When to start Prazi and BigL for fry

[khannan31]

My discus fry are about 2 weeks old and seem to be coming along fine so far and still with parents.

My question is when should I start using Prazi and BigL treatement for them? Should I use it even if there are no symptoms? Dosage same as adults or different?
Thanks

[swampy1972]

Do you medicate yourself without reason or symptoms? :P

I understand the desire to give them the best chance of survival, but treating them unecessarily may be doing more harm than good as they never have the opportunity to develop a natural tolerance.

[Merrilyn]

Did you worm the parents prior to them spawning? If not, then the time to look out for gill flukes is around 6 weeks, the same time you will be separating the fry from their parents. In my humble opinion, the biggest killer of newly weaned fry, is gill flukes.

[khannan31]

No, I did not treat the parents before spawning. Last time I treated them was over 6 months ago. Thanks, I will watch out for flukes.

[khannan31]

Do you medicate yourself without reason or symptoms? :P

I understand the desire to give them the best chance of survival, but treating them unecessarily may be doing more harm than good as they never have the opportunity to develop a natural tolerance.

My understanding was that it is good practice to periodically do the BigL & Prazi treatement on discus, even if there are no symptoms.

I am not very experianced with fish so can someone please clarify this to me.

[Merrilyn]

It really depends on the individual circumstances.

If you're regularly adding new fish to your tank, even tetras or cories, then it's best to worm on a regular basis. However, if your tank population hasn't changed for a long time, then worming every 6 months or 12 months is quite sufficient.

When breeding, I like to worm my breeding pairs before I put them together, to give the fry of the best chance of survival.

I don't think you ever really eradicate ALL the gill flukes and worms in your fish, but worming keeps the populations down to a manageable level.

[ILLUSN]

If your worried about gill flukes i find PP at 2mg/l overnight to be more effective and gentler then prazi

[khannan31]

If your worried about gill flukes i find PP at 2mg/l overnight to be more effective and gentler then prazi

I can now see a couple of frys flicking themselves on objects occasionally, so I would like to medicate now. Is "PP" = Prazi Pro? Where can I get it from in Oz/Sydney?

[Ghoti]

If your worried about gill flukes i find PP at 2mg/l overnight to be more effective and gentler then prazi

I can now see a couple of frys flicking themselves on objects occasionally, so I would like to medicate now. Is "PP" = Prazi Pro? Where can I get it from in Oz/Sydney?

PP=Potassium Permaganate. I am fortunate enough to still have the bottle my father bought for his fish in the '60s! You order it from chemists and online, but only in small amounts as it is considered a terrorist tool.

...and I'm sure the gill flukes are terrified :P

[swifto]

Any chemist will have it,I got some 3 months ago from my local chemist.

[Hooked]

Hi,
there's a good write up describing the use of Potassium Permanganate in the Illness and Medications section of this forum written by "Ozarowana" with good extra info by "Illusn". I found it very useful,

Cheers

[giorid]

Hi guys,
Just wondering, when you disconnect the filter while treating with pp and then reconnect it when the treatment is over, don't you reintroduce the flukes back to the fish via the filter, thanks.

[Hooked]

Hi giorid, The way I understand it, by doing subsequent treatments. I think 4-5 or so a week or so apart that this breaks the cycle. The PP only effects the live Flukes (I think, don't quote me). The subsequent treatments I believe knock the live on the head before more eggs can be laid. The eggs in the filter (disconnected to protect the beneficial bacteria) hatch out and are eventually killed in the treatment period. I need to read up again on the "sticky" in the "illness treatment" section. I recommend it as an informative read. Sorry if I've remembered it a little wrong but I'm sure one of the good people will be along shortly or PM you with the correct info.

Cheers

[khannan31]

Hi all,
I did the PP treatment today for the first time with the discus frys (5 weeks) along with the parents in the same tank. The water colour turned muddy after 2 hrs. The recommended time being 4 hrs to maintain the pink colour, should I just add more PP stock solution or start again fresh with a water change? Straight away or the next day?
Cheers