Please Help Asap

[latazyo]

guys, this is my friend's alligator gar, this fish is the last remaining in his tank, the rest have all died

there appears to be some sort of worm infection going on, the gar has several cysts on him and has expelled something gross from his body

the rest of the fish have died, there appears to be small worms swimming in the water, please help if you know of anything that can save the beloved gar

http://bitz.net/~latazyo/Pics/Aqua/55gfwgar1.JPG

here is a pic of the cysts
http://bitz.net/~latazyo/Pics/Aqua/55gfwgar2.JPG

and this is a decoration that sems to be covered with worms or something, these things appeared dead

http://bitz.net/~latazyo/Pics/Aqua/55gfwworms.JPG

thank you so much if you can help

[latazyo]

:mad:

[Harry Tolen]

I'd try Trifon (by Kordon) for the external parasites and Piperazine citrate (available from your vet) for internal parasites. On the Piperazine, I'm not sure of the dosage, since most of the texts I have read recommend using it to dose flake foods prior to feeding the fish, but it can also be used directly in the tank.

Good luck.

[latazyo]

thanks for the help, Ir elayed that info....hopefully something works, any other ideas?

what would cause this to happen?

[carpguy]

Having no idea what to tell you, I consulted my very boring but informative Fishlopaedia. I'd guess its some type of nematode worm, for which the book -- like Harry -- recommends "an anthelminthic such as piperazine".

It also mentions a particular red-brown nematode called camallanus that sounds like it could be the culprit. "Typically, the first sign of Camallanus infection is red-brown worms protruding from the fish's anus. Severe infestations may lead to spinal deformity and emaciation" Also, "Severe infestations can cause ulceration of the gut".

For camallanus it recommends "an anthelmintic such as fenbendazole, administered via medicated food (.25% inclusion) or long-term bath emersion".

For Fenbendazole it says: "Fenbendazole (proprietary names include Panacur) Used mainly for worm infestations in horses, Fenbendazole is also useful in the treatment of fish nematods, such as Camallanus. It can be purchased as a proprietary equine dewormer; the powder/granular form, rather than paste, should be used for aquarium purposes. A 3-week course of treatment is required, via a long-term bath at a dose of 2-3 mg/liter, with repeat doses on days 7 and 14."

For piperazine it says: "Piperazine is supplied as piperazine citrate or piperazine sulfate, and is sometimes used for treatment of intestinal nematodes, e.g. Camallanus. It is administered orally, via a medicated food comprising 2.5 mg drug mixed with 1g of moistened flake or pellet food. This is fed exclusively for 7-10 days. A repeat course may be necessary after a further 10-14 days".

HTH

[latazyo]

update:

well guys, this morning Fidel (the name of the gar) was bleeding from his anus and not moving, he was taken from the tank and put in ice water to end his misery

I guess the only question now is, what should be done with the tank to make sure it is safe for future fish?

[125gJoe]

I am curious....

How long was the gar, and was he/she in a 75 gallon ?

[latazyo]

Fidel was 7-8" in a 55g, he did not have enough room

[VoodooChild]

Rinse the tank out well. It should be fine. You can try treating it with a the mentioned medications and even throw some salt in there. I wouldn't worry too much about it. I definantly would use new gravel and decorations, just in case though. And give the equipment a reeeeally good rinse. Maybe a quick soak in bleach if they're not to fragile.

[latazyo]

nothing is fragile, and getting rid of the gravel wouldn't bother him too much

I'll tell him to get new filter media and to rinse his stuff out good....all of his livestock is dead, so I guess it'll be a fresh start for him

[jdheff1982]

IMHO, you should try bleaching everything and use an anit-chlorine agent such as AmQuel or other good Anti-Chlorine agents, then rinse extremely well with water. This should be done to everything that was possibly exposed to the parasite and the bleach should kill everything taking your equipment and tank back to an uncycled status. That would be the best method IMO. Hope this helps!

[carpguy]

Went back and consulted the Fishlopaedia again. He mentions better husbandry for most ailments and does for this one, keeping the tank clean, etc.

For specific sources he mentions that livebearers seem especially susceptible and that copepods (small water bugs like daphnia) are an important step in the worms life-cycle. They can go a few generations in a tank based on fish eating wast material or infected corpses but copepods, possibly introduced as live food, are probably at the root of it somewhere along the line. A thorough cleaning seems in order but these guys need a live host, I wouldn't worry about eggs lying dormant in a crevice (assuming that is, that nematodes were the problem).

Sorry to hear about your friends tank :( .

[latazyo]

my original hypothesis was taht the bug came from the cheap feeder fish that were sometimes given to the gar as a snack...I think that in the future, he won't be buying any crappy feeders