Anchor Worm removal

**domjd05** · 06-19-2010, 12:46 AM

Unfortunately I have an Anchor worm on one of my fish.. it is a recent addition and he has been in QT for a week, I've been treating him with "Parasite Clear", but it has not worked, I suspect the anchor worm came from the LFS tank as none of my other established fish have any, and this fish is the new guy.

Looks like I may have to manually remove it.. any suggestions on how I go about doing this?

**little hawaii** · 06-19-2010, 01:03 AM

Originally Posted by domjd05

Unfortunately I have an Anchor worm on one of my fish.. it is a recent addition and he has been in QT for a week, I've been treating him with "Parasite Clear", but it has not worked, I suspect the anchor worm came from the LFS tank as none of my other established fish have any, and this fish is the new guy.

Looks like I may have to manually remove it.. any suggestions on how I go about doing this?

I have only ever seen them on goldfish. We used a3Tbl. salt to1 gallon water bath. But there ncould be a lot more in the tank.

**domjd05** · 06-20-2010, 07:42 PM

nah I've had him in QT the day I noticed it.. it's been a week or two now and main tank is still free of them...

No meds have worked, any suggestions on how to remove them manually?

**little hawaii** · 06-20-2010, 07:45 PM

Originally Posted by domjd05

nah I've had him in QT the day I noticed it.. it's been a week or two now and main tank is still free of them...

No meds have worked, any suggestions on how to remove them manually?

You can pick them off with tweezers but that does more damage to your fish. Give them a salt water bath and they will fall off on their own.

**domjd05** · 06-20-2010, 11:07 PM

If their are more anchor worms in my tank. How long does it take for them to become large enough for me to see them? is their a whole tank treatment that I can do to ensure that no other fish will be affected by this pest?

**Spardas** · 06-21-2010, 11:15 PM

Let me get the time line correctly:
1) You got fish.
2) You acclimated fish into main tank.
3) Worms appeared on fish and you moved it into QT for treatment.

If this is correct, then it's highly possible that your fishes in the main tank are also infected. Anchor worms are actually crustaceans that can hide in the fish for up to a period of several months before actually being visible to the naked eye.

Personally, I like to use PP for a lot of things but it's a dangerous treatment if one doesn't know the proper method.

So, I recommend getting ProForm LA. Order it online if you can't find it in your LFS. Follow the dosage on it and your fishes should be free of these pests in due time.

**Lady Hobbs** · 06-22-2010, 12:27 AM

Anchors Away, Dimilin, Proform LA and Potassium Permanganate are all treatments for anchor worms. It is suggested to not pull them off the fish because what is buried inside may be quite large and you are only seeing a small portion.

**Lady Hobbs** · 06-22-2010, 01:07 AM

Here's another.

http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS...tsclout100tabs

**Spardas** · 06-22-2010, 05:31 AM

Anchors Away and dimilin are basically the same thing (diflubenzuron) and are pretty safe with a main tank treatment. The same can be said for Proform LA.

Clout and PP will destroy your bio filtration. Personally, I don't like shot gun medicine like Clout as it can lead to more resistant strains. PP won't build any resistant strain because it will basically oxidize organic. It's a dangerous item to use and can possibly kill your fishes if you don't know what you're doing.

So, with that in mind, you can choose between anchors away, dimilin powder or Proform LA.