I hate parasites. Help!

[lepageg]

Hi, I have had these (X7, 3-4") red bellies (i think they are wild caught) for over 8 weeks now and have been treating them for parasites.

My first treatement was with coppersafe for over 4 weeks for an ich infection, however the scratching persisted even after the ich was gone, there was no visible sign of parasites.  I gave them a break for a few weeks, then thinking it was gill flukes I then gave them 2 treatment of prazilpro, 1 week each, things appeared to be getting better there was not sign of scratching.

Now, about a week later, I just noticed some of them are scratching again  darn.

They are in a 180 gallong system with a home made sump/WD, my water temperature is around 81F, my water quality is impeccable and my ph is around 6.5. I dont know man.

This is getting frustrating.

Any suggestions or ideas would be welcomed.


Thanks,
/ger.

[cdylnicki]

what foods are you offering them?

How is your water quality?

[lepageg]

nh3/nh4 0ppm, no2 0ppm, no3 15ppm, I have an automatic water changer 30-40% over the course of the week.

alternate feedings, Tilapia and MP, 1 /day

[cdylnicki]

Store bought tilapia fillets?  Are they fresh vs frozen?

I am not common with what MP is other than Military Police/minnows plenty(I made that 2nd one up)...  Can you please elaborate?

Have you tried any parasite foods?

You said they were scratching persisted after the ich was gone.  Did they have ich present physically on their bodies to begin with or were you treating as a precautionary?

Is the automatic water changer putting cold city water into your tank directly or is it treated first?  Is this water cold or the same as your tank temperature?  How quickly is it flowing in/out of your tank - are you sure its not more than 40%?

Are all of your fish flashing or do you notice the same ones doing it over and over?

Do you happen to know male to female ratio?  Are they schooling or picking areas themselves?

If your fish keeping getting a re-occurring illness, I would keep track of what you are putting into your tank on a daily basis.  Else, are you doing something different to the system while you are treating your fish (eg. reduction in feeding, lights off for more hours, etc.)? 

Else, a few days before the occurrence of flashing:
Is the food still fresh?
Did you do a water change?
Did you try a different food?
Did the external and/or internal environment change for your ecosystem?
Did you clean a pump or algae scrub or anything that may have caused stress?
Are you gravel washing or relying totally on the automatic water changer?

I know some of these questions may seem obvious, but I tend to find that most persons owned animals that end up with re-occuing problems, are usually caused by a human pattern change that we might be oblivious to (I know this does not apply in every case).

[lepageg]

the ich treament was because of visible parasite present at the time of purchase.

the automatic water changer. I have external 50 gallons container treated with prime. room temperature. dripping in my main sump at a rate of 50 gallon per week, with an overflow going to a drain.

tilapia fresh fillets bought at farm boy frozen in chunks.

MP = market prawn, standard stuff.

Parasite foods - no ( but I was considering soaking the fillets in garlic)

I am suspecting flukes because of from what i read about wild piranha's often carying this parasite, but not entirely sure.  the symptoms do confirms some kind of parasites, ie: not external/visible parasite but scratching behavior persit. Hopwever scatching seems intermittent in between treatment and a selected few - i am suspecting that the treatment resolves the lavae stage but not the eggs.

i am considering changing the regime for prazipro.

ie:
doing treatment every 3 days with 50% water change before each treatment for 21 days.

1 50% bwaterchange/treatment
2 pause
3 pause
4 50% waterchange/treatment
5 pause
6 pause
etc...
for 21 days

Someone suggested salt treatment which is usually good for most parasites but from what i read not for Flukes.

See how it goes., wish me luck.

Thanks for your input.

Much appreciated,
/ger.

ps: someone told me that prime  nullifies coppersafe treatment, I could not believe it. Can anyone substantiate this.

[lepageg]

re: Do you happen to know male to female ratio?  Are they schooling or picking areas themselves?

ummmm, never thought of that. territories. definitely territorial.

Nice but i dont think so. occurs too frequently. but good idea.

cheers,
/ger.