the real deal

[chipstahoy]

so here's the deal...my male paradise fish has a hole in his side, not his gill, and there's some intestine-looking crap coming out of it. it's pretty sick. some peices of this crap have fallen off and it just looks like poop. however, he is still swimming around and acting normal. what should i do? should i take him out and freeze him or something in case he gets everyone else sick? i dunno what it could be, seeing as i havent had disease in my tank for a long time. the temp is around 68 degrees (i know, a little cold). any help would be great.

-chip

[OrionGirl]

Sounds more like a parasitic infection than a wound. The parasites can burrow out of the fish, leaving a wound, and may look like a chunk of intestine.

I would clean the tank, and remove the fish to a hostpical tank. Seeif he recovers and heals, and watch other fish for problems.

Getting the temp up would help--there are not many tropical fish that thrive at cool temps. The paradise will be okay cooler, but other fish will be prone to ailments.

[chipstahoy]

whoa--i finally got a reply! i think you're right...i was looking in there today, and i saw the normal intestine-looking poop stuff (that really didn't look alive) coming out of the hole in its side, but then i saw it pooping out some red-looking thing worm or something. it actually didn't look like a worm to me, i just figured it pry was cuz something was killing it. it actually still looked really healthy except for that, but since i had no other help from anyone, i decided i better take action against further disease to my whole tank and freeze him. so he's currently "chilling" in my freezer.

yes, raising the temp is a good idea. i realized a couple days ago that my heater isn't working anymore (yeah, i had an old one) so i bought one online and am expecting it soon.

any other suggestions about what it could be/what i should do now? thanks

-chip

[OrionGirl]

Watch the other fish for signs of infectation. Many parasitic worms spread through the consumption of spores from infected fish. There are several good treatments--check out http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/ for lots of information.

[chipstahoy]

alright...i went to the site you sent me to and read up on Camallanus cotti. here's a clip of what it said:

Camallanus cotti Often with the nematode Camallanus, your first view of the parasite may be one or several reddish worms protruding from the fishes' anus. The worms are actually transparent; the red tint is from the victim's blood. The ones you see are all females, which can get to a centimeter in length; the little males are a third their length. At this point the host's intestine is packed with parasites, and the creatures are shedding their microscopic larval young into the water.

the "worm" thingy i saw was pry 1-2 cm and it was red...but i didn't see any in the hole of my male. the hole was messed up--and every day there was new intestine stuff coming out. im over the loss of my male and female, but now i need to turn to the rest of my fish. i dont understand why the hole in my male and why no one else infected and why he was acting normal still...so many unknowns, and i'm just left with two dead fish. i've never had parasite problems before...has anyone else ever experienced a random hole in the side of their fish with their intestines coming out? thanks again for any help

-chip