Double Dosing Sterazin

[mistakes r crucial]

Double dosing with Sterazin works very well on gill flukes or at least it has for me. After not being able to shift them for weeks (2 courses of Sterazin) Bill T contacted Waterlife and they suggested double dosing for up to 12 days straight. I have given my fish a dose in the morning and one in the afternoon for 6 days and no more flashing or breathing from one gill. Thanks Bill, it was starting to annoy the hell out of me!
MAC

[Bill T.]

Glad to hear it MAC.
I've just completed a follow up treatment with Prazi. - now I watch and wait. If the problem comes back, I will give the Sterazin double dose approach a go.
How long has it been since your last Sterazin dose? When I used Sterazin as per the packet, the probelm went away for a week, but then returned with a vengence.

[mistakes r crucial]

Only a couple of days Bill. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next week.
MAC

[Bill T.]

Cross the fingers. If the Sterazine double dose works I might give it another go if needs be.
Have you noticed any adverse effects on your fish? Following Prazi, mine have been a bit reclusive and picky with food.

I've also put some moss in the tank & I think they are feasting on that, so might not be as ravenous - plus if I've eradicated a "worm load" they might not be so desperate for nutrition.

[mistakes r crucial]

No mate, no problems at all after the double dose. They've definitely benefited from it and all are eating well.
MAC

[Bill T.]

By the way, MRC, can you give me an update on the Sterazine Double Dose Approach? How are your fish?

I had a death last night - one of my stunted little runts. The other small one is looking unwell - breathing rapidly - this morning. Thankfully my two larger fish seem O.K. - although they have been picky and reclusive ever since tne last Prazi treatment.

I dosed with Sterazin this morning, fearing a relapse of flukes & not wanting to blast 'em with Prazi again so soon (about 10 days since last Prazi dose). I'm hoping the Sterazin will be kinder to the fish & a double dose for 6 days will nip it in the bud, if this is the problem - but I haven't seen any flicking or scratching going on, so I'm not sure!

[mistakes r crucial]

As per email Bill, fish are fine and eating well and growing. The Albinos are still very picky but thats always been the case. If you think they still have them in numbers give the double dose sterazin a go, it fixed my problems and no ill effects whatsoever.
MAC

[Bill T.]

Day two of Sterazine BD & my remaining two are looking much better - again. One of them has long, stringy castings, but not milky white. Does this sound like hex - is it always milky white? Or perhaps some further worm eradication in progress?

[Merrilyn]

Don't worry Bill. That's diet related. Nothing to be concerned about.

[leanne31]

I know how you feel Bill the other day I was looking at my fish and it did a sort of white poo I thought great I have to treat with metro looked again later and it was doing a brown one they say fish are suppose to relax you mine give me heart attacks every 2nd day.
Merrilyn you say its diet related what do you mean by that, that they arent eating properly, eating the wrong thing or eating to little or two much :?: Thanks

leanne

[Dee]

Hi All,

MAC ... Does Sterazin effect tank mates ? tetra's and BN's ? ... does it have any effect on the Bio Filter ? Is it a fairly mild medication ?

Cheers,

Dee :)

[mistakes r crucial]

Hi Dee,

I think its one one of the milder medications, it doesnt affect the bio at all but it musn't be used in tanks with crustaceans, echinoderms, rays and sharks (straight off the bottle). I've used it with Peppermints and common Bristlenose without any problem. They had no choice, they were in the piping of my system for 10 weeks and appeared one by one after doing water changes, bigger than the ones in the tanks I might add lol.
MAC

[Bill T.]

I think we have found that Sterazine is gentle on fish, and at the recommended doses, flukes as well.
My cardinal tetras, brisstle nose & corydoras seem unaffected by Sterazine.
Last night I noticed the discus' fins were a bit cloudy, and one had a patch of white stuff on one fin. I have my U.V. switched off because I am doing the Sterazine BD treatment. So I put some Melafix in the tank - lfs told me Melafix & Sterazine are O.K. together.
Any thoughts/experiences about this?

