# True Or False?



## wizardslovak (Feb 17, 2007)

Well i have been reading a lot about s. Rhombeus and this is i came up to

"Last summer I had an excellent conversation with the man who sold me my fish. Many of you are perhaps familiar with him. His name is xxxxxxx.

I asked him why Serra's grow so slow...and he agreed that their growth rates are pitiful in captivity.
He said #1, you have to have absolutely 0 Nitrates.

He then said, and this is the gem, that Cestode parasites, in other words tapeworms, are very, very common to Black Piranha.

I asked how to treat them and he said he couldn't really say because it's not considered ethical with his scope of practice even though this was common place to him.
He said it's within a Vet's scope of practice.

He did, however, say the name of the drug that Vet's use.

So I went to Vet and got a prescription. I used it on my Compressus which had, up to that point, grown from 2" to 3" fin 6 months.
Well after the treatment he was 4" after a month, and about 4.5 after two months.
He is now about 5". And put it this way his tank has been neglected, sadly, by me. I would say with better water quality he would be significantly bigger. I've been so consumed with my big guy. Believe me...he's not neglected.

I shared this info with Piranha Guy Dan, about the time I was selling him some fish, so he tried it, and his rhom grew from a stagnant 4" to 5" inches in a month and a bit.

The drug is called Praziquantel. I found it later on, on store shelves. You can by it in single doses (treat 75g) for $4 at big Al's. It's called Prazipro. One treatment will do it.

I was very reluctant to post this for some time because everyone would be trying this and it's not what I'm encouraging. It's an edge for the serious keeper.

But because I like this site and what makes it operate, I will only share it here. "

I took it off forum site Piranha - C O V E

Serra grows slower cause of parasites?Even if it was raised since juvy i n tank ?

Discuss plz


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

The nature of parisites says yes. Parasites steal from the host so if the host has to sustain itself AND a parasite it will be more work for the host which will slow growth though I don't think anybody know to what extent.


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## PhantastickFish (Dec 29, 2006)

i dont believe that every single serra has a tape worm. there could be something else behind the drug that makes them grow or maybe just the two that the author treated actually did.... either way, if every fish in captivity had tape worm i think we would know about it by now...


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## smb (Jun 1, 2003)

Ive been using Prazipro for quite a while now just for that reason. I use it on any fish I feed my p's while they are being quarantined also. I cant say how much slower or faster they grow because Ive always done it within a few days of getting them.


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## Johnny_Zanni (Nov 8, 2009)

I personally think that there is different factors effecting growth. But thats for another day.


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## THE BLACK PIRANHA (Dec 8, 2003)

Its worth trying and I should get some for my baby Terns and Spilo/Macs that came in from Argentina and see how they do.


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## wizardslovak (Feb 17, 2007)

So

Most of serras got that worm? Lots of people reported slow growth . I assume that not 100% of them has it . Well gotta get that Praziquantel


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## Zeushalives (Dec 30, 2010)

Good info, good post. At least someone is out there with REAL data that THEY have personally experienced.


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## keithdude5 (Nov 30, 2010)

wizardslovak said:


> So
> 
> Most of serras got that worm? Lots of people reported slow growth . I assume that not 100% of them has it . Well gotta get that Praziquantel


Even if it isn't due to a worm or if it doesn't truly effect growth in all cases what could it hurt to rid your fish of these possible worms in any case?


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

I was given a paper of a study that compared growth rate of fish with and without worms and the fish that had an internal parasite actually grew faster. 
The problem with people throwing out facts about their fish's growth is they dont have anything to compare. In order to prove anything....you need to have a controlled environment with multiple fish...some with worms...some without...being fed the same diet with the same water conditions.....the only variable is the medication of some of the fish. That way you can say yes....it was the medication that increased growth. Without doing that.....IMO...there is nothing to compare.


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## smb (Jun 1, 2003)

Grosse Gurke said:


> I was given a paper of a study that compared growth rate of fish with and without worms and the fish that had an internal parasite actually grew faster.
> The problem with people throwing out facts about their fish's growth is they dont have anything to compare. In order to prove anything....you need to have a controlled environment with multiple fish...some with worms...some without...being fed the same diet with the same water conditions.....the only variable is the medication of some of the fish. That way you can say yes....it was the medication that increased growth. Without doing that.....IMO...there is nothing to compare.


