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Parasite treatment of sharks ?
11/21/06 Hello I'm a veterinarian who like to help a new
started shark aquarium keeper with his black tipped reef sharks. He got
1 male and 2 females a month ago. The male was eating very well for 2
weeks and did not eat one day and dead next morning. Bleeding in and on
testes no obvious parasites. I'm waiting for pathology,
bacteriology and parasitology . after this one of the females has
started to swim in an different body position and is not resting during
shimming. seems to be in a hurry. The question has come about parasites
and then my question - How to treat parasites flukes, tapeworm and
nematodes in shark I do hope you can help us Tomas Lundgren
Veterinarian Dalagarden veterinary clinic Bastad, Sweden <Mmm...
need to know at least what phylum this source problem may be from...
skin scrapings, microscopic examination. I strongly suggest you
get/read Fish Disease, Diagnosis and Treatment by Edward Noga. You may
well have another non-pathogenic issue here... environmental... The
behavior you list could be due to poor water quality (metabolite
accumulation), or electrical potential... Bob Fenner> Shark Question, beh.... env. dis. 8/3/07 Hi (yes, again!!!), This is a question on shark behavior, and I'll give you the quick background, though you are probably all too familiar with me. The tank is a 200 gallon, with approximately 100lbs of live rock, sand substrate 2 to 3" deep, filtered by a Fluval FX5 with bio media only and filter pads (cleaned at worst every two weeks), a Magnum Canister hang on for water flow and carbon, a Penn Plax 300 power filter for mechanical, extra carbon and bio filtration, and a large protein skimmer rated for 200 gallon tanks (hang on variety). 0 ppm on both ammonia and nitrites, <10 nitrates. PH is at 8.2. Salinity is at 1.022 right now. <...> The occupants are a banded cat shark at 8", a passer angel at 5", a yellow tang at 4" and a dogface puffer at 5" (oh, and the cleaner wrasse, yes the original cleaner wrasse that I was fussed at for buying by you guys weeks ago, point well taken and won't occur again). We have just completed the ich treatment of quinine sulfate, at which time I did a 25% water change and began running carbon again to remove it. The passer developed Lymphocystis (sp), I'm assuming from the treatment of quinine and the extra duration of no water change during that period. The shark, prior to treatment, acted wonderfully, eating well, usually a cube of shark formula soaked in Zoe, cut into pieces. During the quinine treatment, he did not have much of an appetite, though this may have been due to water quality during the treatment. Now, conditions have returned to above stated. The shark, during the day, spends his time in a cave under the rock, which he has always done. In the evening, he comes out when I feed the other fish, but his behavior is odd. He actively swims up and down the tank glass, often time pushing his head above the water. He eats ok, but not with the aggression he used to have. He will take a piece of the formula and eat it, then rest on the tank floor, then resume this frantic swimming. He will usually eat two pieces or so, then he will mouth the third but not eat it. After, say, ten minutes, we will go through the process again, and he will consume two more, mouth the third, etc. I'm more concerned with this erratic swimming behavior, as it seems frantic at times. It only occurs in the evenings after I've placed the food for the other fish in the tank. This has been going on for about a week now, I suppose. Monday I purchased about two dozen ghost shrimp and put them in the tank after rinsing them with fresh water. I've been doing this ever since the shark has hatched. They get consumed by something over the course of a couple of days, I'm thinking by the shark at night, as the puffer has a hard time catching them in the daytime. I only mention this because when I put them in, the shark came out and was slowly cruising around trying to eat them, and at that time his behavior seems normal. So, to summarize, he sleeps normal during the day, swims frantically up and down the tank walls in the evening when he seems hungry, but seems to eat less shark formula and in smaller pieces, like it's harder to mouth them. If you can make any guesses or have any thoughts, I'd love to hear them. Sincerely, Thomas Roach <Likely the treatment and disease condition, coupled with the present too-low spg and likely nitrogenous material is mal-affecting the shark's appetite/behavior... Correct this animal's world and hopefully its behavior will improve. RMF> Chrysurus angel sick... Actually
sharks, med.s 8/8/07 Hello Mr Fenner I have a
very simple question to ask you and could not find a direct answer on
your site. Can Metronidazole be used with leopard sharks? <Yes> I
have a bad case of ich and hexamita and am currently using quinine
sulfate which seems to be working well (ant thoughts?) <I would use
the Quinine drug first... the Flagyl later if all did not appear
cleared up> Would you combine these 2 drugs? <Serially, not
simultaneously. BobF> thank you Kelly tank 400 gallon 60 gallon sump
filled with crushed coral g4x skimmer ammonia 0-10 nitrite 0 nitrate
5-10 ph buffered at every water change to 8.3 salinity 1.024 temp 76
