Anchor Worms I think?!?!?!

[izabeau]

Ok, one of my platy's I think has anchor worms, she's got white stringy things (not fungus for sure) around her head, one around/over the top of one of her eyes, mouth & lower body. She's not eating, breathing really hard, her gills look swollen and a little redder than usual. She's becoming emaciated (spelling??) and losing scales...she looks really bad, and her fins are starting to look really rough. I'm pretty sure it's anchor worms, not ich or fungus. They started as little bumps/pustules...
here's my question, how to you get rid of them, or can you...I will put her down if I have to, but I would rather not, at the same time I don't want her to suffer. I honsetly don't think that I could pull them off her like they tell you to do!!
Are there any meds I can treat her with??? And should I treat the whole tank. She's in my 20 gallon. I'm afraid that they are in the tank itself and I don't want any of my other fish to become infected.

 

[Purple]

Hmmmm - two days and no replies ? - shame on the tank

For correct identification, please confirm we’re lookin at this ... http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~parasite/lernea.html

Treatment advice falls into two catagories - by hand (with turpentine to remove the head) - http://www.silkentent.com/gus1911/Anchor.htm

Or if you need a product, then check this out - (looks like it’s a good idea to treat the tank anyway) http://www.pondbiz.com/home/pb1/page_121_41/Jungle-Anchors-Away-18-oz.html

Hope all goes well for you

 

[Purple]

Just in case it’s not anchor worms, then this may be of help

http://www.petfish.net/betta/diseasemedicationlist.htm

“Grayish-white stringy material covering most of the body; white or gray patches
Diagnosis: Fish has columnaris aka Body Fungus. _This is not a true fungus, but a bacterial infection
Treatment: Maracyn”

I would also advise treating for fungal infection after sorting out the white stringy stuff, as a weakened fish often becomes susceptable to secondary infection. Again, it’s better to treat the whole tank.

 

[izabeau]

THANK YOU PURPLE!!!!! (((( hugs ))))
However that's not what they look like, they're like little white worms coming out of the skin, mostly around the head, mouth and eyes, sorta like (not to be gross) small thin maggots or something (sorry that's the only way I know how 2 describe them) I know it's not fungus, I've had that before...unfortunatly she died 2 nights ago. I found her wrapped around the intake tube of my filter. Should I be worried about my other fish being infected?

 

[Purple]

Sorry to hear about your fish -

I've looked everwhere for an external parasite that fits the description, and come up completely blank. Also it seems that different parasites require different meds to deal with them, so I can't recommend one magic bottle that will sort it out either.

One thing did repeatedly come up though - freshwater external parasites absolutely hate salt. It's fairly common to put a light dose of salt in a freshwater aquarium, usualy one teaspoon per ten gal - though some use less than that. BUT you have to be carefull because some fish can't tolerate any salt at all - and plants don't much like it either. http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/treatment/a/saltiinfresh.htm

I don't know what fish you have in there - but as long as they're ok with a bit of salt then treat the tank as a precaution. If in the future you have an individual fish in trouble, then do a salt bath for the fish. With a salt bath higher concentrations can be used, and the effect is pretty immediate. Details for salt baths are on that same link.

Some of the fish that cannot take salt at all are - tetras - clown loaches - scaleless fish, particularly cordydoras etc - so do a bit of research on your types of fish first.

 

[Jenniferhowe]

Copper safe.

looking for the same cure. I'm going to try Coppersafe. But I'm just looking for how long I need to reat for these things. Good luck.

 

[Lotus]

It sounds like it might be roundworms. There is a pic here http://www.2cah.com/pandora/Disease.html#Worm

Coppersafe works on most external parasites. I would treat for at least 2 weeks. With coppersafe, it isn't removed with carbon, so if you want to remove it after treatment, do so with water changes.

Good luck

 

[izabeau]

Thank you Lotus, I have not been around for a while, but I have put coppersafe in the tank...I didn't know it worked with the carbon in the filter though. I've been running it without the carbon. Well she died anyways , and now I am dealing with a bad case of ick, but at least I know how 2 treat that!

 

[Jenniferhowe]

I used the copper safe and now I can't seem to find where the anchor worm was on my fish. That is because now the fin is torn. I'm not sure what to do next. I think the torn fin is because of the other fish picking at him. I don't think it is fin rot, but then again it could be. I was really hoping to move them all into my 55 gallon show tank, but it looks like it will be a while longer. The other fish are showing no signs of any illness. Do you think I could move the other uneffected fish into my large tank and be safe?
I'm watching this one fish now. Now he's rubbing on the gravel. What this time. Why do fish have to get sick?

 

[Purple]

If you move your apparently healthy fish over, you run a strong risk of being in the position of treating two tanks for the same thing. Look at the tank as quarranteen tank.

I've seen fish rub on gravel and have nothing come of it - but keep a close eye on it. It's certainly not a good sign.

Know what you mean about the healthy fish picking on the weak - doesn't exactly help them recover.