True. What I ommited above is even though I us it, my fish still grow the same as what others here have said theirs did and never did mine grow as fast as what the OP posted they told him. I attributed it to the fact I never give processed foods or vitamins but like you said and I think JZ alluded to, there are tons of factors that go into a fish's growth. Genes being a major one, imo.


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

I dont mind reading about growth rates of fish...I just dont think people can attribute it to any specific reasons unless they have a control population in identical conditions.


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## Ba20 (Jan 29, 2003)

Here is a interesting tidbit for some I recieved a skinny 10" rhom on september of 2009, measure him on october of 2010, 12 1/4" Vitachem soaked varied diet and bi weekly water changes on a lightly planted aqurium.


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## Johnny_Zanni (Nov 8, 2009)

smb said:


> I was given a paper of a study that compared growth rate of fish with and without worms and the fish that had an internal parasite actually grew faster.
> The problem with people throwing out facts about their fish's growth is they dont have anything to compare. In order to prove anything....you need to have a controlled environment with multiple fish...some with worms...some without...being fed the same diet with the same water conditions.....the only variable is the medication of some of the fish. That way you can say yes....it was the medication that increased growth. Without doing that.....IMO...there is nothing to compare.


True. What I ommited above is even though I us it, my fish still grow the same as what others here have said theirs did and never did mine grow as fast as what the OP posted they told him. I attributed it to the fact I never give processed foods or vitamins but like you said and I think JZ alluded to, there are tons of factors that go into a fish's growth. Genes being a major one, imo.
[/quote]

And hormones


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## Ba20 (Jan 29, 2003)

Genes are what trigger hormonal releases







not that i think that had anything to do with this


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## Piranha-Freak101 (Dec 8, 2010)

CLUSTER ONE said:


> The nature of parisites says yes. Parasites steal from the host so if the host has to sustain itself AND a parasite it will be more work for the host which will slow growth though I don't think anybody know to what extent.


X2


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## sprfunk (Dec 22, 2005)

I use it on all of my fish. The first time I used it my mixed shoal had a huge growth spirt. I also notice after the treatment my fish would eat a lot more.
I don't however suggest it for all. I did suggest it to one member here who complained about his rhom not being healthy. The rhom died after treatment. I don;t belive it was the treatment that killed his rhom, less he dosed it wrong, but since then I have not suggested much of anything on any subject. 
Read the lable.


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## picchius (Nov 21, 2008)

Very interesting, but in Italy that drug is not marketed ......! I've had in the past Rhobs with very little appetite.......probably for one of those diseases.......?


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## bob351 (Oct 23, 2005)

Does anyone think that maybe rhoms also grow slowly in the wild, i never hear that brought up in these discussions. Im pretty sure we have no idea on the growth rates of these fish in natural settings to compare to so why is it expected they should grow like pygos?


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## the_w8 (Jul 28, 2003)

i think a rhom in its natural habitat is going to grow alot faster then a captive rhom anyday, but with that being said they are slow growers in the wild according to several books i've read. I also have prazipro on hand and also hear about people using them to "get growth spurts" outta their fish. IMO like others say, genetics and appetite make up alot of the fishes ability to hit a certain size faster then others do. I only used prazipro when the fish jus got shipped in from whatever location and shipped into me. I'm sure its unecceasry because most of the vendors quaratine the fish to make sure it'll be suitable for the home aquaria. I've done it only as a preventative and haven't attempted to try the growth experiment like others do. I've noticed little changes i guess, but not enough to say its proven.


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## BRUNER247 (Jun 2, 2010)

I bet a staggering percent of wild fish from & in the wild in south America have some sort of parasite or worm. Its the Amazon, its tropical. Hell most our native fish are full of parasites & we have four seasons(most do anyhow)which more than likely slows their roll with the winters we have. Go to any decent sized river anywhere & catch some fish & most will have some sort of parasite. Mother nature don't have para-guard or prazi-pro.wild fish catch these parasites & have no way of getting rid of em, except passing it to other fish. The info this thread is about is 5 years old its not new info.& there's more too it also.


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## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

IMO growth depends on many many factors: genes (the individual), water conditions (filtration + water changes, no nitrates, enough oxigen), feeding (varied diet, enough food), exercise (tank current), water temp (related to fish metabolism), tank space (related to water quality), general health (no illness, parasites, stress...)&#8230; so praziquantel might help but won't do the entire work...


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## BRUNER247 (Jun 2, 2010)

That's pretty much what the rest of the thread said also.


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