how long for parasites to die?

[tjnelson44]

I was using a 20 long as a quarantine tank for some new fish that I picked up. They had gill flukes but I have moved them to a small tank for treatment. I was hoping to use this tank to hold some juvenile nijsseni. How long do I need to wait for the tank to be safe for other fish? Since there are currently no fish in the tank, I can raise the temp to speed things up. Should I raise it and how high can I go without killing the biological filter?
Thanks,
Trevor

 

[farm41]

what are going to sterilize the tank with?

Bleach or PP should be 24 hours at the most.

 

[tjnelson44]

I was hoping to avoid sterilizing the tank with chemicals so I did not wipe out the biological filter. I figured that since the flukes did not have a host they would eventually die. Also, if I raised the temp it would speed up their metabolism and they would expire sooner, right?

 

[fishgeek]

monogeanes(gill flues are from this family) do usually require a host to live

they can be both egg laying or live bearing with direct transmission in either case
unfortunately i do not know how long the egg's remai viable for

treatements that may be effective include methylene blue and formalin, if you are just worried about the filter then perhaps run it in a bucket of new water whilst leaving the tank with treatment in for a couple o days

andrew
or just remove the media from filter(what type of filtration is it?)

 

[tjnelson44]

Its a spong filter. Would you recomend just sterilizing everything instead? I just did not want to wait for the tank to cycle again since I do not have another cycled sponge at the moment but if my idea of just waiting out the flukes would compromise the health of my fish, I will scratch that idea.
Thanks,
Trevor

 

[mummymonkey]

... I will scratch that idea.

Nice pun.
I don't know how long you'd have to wait for any parasites to die off. Several days or even weeks I suspect. In the meantime you'd need a source of ammonia for your filter bacteria.
Sounds more trouble than it's worth to be honest.

 

[tjnelson44]

Keeping the filter going is easy, all that you need to do is just keep adding food to the tank just like there were still fish in it. The food breaks down and you get ammonia. I don't think it would be much trouble at all compared to tearing down the tank and bleaching it. But if my original idea didn't work and I had to treat more fish for gill flukes, then I guess it would be a huge hassle.

 

[fishgeek]

take the sponge out for the day's of treatment, that will be quickest

i dont not know the life cycle of the flukes well enough to advise

just in dactylogyrus species (apparently the most common gill fluke) have egg's that hatch in 5-6 days

larva stages are viable for a couple of weeks

assuming eggs were laid the day you removed the fish then 4 weeks should be aminimun empty period

latent infections o the fish can occur as clinical signs of fluke are only seen in heavily parasitised fish

leave the tank 6 weeks if you feel more comfortable

hope that is of some use

 

[Mike Wise]

When I have a nasty disease in one of my quarantine tanks (with a sponge filter) I sterilize everything with chlorine bleach. Everything in the tank goes into a bucket of 9:1 water/bleach solution - including the sponge filter. Plants, in my case Java Moss, is thrown out. The tank is drained, wiped down with a paper towel & bleach. It is then allowed to dry (& the chlorine to dissipate). Same happens to the sponge & other items in the tank (PVC pipe, etc.). Then I set up the tank with new water & add the "decorations". I use double strength Prime (Seachem). For the sponge filter, I inoculate it with a new culture. I gravel clean several tanks into a bucket & let the sponge absorb as much of the residual 'gunk' as it can. Then I squeeze it out in the bucket & put it in the sterilized tank. I now have a tank ready for a light/normal load of fish. It only takes a couple of days for the tank to be up & running again.

 

[tjnelson44]

Thanks for replies. After hearing what everybody has to say, I think I will just sterilize the tank with bleach instead of trying to wait it out. It seems safer for my fish.
Trevor