Kelly Craven Treating a shark on shark bite - 11/24/04 Hello again,<Hi Amy> while our bamboo shark is relatively under control, our leopard apparently sustained a bite (I assume from the Wobbie) <Sounds like a lot of sharks. How big is your tank?>... it is on the left side of his jaw behind his mouth and before the gill. He appeared fine the last few days, eating normally etc and the wound seemed to be healing. Know the wound seems irritated (it is whitish/grayish and kind of stringy looking) and he is breathing VERY rapidly and mostly sitting on the bottom... every once in a while he shoots to the top and then kind of drifts down....<I would start with an injection of Baytril and follow with Baytril in its food if it is eating or continue with Baytril injections. Tough one. Maintain water quality. Are you using any vitamin supplements? ~Paul> Please, if you can give me any information that might help it would be so appreciated!! Amy Tezak Saltwater ich treatment with fish and sharks I
have a tank with a 2 foot shark and 20 fish. I am trying to
find a way to treat for an outbreak of saltwater ich. Perhaps Bob
Fenner or someone else at Wet Web Media can tell me if, by removing and
coppering the fish in an aquarium and leaving the shark in this system
which has a significant outbreak of saltwater ich (Cryptocaryon), will
the parasite die for lack of a fish host or will the presence of the
shark act as a host to sustain the outbreak of parasites. I
already know that I can't copper the main system. What
period of time is recommended without any fish present if the shark
remains in this system before the parasites have completed their life
cycle (assuming this method will work). Any treatment
remedies would be greatly appreciated. <I responded to another
"shark with ich" person just this AM. Perhaps you will
benefit from this correspondence: Nurse shark cestode infestation - 3/3/05 Hello, This is my first time writing to ya'll, and unfortunately, on bad terms. <Oh no> My System is 4,500 Gallons... <Sounds like you have put some effort into designing this tank but just know that it is extremely important that the tank is wider and longer than it is deep. I am not so sure that 4500 gallons actually sounds like enough for a full grown nurse shark, but I digress.....> ... solely for my Nurse shark (Raised from egg casing) Which is now 2 ft.(4 years later) <Not a fast grower but can and usually grow very large> My Tank Runs on 4 separate Sumps, at an average flow rate of 10,000 gal Per hour. My problem is, Last week (Approx) A massive invasion of free-swimming Parasitic CESTODE larvae swarmed the tank. <My question is how did this happen and how are you sure they are Cestode?> My Question is, What kind of medication do I use That is Nurse Shark Safe? <Praziquantel (Droncit) See Here for more information. You can find it available at online sites and veterinarians. Also, be sure to feed quality foods (noted on the wetwebmedia site many times under the sharks section and be sure to supplement the shark's dietary intake with some sort of supplement (www.mazuri.com shark/ray tabs or something like that)> My Nurse shark is my baby, as I mentioned above, I have raised her from an inch long egg to a 2 ft. beautiful shark...I just have to say that I really don't feel that nurse sharks and any of the larger growing species are ever suitable for home aquaria. I actually question myself to even help support these animals as sometimes I feel it is rewarding the keeping of such sharks. Also, readers must understand that public aquariums aren't just waiting for shark owners to call with a shark they can no longer care for. <For many reasons I might add; qualified staff, lack of a holding facility, shark behavior, budgetary and even more) Takes a lot of understanding, constant maintenance, knowledge, money, food, proper environmental surroundings (i.e.. water chemistry, tank size, filtration) Good luck! Let me know how it goes. ~Paul> Praziquantel dosing for sharks - 3/11/05 What Would The Average Dose For a 2 ft. shark be? <The treatment is based on weight. It is important to note that Droncit (Praziquantel) is usually very difficult to come by and usually will need a veterinarian to prescribe. In light of that these are the recommended treatments for when you can get your hands on some. For oral treatments the recommendation is nine milligrams per kilogram of bodyweight once a day for seven days. The recommended treatment for external trematodes is a saltwater bath mixture of 10 milligrams per liter for a three hour bath every third day for three treatments. As an alternative, 20 milligrams per liter for 90 minutes every third day of three treatments is not usually prescribed but can administered. Praziquantel is difficult to dissolve. Using 95% ETOH will help ( 1 g to 10ml ETOH), or it can be pressed through a stocking or other fine mesh net. Adding slowly to the water while stirring may help avoid coagulation. Hope this will help. Good luck. ~Paul> Buoyancy problem with juvenile PJ shark 7/24/05 Hi Bob, Great
site! I have a fairly urgent question. I've got a number of port
Jackson juveniles (7-10 weeks old). Yesterday one of them began
floating upside down, swimming frantically in circles, and he can not
stay down. I have tried massaging his belly lightly and straightening
him out (as this has worked for PJs I have had in the past) to no
avail. I moved him to a shallow tank on his own but even this is not
helping. I recently had a crested horn shark baby die after having the
same problem for several weeks. What can you suggest and what is
causing this? <Frightening... do you know how these animals were
collected? There are some enteric problems this might be... so my
