Red Feather-like Worm in Paradise Fish

llebles

llebles

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Oct 9, 2006
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:help: I need help. I have a single paradise fish named Sam. He acts normal, his weight , coloring are fine. However, he has this weird feather-like red stuff protruding from his urogenital opening. Before you could actually see the feather-like stuff he had a bump the size of a bb where he goes potty. The bump is much less noticable now that the feather-like stuff has come out.

I have scoured the internet for information, but all the articles just talk about the more common fish problems.

I would like to treat this fish if possible. If not, I would atleast like to know more about the disease/parasite/condition/whatever so that if I cannot treat this fish and it dies I can safely replace it withou passing this along to another fish. :help:



1 Paradise fish

2 Feeder Guppies
6 Balloon Mollies
1 Otocinclus Catfish

9 Harliquin Rasboras
3 Corydoras Catfish
3 Clown Loaches
1 Plecostomus
 
heh thats an oddity, post some pics?
 
I figured it out..............

Collumanus Nematodes.............thats what Sam has. They are worms. They are red from Sams blood ...yuck!

Anyway, I put some parasite meds, I gonna take a trip tomorrow to my LFS and see if I can get meds specifically targeted to Sam's condition.

I swear, it is so hard to find healthy fish. These distributors do not breed for quality, just quantity. It is so disheartening.....and frustrating that these dealers don't care about their fishies health. Really, it just mean. I know they are "just fish", but they are living creatures and we have a responsibility as big powerful human beings to be kind to lesser creatures.

The LFS' are no better. I almost think they prefer to get sick fish so you keep comming back to buy remedies and more fish. Truth be told, if I wasnt always replacing fish and buying medicines I would spend more on decorations/plants and more expensive fish.

I wish there was a decent fish store near me. I went to one way across town they other day, just to look (I was in the neighborhood). It was so refreshing to talk to clerks that actually knew more than me. Usually, its me teaching the fish-boy. I wish I had remebered to ask about Sam while i was there.

Thanks for trying to help.
 
sounds like Camallanus, an intestinal parasitic infection caused by a nematode (parasitic worm) which is found in wild fresh and salt water fishes throughout the world.

The disease is characterized by, among other things, the presence of tiny red thread structures protruding from the anus of the infected host fish. Close inspection of the victim shows a swollen and irritated vent area. The worms can actually protrude 1/3 to 1/2 inch from the anus of the infected fish. This is about one fourth to one third of the worm’s length. The worms are red from the victim’s blood in their gut.

As with most parasites, there are two main body functions of this worm, reproduction and nourishment. The attachment inside the fishes gut is by what appears to be a simple row of long hooks. Closer examination reveals a burr-like structure. Attachment to the intestinal wall causes considerable damage to the host’s intestines. The remainder of the body of the worm is dedicated to reproduction.

Microscopic larvae from this parasite are constantly being produced and sloughed into the water. A secondary host is necessary to carry on the life cycle. once established in the copepods found in most of our tanks, the nematode infection is easily transferred from hobbyist’s aquarium to aquarium with nets, feeding utensils, water change devices and simple aspiration of splashes and spray from one tank to another. This carries the infection rapidly around the hobbyists’ fish room in a matter of days.

The early signs of the parasite’s presence are typically unnoticed. The victims show a minor swelling of the belly and may go off their food. Usually the fish have no problems laying eggs until the infection has reached the stage of showing protrusion from the anus. In the end, the anus and reproductive organs of the fish become so irritated and inflamed that secondary infection sets in and the swelling causes enough hemorrhaging to cause the victim to bleed to death or it dies from internal bacterial infection.

In addition to this obvious outside appearance, the worm has been found in the body cavity of infected hosts. This may explain some of the mysterious deaths one sees in fishes which have been successfully treated for the nematode. The adult worm has died inside the body cavity and decayed inside the host fish.

if the medication you've already bought doesn't work, try this:

purchase a bottle of about 18 grams active ingredient from an online agricultural supply company or farm store for under $20. (shop around).

divide the product into 5 gram packets (standard fishroom measuring spoons will help you here).

mix a 5 gram packet with 3 ounces of water and keep in an opaque bottle to make roughly a 5 percent solution. keep remaining product refridgerated for up to 3 weeks.

dose 1 ml. of 5 percent levamisole solution per 10 gallons for 36 hours. (1ml. is about 1/5 (one fifth) of a teaspoon. be sure to remove carbon from filter during treatment.

do a 45 percent water change following the 36 hour treatment and install new high quality carbon in your filter.

feeding frozen or live brine shrimp after treatment is a good way to facilitate the clean out of any dead worms from the fish's digestive system.

most fish can tolerate 1 ml. per 5 gallons and this is a good dose for newly acquired fish if you're quarantining them. higher doses than this can kill weak or juvenile fish.

fish may appear 'groggy' during the 36 hour treatment but this will dissipate.
 
I swear, it is so hard to find healthy fish. These distributors do not breed for quality, just quantity. It is so disheartening.....and frustrating that these dealers don't care about their fishies health. Really, it just mean. I know they are "just fish", but they are living creatures and we have a responsibility as big powerful human beings to be kind to lesser creatures.

The LFS' are no better. I almost think they prefer to get sick fish so you keep comming back to buy remedies and more fish. Truth be told, if I wasnt always replacing fish and buying medicines I would spend more on decorations/plants and more expensive fish.
Click to expand...

Fish farm breeders probably only care about the money - unless they have lots of tank crashes they probably don't medicate much... they use hormones to make the fish grow faster, and we all know about dye injections, etc. I suppose they can be compared to puppy mill owners...

I've been lucky in that I have lfs which guarantee their fish, however, something like camellanus, or some kind of internal protazoa infections don't show up right away. So, yep, we are stuck with treating them ourselves - at more cost than the initial investment at times!

I hope you can find the stuff at your local farm/feed store. You can also get some mailed to you - I'll pm you the link.

Cathy G
 
Levamisole hcl can also be found under other names(levasole is one ) there are others too.
great post liv2padl
 
Thanks

Thanks Cathy. My LFS would have given me my money back.....but I have had the fish a long time. I think what actually made my fish sick was the snails on the plants I bought. fRom what I have read, the Camallanus worms come from snails. I just hope the snails that snuck into my other tank via a decoration swap do not carry the worm. Otherwise, my baby balloon mollies could get sick too.

So far, it looks like the tank buddies parasite clear is working...Sam has less worms today. If I continue to see improvement, I will stick with that since I already have it. Othewise, I will get the Levamasil.
 
the parasite clear MAY work..if it's camillanus..I'd suggest you get the levamisole hcl(the water soluable form).
I've had to deal with this afew times. you will need to treat again in 2 weeks.
 
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