Trichodina F

FAQs on Freshwater Trichodina

Trichodina spreading rapidly in my Gourami tank 11/25/06 Hi everyone. <<Hello, Sara. Tom here.>> First I'd like to express gratitude to you guys for sharing your time and knowledge. Your website is truly fish lifesaving. Thanks. <<We're happy to help and your kind words are very much appreciated.>> I have a 29 gal. tank with 2 adult gold gouramis, 1 adolescent pearl Gourami, 1 young blue Gourami, 1 young gold Gourami and 11 aeneus catfish of all ages who are constantly reproducing. Earlier this evening I noticed Jeb, my blue Gourami, slightly rocking back and forth. I immediately went to your website for info on treating Trichodina infestation. <<A conclusive determination of this would require a microscopic examination, Sara. Probably as good a 'guess' as anything else but without visible evidence it's still a guess. I mention this because, obviously, we first want to be sure of what we're treating for or, as close to it as a reasonable person could conclude. Second, there are parasitic infestations that don't respond at all to certain medications which could leave us with a three-fold problem, i.e. we've incorrectly medicated our fish (never good), we've lost valuable time in a virtually worthless regimen and we've still got the original problem.>> Merely four hours later and all of my gouramis are rocking back and forth and flicking against the filter intake. It's 2:00 am and the only thing I have on hand is "Tank Buddies - Parasite Clear Fizz Tabs" by Jungle Labs. Are you familiar with this remedy? <<The latest generation of this product contains Praziquantel, Metronidazole and Acriflavine. Sort of a 'shotgun-approach' medication. Praziquantel may be toxic to Corys and, reportedly, isn't advised as a treatment regimen with young/juvenile fish. Personally, I wouldn't risk using it.>> If so, should I use it or wait until I can get something else? The box indicates usage for both external and internal parasites. The ingredients are based on dimenthyl phosphonate and Metronidazole. If you have time to respond, it would be greatly appreciated. <<Since healthy fish normally deal with Trichodina at tolerable levels with no ill effects, an 'outbreak' has some root cause that must be corrected before any treatment will be truly successful. I don't consider over-crowding to be the problem so I'd turn to water quality as the source of the stress in your fish -- the reason for the 'population boom' in the parasites. Change out 25%-30% of your tank's water and premix 4-5 tablespoons of aquarium salt to the new water before adding this back to the aquarium. While Corys aren't particularly tolerant of salt, this level shouldn't prove an issue with them and is safer, in the long run, than many medications would be. Of course, you'll want to monitor your fish closely for both the effectiveness of this regimen and for signs of stress in the Corys, specifically. Again, I don't consider salt at this low level to be a problem but fish have an amazing talent for surprising me.>> Thanks again, Sara <<There are more aggressive measures that could be taken here, Sara, but let's not go after the 'fly' with a sledgehammer just now. If the infestation is, in fact, Trichodina, it's probably the least of the common parasitic problems that our fish may have to face. Nothing to disregard, certainly, as the added stress can lead to bigger problems but, in itself, doesn't scream out for aggressive treatment. With a little luck, your pets should be back to normal soon. Best regards. Tom>>

Re: Trichodina and "Fizz Tabs" II 11/26/07 Hi. <<Hi, Sara. Tom again.>> Sorry to bother you guys again. <<No bother...>> I just read the article on DTHP which answered my question. So, I will go ahead with the Fizz Tabs. <<Keep a close eye on the Corys, Sara. Still need to find/eliminate the root cause as well.>> Thank you. Sara <<You're welcome. Tom>>

Re: Trichodina spreading rapidly in my Gourami tank III 11/26/07 Thanks so much, Tom. <<Happy to help, Sara. (Guess my response caught up with you, eh?)>> I won't use the Fizz Tabs but instead I'll try changing the water and adding the salt. I'll let you know how it turns out. <<I'd appreciate that, Sara. The Corys are still likely to be the "weak link" as they would with just about any treatment but I consider this the wiser way to go right now. For what it's worth, I use this concentration of salt in my community tank in conjunction with my regular water changes and my Emerald Green Corys (Brochis, actually) are fine with it. Please, do keep me posted.>> Sara <<Tom>>

Please visit our Sponsors