Internal parasites - Are we treating it the right way?

[Henrico Coltri]

Hey guys

I was doing some research about some controversy topics regarding internal parasites and i would like to know your experiences on the subject.

These are my main doubts.

1 - Does medications for internal issues have any efficiency if administrated in the water column (the alternative being ingestion).

2 - Can we really totally get rid of internal parasites in fish. Say you do some deworming treatment and never adds new fish to a tank, could the inhabitants of that tank be considered 100% clean of internal issues?

3 - How much does a non pathogenic amount of internal parasites affect fish growth and health?

4 - How long deworming medicine stay active after touching water?

Sorry about any language mistakes, english is not my main language.

Thank you!

My opinion and observations on these topics at this moment are these. I included some links regarding each topic.

1 - Yes, there are effects, even though they are minimal. Maybe just enough to give the fish immune system enough strength to fight/limit the illness on it's own.
https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/proper-dosing-of-medicated-foods.780/

https://aquariumscience.org/index.php/12-5-fish-dont-drink/

https://www.vin.com/apputil/content/defaultadv1.aspx?id=3981436&pid=11108&print=1

2 - No, my observation has been that even tough a fish looks healthy, when submitted to stress the same disease you tried to eradicate comes back.

3 - Considering my previous answer, i believe that maybe all fish we come in contact with have internal parasites, but in controlled numbers. That said the development and growth rate we observe and consider normal is already being harmed by said parasites, so we don't have a comparison base to the non infected fish.

4 - Medicine packages always instruct us to redose under the premisse that medicine loses effectiveness with time, but there don't seen to be a lot of info on how long it stays active. 

Indicates that metronidazole is only effective during 8 hours after touching water -> https://wattleydiscus.com/metro-discus-medication-metronidazole/

Edited December 2, 2023 by Henrico Coltri

[Pokey]

Thank you for the information and links @Henrico Coltri! And what a coincidence - I spent a while last night trying to learn about fish parasites.

When I first started putting together my fish wishlist, Pea Puffers were close to the top. Then I found out that they’re especially vulnerable to parasites. A couple days ago on another forum topic here, it was again brought up. I got to wondering if it were possible to raise “clean snails” somehow in case they were the main carriers of the parasites. So last night I tried to find out.

WELL! 😱If anyone reading this is faint of heart at disgusting stuff, don’t research fish parasites!!! 🤣 It is interesting but once you’ve got it in your head … yikes! Having said that, I’m going to read the links you’ve provided because, well, it is interesting 🤪and important as well.

Here is a quick paper on all the possible kinds. 

So, anyway, I can’t really answer any of those questions definitively, but for #2 I’d say, no. No we can never totally rid the fish of parasites because there’s just too many kinds and too many ways they can get them. (Just my guess.) But hopefully, and this is also just a guess, by keeping them as healthy as possible, their immune systems will be able to deal with it better.

What I can say definitively, is that whenever I get any fish they will always be going through a parasite treatment and I will always have treatment options on hand to use from the very first sign of trouble!

[Colu]

Worming medication such as levamisole and praziquantel metronidazole are effective in food and dosing the water column. praziquantel in food doesn't show increased elimination rates verse dosing the water column. metronidazole is effective in food as it's adsorbed by the intestinal tract.  most fish can survive with a low parasite burden for a long period of time it's only when periods of stress effect the immune system that the fish can become overwhelmed and succumb.  as long as you treat for the appropriate amount of time do repeated treatments and do though gravel vac to remove as many expelled parasites and eggs  from the substrate. Treat once every week for 4 weeks with levamisole. praziquantel once every two weeks for 4 full treatment. metronidazole in food for 3 weeks it will be possible eliminate parasites in your tank. there's always vector for reinfection if your feeding live foods adding new fish or plants that's where having a quarantine tank has its benefits two monitor new fish for a minimum of 4 weeks 

Edited December 3, 2023 by Colu

[Odd Duck]

On 12/3/2023 at 3:54 AM, Pepere said:

By golly that is a hard read without any punctuation…

There’s plenty of punctuation, just not many capital letters to mark the beginning of sentences and it wasn’t really hard for me to read.  It still conveys lots of important and accurate information.  Does your post do that?  I back what @Colu posted 100%.

[Guppysnail]

On 12/3/2023 at 4:54 AM, Pepere said:

By golly that is a hard read without any punctuation…

This type of post is negative and unproductive. Please refrain in the future.