Praziquantel as an Aquarium Fish Treatment for Worms, etc.

 

Praziquantel is an anthelmintic (an-thel-MIN-tik) or anti-worm medication.

It aids in preventing worms and treating infections caused by the worm.
Praziquantel treats schistosoma (infection of worm that lives in the bloodstream), liver flukes (infection of worm that lives in or near the liver), and gill fluke (infection of worms that live on the gills).
It also treats skin flukes, flat worm, tape worms, and turbellarians (sub-division of flat worm).
Praziquantel does NOT treat pinworms or roundworms.

The picture to the left displays a magnified Gill Fluke. The inset shows a a lessor magnification attached to a gill filament.


Praziquantel works by causing major spasms to the worm causing them to be paralyzed.
The worm is then destroyed in the intestine of the host or is passed through the body of the host through their stool.
Praziquantel can be used in humans, cats, dogs, fish, and others.

The advantage of Praziquantel is that it's harmless to all species including fish and is not toxic to plants. It also has no negative impact on aquarium filters, while clearing the worms fast and fully, even with fry.
However, Praziquantel is not the strongest for more serious intestinal worms/parasites. For more serious cases the best choice (while still safe) is Pipzine
Resource: AAP Pipzine

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Treatment:

For fish use, in tank treatment is the best.
The medication is absorbed directly from the treated water into the fish.

Typically, one treatment is all that is needed to cure the infection. The traditional suggestion for fluke infestation is repeating a single treatment in four or five days after the first treatment is given to kill emerging larvae which may have survived.

There are no known side effects of Praziquatel, but there have been studies to show it can become toxic in high volumes, which are somewhere around 40x to 50x greater than recommended dosing.

Further recommended use of this medication for fish requires any carbon to be removed from the tank and UV sterilizers to be disconnected from electrical power (turned off).
This is due to both of these striping the medication out of the tank, making it useless. The medication can also be administered by soaking the fishes food (10-15 mins) in the Praziquatel and then feeding to affected fish.

For more information on food delivery of medications, please see:
Aquarium Medications

Sources of Praziquatel:

• Hikari PraziPro


• API General Cure


• Parasite Guard

For further information on flukes and worms, please see this excellent article:
Aquarium Answers Parasites Article

To step up to a higher level of Aquarium/Pond Fish Care, I highly suggest reading this article that provides factual information about the use of UVC Sterilization to prevent fish disease, not only directly but more importantly by improving fish immune response by also improving water parameters such as Redox Balance:


References:

• http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/drug-information/DR601147
• http://www.pondcrisis.com/a_praziquantel.html
• http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF00926798#page-1
• http://www.fws.gov/fisheries/aadap/PDF/WAS07%20Drug%20Session/1630%20hr%20A%20Mitchell%2027feb07.pdf

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AAP Spectrogram
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High Efficiency UV Bulbs

For premium USDA food grade certified aquarium silicone sealant:
Premium Aquarium Silicone
Most silicones are not USDA certified, thus you are placing your fish in an environment that may be less safe if you use these lesser silicones sold at most hardware and even pet stores.