first, easiest suggestion is to administer Epsom salt to the water (a
level teaspoon per ten gallons of system> I can only assume he has
gulped air at the surface and can't expel it. <Maybe... but
doubtful. Much more likely some sort of food decomposing within the
animal... hopeful the magnesium sulfate will "move it". Bob
Fenner> Thanks Bob Victoria Brims Department of Biological Sciences
Macquarie University Sydney NSW 2109 Bamboo Shark Trouble Bob, <Anthony Calfo in your service while Bob travels Australia... he has been spotted recently in a place of cultural enrichment: the Opera House. He made quite an impression in a formal black Tuxedo and wearing a beer hat while siphoning his nectar continuously> You helped use out before so I hope you can again. We hatched a little shark back in Dec. and he's been very happy in a 50 gall. tank. Several days ago he began to scrape himself along the bottom, I believe it's called "flashing". <often a sign of parasites but in this species also nitrate accumulation/general poor water quality> Anyway after a 50% h2o change he was fine,... for a day. Back to flashing again so we're wondering it he has a parasite problem? <actually the relief by the water change indicates perhaps this is a water quality issue...do test to see if your nitrates are rather high> Can we treat with CopperSafe of MarinOomed? <either will kill the shark dead.. they are very sensitive to metals and organic dyes. Formalin can be used cautiously if necessary for such fishes> All the levels are fine, nitrites, ammonia etc. Any ideas? Thanks in advance Linettte <yes, again... Nitrates specifically. It would be surprising if you are low in a tank with a shark. The books tell us to keep it under 20ppm actual (5ppm on a test kit times the multiplier 4.4).. but this is tough. I say you could be as high as 60 ppm (15ppm on your test kit) but really not much higher. Sharks are quite sensitive indeed... another symptom of high nitrates is "yawning" if by chance you've spotted it. Best regards, Anthony> Bamboo shark with weird swimming patterns...what does that mean? - 3/31/04 I have a Brownbanded bamboo shark. He is about 4 months old. I have had him for about two months. He was hatched in captivity at the pet store, and I watched and waited for him to start feeding before II bought him. <A good idea> I have picked up a book copy of Scott w. Michael's sharks and rays. <An excellent book> it is very helpful. I have my young shark in a 20 gallon long aquarium. <A bit small but likely OK for a short while> I know this is small but it says it is fine in the book for a youngster. <for a short while anyway> I am planning to jump up to a 180 gallon sometime this summer. <For the long-term you might want to look at a 1000 gallons or as close to that size as possible. These sharks are fast growers and can attain a size upwards of 4 1/2 feet> On my aquarium now I have a protein skimmer. <good idea. I would also add a UV and a lot of biological filtration> My nitrates are 0 my ph is 8.3 no ammonia salinity at 1.021. <Bring the specific gravity to 1.023-1.024> I noticed about 2 weeks ago he was flashing and recently in the last two days I realized it was not just a swimming pattern, it was a sign of a parasite. <Unfortunate> so I read and read about what he could have through his symptoms. He was swimming upside down, laying on his back, and looks like he is feeble. <Likely parasitic> he seems not to know where is he going when he swims and doesn't have the activity he once had. <Hmmmm...> these symptoms have been going on for about two days. So a day ago I dipped him in freshwater 3 cups fresh 1 cup seawater for five minutes. <Not a good idea. Sharks rarely do well with freshwater dips> that seemed to not do much. <Could have been much worse> after I put him back in the original tank I noticed he had red spots, looks like blood spots on his side and a couple on his belly. <Hmmm> so I read some more and came up with that he has flukes or a crustacean disease. <not likely. The symptoms don't suggest flukes and crustacean would be seen by you> I read how to treat it and they suggest one method called Dyacide it is made by Aquatronics. So today I began to dip him and gave him a 90 min dip and in the med tank he seemed a little better. After 90 minutes I put him back in original tank and he starts getting worse. My question is how long should I leave him in the medicine tank??? <Not familiar with the product so you will have to rely on manufacturer suggested methods if you are unsure then contact them immediately> longer than 90 min.s? <Check with the manufacturer of Dyacide. Again, doubtful he has crustaceans as you should be able to see them and from the symptoms you are describing it doesn't sound like the characteristics flukes. Not a good idea to do this but it might be a good to look for an antibacterial treatment used for saltwater fish. May be your only hope in my experience. ~Paul> matt Unhappy and not feeding banded bamboo shark - emergency!! Hi
there. <Hi, MikeD here> I've found the wealth of information
on this site extremely handy, so thanks already! I've now had a
brown banded bamboo shark for nearly 3 months (hatched him early
June)<Congrats...mine hatched a year ago August and is nearing
3'>, and has been feeding very well since about 5 days after
hatching (could see no sign of umbilical cord etc). He's
in a 60x20x20 tank (for another 2 months until we can build a 10ft x
5ft x 2ft high tank) at the moment with a few fish and inverts.
