Here’s a heartbreaking story. Aquarists at the BioPark Aquarium in Albuquerque, New Mexico were attempting to treat the fish in their Atlantic Coral Reef Tank exhibit for a bad trematode infestation, but a total disaster occurred instead. After many failed attempts to treat the parasites with praziquantel, the aquarium’s staff chose to go with a more powerful treatment, dylox. Within minutes of dosing the dylox, however, fish just started dying, and right in front of families exploring the exhibit. All in all, over 100 fish were killed, which spanned numerous species and even fish that had been in the exhibit for over 18 years.
An investigation is currently underway to figure out exactly what caused the massive die off, but biologists are centering around two possibilities. One, that the proximity of the praziquantel dosing to the dylox was just too much for the stressed fish. And two, the possibility that the trematodes had weakened the fish to the point that they couldn’t handle a normal dose of dylox. In either situation, the dosing was obviously too much, and the fish suffered.
via KRQE News
