never used or advised anyone to use praziquantel powder but praziquantel is one of the main ingredients in Jungle Parasite Clear, a med I frequently suggest for treating bloat, so you may be fine with it. The advantage of using something like Jungle Parasite Clear is that its got other ingredients, such as metronidazole, that are effective on internal parasites and some bacterias.

Go ahead and try the praziquantel powder, BUT--keep a very close eye on your fish during treatment. You want to see that all fish are showing interest in food AND eating and that no fish is hiding or hanging at the top or bottom of the tank. My concern with the praziquantel powder is that it may not be strong enough where they advise you to leave it for an entire week before repeating the treatment.

Sounds like your fish have bloat. _They probably were _100% healthy when they were shipped _and_ when you added them to your tank but bloat preys on stressed fish and despite your best efforts its almost impossible to avoid stress when getting new fish. You're right on top of the situation so you should be fine. Do a 30% partial water change and gravel siphoning before you start treatment. And keep testing the water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Sounds like you did everything right but it's good practice to monitor water parameters on a new tank, especially if you're medicating.

Please post back with any additional questions or concerns.

Robin


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## corrie22 (Oct 11, 2008)

greenbirds, I would treat them like they have columnaris.
They were just shipped a week ago, and that's one of the causes of columnaris.
Plus you are describing classic columnaris symptoms.
Not eating, zoned out, hollow belly, and fast death.
Add salt, see the library article on columnaris.

If you still think it's flukes, etc you can treat with Prazi at the same time you are using salt. People have been reporting that the Prazi does not work as well as it used to. It is not totally eliminating parasites any more. You might want to double the dose.

If the salt does not seem to work, use Jungle Fungus Eliminator. It's nitrofurazone.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

I agree with Robin on this, 100%.

In no way does this sound like Columnaris.

I don't care how well fish are shipped, it can always take a toll on them physically.

Another thing I might add is that I have had problems in the past with new fish by feeding them pellets right off the bat when they were fed flake before I got them. So this could be a factor, as well.

The only thing I might add to what Robin has so clearly stated is that you might use some of the praziquantel powder on their food. I always seem to fare better when I get them to ingest the meds. :thumb:

That doesn't mean you don't have to treat the water column, but if everyone is eating, you might just get away without doing that.

Praziquantel is one of the best "all around" parasite meds, vets use it more than any other medication that I know of, but I like metronidazole as well for suspected bloat. It just gives you a bit better coverage.


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## greenbirds (Jul 30, 2007)

Thought I would update.

Dosed the tank with the proper amount of praziquantel; 2mg/l. The fish did not seem to mind it, but it did not help any of the non-eaters. After 5 days, I was going to repeat treatment, but by this time several more fish were showing symptoms, and I had another death. I feared an imminent outbreak of whatever disease this was, did a large water change, and dosed with Clout per the Clout Bloat Treatment. Followed it to a T. All fish now appear to be eating except one peacock, so that is good news. Do you think this one peacock needs to be isolated and retreated?

As a side note, I don't see what everyone's big deal about Clout staining your silicone is. It looks tinted a bit blue compared to how it used to look.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

That is good news! I've never minded the staining either, it fades after a few water changes!

Yes, you may want to go ahead and isolate and treat the one who isn't eating again with another round of Clout. It's not uncommon to have to do that.

Good luck!


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