Red things coming out of my Oscar!

[bjsocialist]

I happened to look over at my Oscar just now, and I noticed that there are these little red things sticking out of his butthole. They look almost like tubifex worms or the legs of some small insect. I fed him a cricket and a couple of mealworms today, so could that be it?

Or could it be parasites?

He looks okay, except he's staying close to the bottom and seem to be vibrating his tail occasionally, like he's trying to poop.

[JSchmidt]

Sounds like Camallanus cotti. See the great page at the Skeptical Aquarist for a description.

http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/health/nematodes.shtml

HTH,
Jim

[bjsocialist]

Sounds about right.

So, this creates the question...

How could my Oscar have gotten this, given that I got all my fish from a pet store? He didn't have it before I got the Pictus Catfish and Pleco, but they show no signs of it. Could the mealworms have had it?

Based on the websites I've read, there's an expensive cure, but it's not assured of working since, even if you kill the worms in the fishes anus, there may be worms inside the fishes body that, once dead, will decay and internally poison and kill the fish. Many sites seem to recommend that, if the fish aren't that expensive, the best thing to do is euthanize all the fish in the aquarium, sterilize everything in the aquarium and toss out everything that can't be sterilized.

*Sigh*

[Harry Tolen]

Good grief. What sites recommend euthanizing a fish, or an entire tank (!!!) for a measly case of camallanus. I've had fish come down with this occasionally (it can come in with infected fish, or some live foods), and have always treated it inexpensively and successfully.

Get some piperazine citrate. It's not particularly expensive, and you can get it from a regular vet (it's used to treat worms in dogs and cats as well). Or just get a proprietary medicine for fish that includes this ingredient (I think Pipzine is one of the product names). You can mix this with fish food by soaking the medicine and some pellet or freeze-dried food in water and then feeding that to the fish). You can also dose the tank water as well; I have used this method myself in the past with some success.

Good luck.

[bjsocialist]

Well, I set up my new tank today.

With the rocks from the old tank, I boiled them for a few minutes before putting them in the new tank, and I filled a pail with water and put in about 1.5 litres of bleach. And then I soaked everything for three hours, including a thermometer that I'm now using in the new tank.

With that, is there any chance that the rocks or thermometer would be harbouring any of those parasites?

I'm EXTREMELY paranoid now and quite anxious that, somehow, the parasites survived my boiling and bleach/water treatment, so...is there anything I can get to put in the water that will kill any of the parasites that may be there, or am I just being too paranoid now?

[bjsocialist]

Well, I lost another Oscar today.

I think it was because he was sick when I got him. He didn't do much when I put him in the tank. Just kind of lay on the gravel, on his side, or floated close to the surface.

I doubt it was because of the medication in the tank, because I have a Pleco in there and it's doing just fine.

Perhaps I should stop buying Oscars from that pet store...