My fish have had so much anti fluke treatment - I'm worried about this because I think it stresses them over time. I really am hoping I get to the stage where regular water changes and good food are all that I inflict on them.

P.S. Merrilyn. That last little runt is now dearly departed. I swear a sacred discus oath: "I will never take pity on poor bedraggled, unloved fish ever again!"

[Merrilyn]

Sorry to hear that Bill. I've been down that same road several times, and the outcome is never good. Let's hope everything begins to look up from here on.

Leanne, by diet related I mean that certain types of food can alter the appearance of the droppings. Some beef heart mixes will produce long stringy droppings, depending on what's in them. It's not a problem.

[Dee]

Hi MAC,

Thanks for the info about Sterazin. I guess I won't be using it on my tank of grey nurses then :P .... sorry couldn't resist. So when you say double dose, do you mean doing two single doses per day or doubling the amount used in one go ? If that makes sense ? I did a full dosage treatment of Prazi on my juvi's not too long ago, which seemed to do nothing but put them off eating for a few days.

Cheers,

Dee
:)

[mistakes r crucial]

Hi Dee,

I used a single dose first thing in the morning and then another one in the afternoon.
MAC

[Bill T.]

MAC:
The advice I got from Waterlife was that you could dose with Sterazine every 12 hours (twice a day) for 12 days & this would get rid of flukes but not harm the fish - thats where this "double dosing" started.

Darn, but I really hate those flukes!!!!

[mistakes r crucial]

It wouldjnt be far off that Bill, fist one at 6am and the next at around 5pm - 6pm after their evening feed, give or take an hour.
MAC

[Dee]

Hi MAC,

Thanks for the dosage info. So you dosed every day as opposed to every second day as stated on the bottle ?

Bill.T,

Where in Melb can you get Sterazin ? and how much is it ?

Cheers,

Dee :)

[mistakes r crucial]

Hi Dee,

Yep, I dosed every day, one in the morning and one in tha afternoon/evening. Bill said the advice he received from Waterlife was every 12 hours.

You can buy it from Ben at Age of Aquariums via the net. Go to www.aquariumproducts.com.au $65 plus frieght, buy most of my stuff from him, good price and service.
MAC

[Dee]

Hi MAC,

thanks for clearing that up, appreciate it. I will get some through Age of Aqauriums, I've placed a couple of orders there. Always good prices and good service from Ben. :)

Thanks again,

Dee :)

[Ben]

Hi Peoples,
One thing though...
What is Ultimately better, prazi or Sterazin??

I am planning on ridding all my tanks of flukes, once and for all!!!!

Cheers,
Ben

[wild_amazon]

Yes I like to know if it does the same thing? Can we also get a Waterlife product that does the same job as Metronidazole? I still don't know where I can get Metronidazole in Perth. Until I can get both Prazi and Metronidazole I am a bit reluctance to get wild discus. Can anyone help.

[mistakes r crucial]

I think you would get different answers depending on who you're speaking to. Sterazin is gentle, maybe a little too gentle these days. The only way I have had satisfactory results recently is to double dose for an extended period but to be fair to the product the strains of flukes we have right now seem to be far more troublesome than in the past. Friends of mine have used it for a very long time and don't use anything else, they're very happy with it.

I found it quite expensive to treat a complete system of over 3000 litres, $260 for a double dose 12 day course. There again I went to the vets yesterday to pick up some Droncyl (same as Dronsit) tablets, 175mg of Prazi bought in bulk (70 tablets) and over the phone I was told around $200, not bad I thought but when I got there she said she had made a mistake and the real cost was nearly $700, I nearly fell over and walked out empty handed!

Wild, Waterlife have a product called Octozin that treats Hex, HITH, Dropsy, Bloat and a few other ailments. I don't have much experience with this product and have only used it once but it cleared my problems within a few days. The active ingredient may well be Metro but Waterlife never give away much as far as the make up of their products are concerned.

