worm

Oh no! Sick fish?! Come here and see if someone can help!
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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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mr_jason32
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worm

Post by mr_jason32 »

i was leaving for spring break and i noticed that my f8 wasn't eating but there wasn't anything i could do because i had to leave that day so i was hoping that he was just tired or something but now i came back and noticed a worm like imprint on his stomach that is all bendy and a little hole at the end of it. will this effect the other fish in the tank and how do i get rid of it. i already looked at the article you have given out to others and i didn't see anything pertaining to this problem.
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Phaedrus
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Post by Phaedrus »

Can you get a picture?
mr_jason32
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Post by mr_jason32 »

i don't have a camera that could take a good enough pic. ill try to describe it the best way i can.

its like a curvy pattern on his stomach that is see through. around the middle is the hole but everything is on the inside, nothing is hanging out. i went to my lfs and they gave me a thing called gel tek for internal parasites. its something they are supposed to eat to treat for stuff that isn't hanging out of them. that's about the best i can do.
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Pufferpunk
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Post by Pufferpunk »

Don't bother, it is a nematode. Do a search here on them.
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!"
mr_jason32
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Post by mr_jason32 »

is there anything i can do about this?
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Pufferpunk
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T lineatus
T miurus
A modestus
T biocellatus
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C papuan
C lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles
Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
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Post by Pufferpunk »

No, fish can live quite a while with them. I would seperate him from other fish, so they don't get it. If you try to killl the worm, the body will rot inside the fish.
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!"
mr_jason32
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Post by mr_jason32 »

this is a sad day as wen wen (the f8) will no longer live a happy life. thank you for the help.
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Post by YBeNormal »

He might still live many happy and relatively healthy years even w/ a nematode.
--Bob
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Phaedrus
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Post by Phaedrus »

What are the other fish in the tank with him? They may all be infected.
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Pufferpunk
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T miurus
A modestus
T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
C lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles
Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
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Post by Pufferpunk »

Not usually likely--but possible.
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!"
RTR
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Post by RTR »

In-tank transmission of body cavity and somatic tissue worms is quite rare. These fish are the second intermediate host of a complex life cycle which is highly unlikely to be completed in an indoor tank. In ponds it is possible but still unlikely unless the pond is quite large and complex.
Last edited by RTR on Sun Mar 19, 2006 7:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Phaedrus
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Post by Phaedrus »

I was just reading up on nematodes. Very interesting creatures. And very gross :p
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Post by RTR »

Somatic nematodes were one of the biggest hurdles in keeping and breeding the Madagascar chameleons. Once captive bred became available, the issues were much reduced. Such things are not just a fish issue.
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Post by ChesapeakeSwellfish »

If the fish is large enough, it is technically possible to remove somatic nematodes from some locations surgically. It is the rare fish that survives the operation however. Best on a small fish like a F8 to do nothing.
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