ugh. There are parasites in at least one of my tanks. They came in with the stupid ghost shrimp my mom brought home from work. rawr. She swears there's no way they came in from them, but it's the only thing that's been added to my tank. So now I'm worried my puffer might have them too since he's been eating the shrimp (though before feeding him anything I always look it over to make sure there's nothing unusual) he's still going to get treated though. My mom is bringing home some meds tonight for them.
I put the ghost shrimp in separate containers, I'm sure it's no use now, but still. I went to check on them a while ago and it looked like a piece of string had fallen into the bowl, so without thinking I picked it up. until it started wriggling. T_T slightly traumatizing. so I threw it in a separate cup and added half a bottle of PH up in hopes of killing it. I don't even know if that'll kill it, but it made me feel better.
I kept putting off getting a quarantine tank, and now I'm kicking myself for it. Lesson learned.
Anyone know what these are? They're bright white and pretty long (3-5in.) and they're very thin.
Parasites!
Forum rules
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
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zombiefetus
- Fahaka Puffer
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dumpythepuffer
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Re: Parasites!
were they external or internal?
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zombiefetus
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Re: Parasites!
Internal. One of them somehow burrowed out of the ghost shrimp I guess. I wish I had a camera, you can actually see them inside the shrimp.
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dumpythepuffer
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Re: Parasites!
intestinal worms. there is specially medicated foodstuffs containing an anthelminthic that will over come these parasites, which are then flushed out from the fishes body. however, they happen in all fish so i dont know if their are specifics for different species or just one kind of food.
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zombiefetus
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Re: Parasites!
Would you happen to know what it's called? Or at least what I could treat my puffer with?
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dumpythepuffer
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Re: Parasites!
are you in north america?
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Hilly
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Re: Parasites!
Have a look in the library in the hospital section there is an article on treating internal parasites. There was a product called flubenol which has been used by several members with great success however I dont think it is currently available anymore.
It is always best to quarantine anything for a few weeks whether it be tank mates or feeders just in case they have any nasties.
It is always best to quarantine anything for a few weeks whether it be tank mates or feeders just in case they have any nasties.
Hilly
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zombiefetus
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Re: Parasites!
My mom brought home something called Coppersafe because a "biologist told her it would work". But I'm pretty sure she has no idea what she's talking about, so I don't really want to use it. It says it's for "Ich, Velvet, and other external parasites". Except I told her four billion times that they're internal.
I'm in the US. Is there something else I can buy?
I'm in the US. Is there something else I can buy?
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Hilly
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Re: Parasites!
Think someone used Jungle Parasite Clear or something like that with some success in a thread a few weeks ago.
Hilly
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dumpythepuffer
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Re: Parasites!
coppersafe does work. it will change the color of your water and for a better effect you may need to take the carbon out of the filter (if you have any) i dont like doing that but it helpszombiefetus wrote:My mom brought home something called Coppersafe because a "biologist told her it would work". But I'm pretty sure she has no idea what she's talking about, so I don't really want to use it. It says it's for "Ich, Velvet, and other external parasites". Except I told her four billion times that they're internal.
I'm in the US. Is there something else I can buy?
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Myaj
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Re: Parasites!
I don't think coppersafe is for internal parasites.
Usually for internal parasites you want to feed the fish some food treated with internal parasite medication (GelTek works, I use the metronidazole/levimasole method myself, lots have had good luck with Flubenol but as was said, there might not be any available, see the sticky post in this forum about puffer safe dewormer).
I have no idea what your shrimp have, that's something I've never heard of before. Best of luck with it, and keep us updated.
Usually for internal parasites you want to feed the fish some food treated with internal parasite medication (GelTek works, I use the metronidazole/levimasole method myself, lots have had good luck with Flubenol but as was said, there might not be any available, see the sticky post in this forum about puffer safe dewormer).
I have no idea what your shrimp have, that's something I've never heard of before. Best of luck with it, and keep us updated.
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zombiefetus
- Fahaka Puffer
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Re: Parasites!
should I try the medication I have then? what dosage should I use?
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Hilly
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Re: Parasites!
For a parasite dosage it is best to go with the full reommended dose for the size of your tank, a lesser strength could not kill off all the parasites and give them time to build up a resistance.
Hilly
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Pufferpunk
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Re: Parasites!
Do not use copper in your main tank! Copper is extremely toxic used incorrectly & will absorb into your substrate/rockwork, leaching out at the wrong time, causing huge problems. You would also need a copper test kit to use with it. It is not for IPs.
Read the article we have on IPs in our Library.
Read the article we have on IPs in our Library.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"