Anchhor worm

[hedonest]

Hello

So yesterday i lost a white Molly and i was devasted. It had been showing out of ordinary behavior (lying in the corner, not active) for the past 1 week but I couldnt figure out what was wrong. I treated it with melafix & pimafix but dint seem to have much effect. It would eat normally too. a day be4 it died i noticed it had a brown attachment to it. Upon researching i realised it was anchor worm. I tried my best to remove the damed thing unfortunately molly dint survive.
Today to my surprise i noticed 2 such worms on the black skirt tetra. I spring into action with tweasers n removed both of them. Tuk me gud 1/2hr.
Both the fishes have been bought from the same lfs about a month bak.

Now i have been reading on anchor worms and it was said u can treat the entire display tank with potassium permanganate..i wanted to 2 just ask everybody's suggestion or if somebody has experienced it?

[Lady Hobbs]

You are not supposed to pull them out with tweezers. If the head breaks off the worm, it will remain inside the fish. You should treat the tank for Anchors Away or Clout......two medications just for that purpose. Anchor worms also lay eggs inside the fish.

[escamosa]

I totally agree with Hobbsy. Let the Clout do the work.

[hedonest]

really hobbsy?
thats odd cause i have read it on multiple articles that you can
well will keep in mind for the next time. thanks
I am not sure what medication will be available for me, but will either require for me to remove the fishes from the display tank or can I dose directly in it?

reading articles about pp, it says I can add directly to the display tank but wil effect the bb...

[hedonest]

I couldnt find any of the 2 recommended medications but instead I found this:
http://www.aquarium-munster.com/inde...164&con_lang=2

I have jus added 50% of recommended dose and will monitor the fishes for next 6 hours and then add the rest if they are not stressed.
There is however no recommendation on the number of times it should be repeated so I assume just one treatment should be sufficient.
Mela & pima still continue as I am just on its 2nd day

Also, I just lost a black ghost knife fish...this was unexpected as the it was fine in the morning (when i added 2nd dose of mela/pima). It seemed to have turned white - its eyes, edges of the scale & skin peeling out - very sad. any idea why or is it natural?
what could have possibly taken the life of the ghost knife? anchor worm (there was nothing that cld b seen externally unless i missed it) or the 2nd dose of mela / pima?

[wijnands]

Possibly the ghost was sensitive to something you dosed.

I don't think I'd go for a lower dose of the meds than indicated by the manufacturer. Fortunately I have no personal experience with those nasties. From what I've read I'd certainly would NOT only treat infected fish but dose the whole tank.

[smaug]

Bgk are very sensitive fish. It would be very common to lose one at this time. In the future save the money and don't dose mela or pima. Its just funk smellin snake oil that does nothing when used in this way. Go with LH's advice.

[Lady Hobbs]

IMO, Melafix or Pimafix are a joke. You can not treat diabetes or cancer with an aspirin and that's about how effective those two are for treating fish disease. While people waste money on that stuff they could be buying real medications that actually do something. Stop using it! Right now you are adding it when it is doing nothing for your fish.

The medication in the link is for internal worms. It will not kill Anchor Worms.
And Melafix or Pimafix should not be used when medication is being used, either.

A fish with Anchors should be moved into a separate tank or tote and treated with Anchor medication. No charcoal in the filter. And treated with enough medication per manufacturers instructions.

Anchors, if they are mostly out of the fish, have been known to be pulled out gently. But if too much is still inside the fish and pulled out, the head of the Anchor will be pulled out and left inside the fish to cause worse problems. Often they have many anchors, not just one, and you want them all destroyed and their eggs.

On a side note: All my fish get treated with Prazi for internal worms once or twice a year. It is very mild and very safe and what you used will not harm them. I would not treat a black ghost knife, however, and would have removed him from the tank. However, as I already mentioned, it did nothing regarding the Anchors. My thoughts are that the BGK died from the snake oils you added.

If this is the tank mentioned above in your signature, the anchors probably come from the comet goldfish that does not belong in that tank to start with. Nor does the pangasius catfish. Comets are cold water fish and your others are not. They are for ponds and reach a foot long. The pangasius catfish is a whale of a fish and they reach 20”.

Is this tank cycled?

[wijnands]

Pangasius.. Saw one at the zoo last week that was fully grown. 3 feet long, looked to be weighing at least 50kg, massive beast! I knew they got big but that one really was a whale.

Just looked at melafix, that's the most vague MSDS I've ever seen. Anyone know what's in there?

[Lady Hobbs]

Tree oil. My Silver Dollars went nuts when I put it in the tank. They hated it.

I understand fish store selling large fish for those who have large tanks. But just WHO would ever have a tank large enough for a Pangarius? I know......the zoo! LOL