He's not touched anything in the tank other than his food that
he's given. The tank has a red sea Prizm pro deluxe
skimmer (for 1k litres), UV, carbon, ozone, several canister filters
(wet/dry Eheim and standard), small refugium and nitrate reductor, and
two powerheads. Anyhow, about 10 days ago I noticed one of the fish had ich, ugh....
So I decided I would try Kent Marine RxP.<Oh, NO!>
Yes, I know sharks don't do well with meds, but it was a natural
product, and I only half dosed it.<there's no such thing as a
"natural product", and my first suggestion is to NEVER treat
your main tank proper!> However, the shark stopped eating that day,
for the first time ever. He has not eaten since (10 days
now)<Can't say that I'm surprised>. He really didn't
seem to like it, and tried jumping out of the water at least twice.
I've done a 25% water changed (buffered and temp/sal the same etc),
put in new carbon etc to get rid of the meds. The water quality is
pretty good, the salinity is a little high though (1.024 to 1.025), but
I try to keep it from changing.<Your specific gravity is fine, but
you need to boost partial water changes ASAP. The jumping is a REALLY
bad sign> The only thing I could ever get him to eat is frozen
octopus cubes (the Dutch stuff), but haven't found any shark food
yet (until today, about to go out and get a load of shark food and
vitamins that the local shop just got in).<Mine is a bottomless pit,
with its FAVORITE food being well rinsed moist cat food! (seafood
variety**grin**) It also eats raw shrimp, fish and squid I
also started to dose and test iodide, yes a little late maybe. The
readings were 0.0 as far as I could see, so it can't have helped.
The shark is still moving around a little, however this morning
he's laying on his back (wasn't an hour ago when I last
checked, but is now). I can't see any external problems, no redness
or lumps. What should I do? I presume it's important to keep the
iodide (I've heard iodine itself is as toxic as chlorine?)<Very
true, but use great care.....a good reef supplement at MINIMUM dosages
is all that's needed> levels up (and at what level should they
be? the test kit says 0.06 to 0.08ppm). Is it a bad idea to drop a few
drops of the iodide booster to the shark's food, or should I just
use the shark food alone?<DO NOT put iodine or iodide on the food.
This can be immediately FATAL!> Is there anything you can suggest to
help to get him eating again? I've literally put a cube of octopus
under his mouth with tongs and he's just ignored it, he seems much
more docile than normal, and is very worrying seeing him on his back.
Is there anything you can suggest? As I write this he's just swam
around, "flashed" and turned upside down again on the sand.
He's breathing fairly deeply about once every 1.5 seconds, is his
breathing normal? Until today, it was just not eating and slightly odd
behaviour, but now it's got a little more serious, I've heard
isn't not uncommon for them to stop eating, so I ordered in that
shark food, I'm going to nip out and get it and try him on it, but
I don't see him suddenly wanting to eat. Lastly, I've just put
a grounding rod that I made (from titanium bike spokes - cleaned
thoroughly first, connected to ground, and sealed so no copper from the
cable will touch the tank water) yesterday as there was a shocking
(excuse the pun) 50V AC between the tank water and ground. I'm sure
this hasn't helped the poor shark, and I think it's been like
that for some time (possibly months before I realized it). The voltage
difference has dropped to 0.3V AC which seems much more acceptable.
Thanks for the help <I held off until here because all of this is
vital. Sharks are EXTREMELY sensitive to electricity, and you need to
find the source of the problem and eliminate it COMPLETELY! Check for a
deteriorating pump, heater or electrical cords against the tank frame,
including those of the lights. Any trace current can result in
RIP! I suspect the diet problem and hesitating to feed is
actually a symptom of a larger problem. Likewise, NEVER treat your main
tank. I'd start doing VERY frequent water changes (don't worry
about % but rather watching the reaction of your animals, possibly to
the amount of 5 gal/day until they show improvement.) If you improve
water quality, remove medication and eliminate electricity you ought to
see a MAJOR improvement unless the shark is too far gone!> Regards,
Tom Worley
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