I speak to alot of people from the UK, Waterlife is based there, and they have a very good name in the market place. At the end of the day I suppose its like everything else in this hobby, we do and use things that work for us as individuals. Nothing is gospel.
MAC

[Bill T.]

Welllll...... I did have a bit of trouble, because my two discus started looking pretty unwell - cloudy fins, scum on their body & loss of colour.
I think I reacted hastily and added some melafix (thought this was a bacterial invasion) which compounded the problem - ended up doing a 100% wc.
They seem to be on the mend, but still with slightly cloudy and ragged fins....not to mention scarring the **##@@ out of me.

[Dee]

Hi,

Wild_Amazon, The only place you can get Metro is a Vet or G.P, it a controlled antibiotic. I went to my local vet with a picture of the fish in question aswell as some printed posts from the forum describing symptoms etc. After my vet had a look at the pic, print outs and made a call to a fish vet she had no problem writing me a script. Some G.P's will write a script too, but I found they seem a little suss about it. In my opinion if you can get the generic brand Metro called "Metrogyl" in 400mg tabs get them. They seem to dissolve alot easier in tank water than flagyl, steer clear of liquid flagyl (Metro) it contains high levels of suger and will cause a bloom of some sort (very cloudy water). I also found that liquid flagyl will leave a very slimey residue on the tanks walls and filters etc. My fish seemed alot happier with out all the slime and suger in the tank.

MAC, I may be wrong (and usually are), but have you thought of buying the AquaMaster Gill and Fluke tabs. Each bottle contains 25 - 100mg prazi tabs for around $20 each bottle. I havn't done the math, but I assume it will be alot cheaper than Droncit. Just thought I would mention it as a alternative, you may specifically want Droncit for what ever reason. Anyway just my 2 cents worth. :)

Cheers,

Dee :)

[mistakes r crucial]

Hi Dee,

I didn't want Droncyl for any reason other than the Prazi content and yep, Aquamaster is about 5 times cheaper. Up until now I haven't had to do the math before either, a very good mate of mine has become an ex-LFS owner quite recently so the leftovers have been very helpful and definitely at the right price.
MAC

[wild_amazon]

Thank you for the info guys. I think I'll stick with Aquamaster (Prazi), my lfs sells 100 tables 100mg for around $50. They don't have the small bottles. Probably time for my flu vaccine and I'll ask my GP for some metro. Hopefully he's willing to give it to me. Things we do for our fish.

[flukes]

Found it hard too get metro from a G.P. A vet is a easier trip..

When i needed it i went too one and they said they could only give m 2 200mg tablets, and i paid $10 for them.. :shock: Then i went to another in Keysbourough, and he had tropical fish. He understood how hard it was too find and said he could help me out. I got 60 tablets for $27.. :lol: And now because iam on the file i can just go back when ever i want///

[wild_amazon]

Flukes, I have never been to a vet. When you saw the vets, did you only pay for the tablets and did you have to pay for to consultation too like a GP?

[flukes]

Well the first one i went too yes but that was in the $10.. The one in keysbourgh i pair about $37, so 10 bucks for the consultation..

[ctvu]

It is really hard to get Metro, I asked the Vet next to me, the cost is $47 per visit + tablet on top. So I decided to give my GP a try, surprisingly he gave me a precription with his eyes wide open :)
The metro is very good Med.

ctvu

[flukes]

Yeah but its only given on prescription for a reason, people need to be careful when using it or any other drug for that matter..

[kkiu]

Dont take alcohol with Metro!

The pharmacist warned me that when I purchased some.

I didn't know how to reply since it was for the discus... I just nodded.

Having a friendly family doctor makes getting Metro a lot easier.

[Merrilyn]

Well then, don't let your fish drink alcohol either. It might affect their driving :lol:

[wild_amazon]

LOL.

[Ben]

LOL ladyred,
specially discus they just love those fast cars!
On a seroius note though,
In another post has anone tried using formalin to kill gill flukes instead of prazi or sterazin?

Which product would be better?


Ben