Annabelle IP's (From Tapeworms to Camallanus worms)

Oh no! Sick fish?! Come here and see if someone can help!
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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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edmlfc1
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Re: Annabelle IP's and Ich with pictures

Post by edmlfc1 »

Pandora114, what do I do now?
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Re: Annabelle IP's and Ich with pictures

Post by t1gerbee »

good grief! Well i never...

Maybe the IP's treatment killed it, and now it's out puff will start feeling better...

does her tummy still look lumpy? Maybe teh lumps were all tapeworm???

That is sooooo gross. :D
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Dadof4
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Re: Annabelle IP's and Ich with pictures

Post by Dadof4 »

That is a tapeworm! Wow, did you get all of it? Tape worms are segmented and can break at their segments. PraziPro is the treatment for this type of tapeworms in fish. There is another antiparacitic, ivermectin, that can be used but I'm not sure if that is available in an over the counter form or what the dosing for fish would be. The biggest problem with tapeworms is re-infestation, you usually see that at about 4-6 weeks after the end of treatment. Oh, 7 inches, big for a fish but, small in the grand scheme of things. One of the species humans can get will grow up to 20 feet in length.....*shudder*
"Darwin swings...annnnnnd a miss. Boy Jim, Chuck's suffered at the plate tonight. He's 0 for 3 and I'm not sure he's recovered from that shoulder pull a few weeks ago. I'll bet the front office is re-thinking that contract."
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t1gerbee
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Re: Annabelle IP's and Ich with pictures

Post by t1gerbee »

Dadof4 wrote: One of the species humans can get will grow up to 20 feet in length.....*shudder*
I was just talking to my other half about the same thing... enough to make your have your meat VERY well done isn't it, as tapeworm larve can live in meat and if you have it rare... ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Where's the smiley for 'about to vomit' ?!
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edmlfc1
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Re: Annabelle IP's and Ich with pictures

Post by edmlfc1 »

I know! I was gagging, I had Annabelle in one hand the tweezers in the other and it touched me! I figured if I vomited in her tank it would be a bigger mess to clean than if I vomited on the floor. :shock: I'm not sure how she would have gotten it. I freeze all of her food before feeding her. Most of it frozen for at least a week to a month. This is crazy! I had to leave for work, she is still in the net, I just turned it around and left her alone. She can swim out of it if she want's too. I figure she's been through enough for one day so I just let her be. :( I didn't want that thing going back in, that's why I pulled it out. I'm hoping that I got all of it.

Btw: Yes her tummy is flat now. No more lumpy tummy! I'll check on her again when I get home and make sure she's ok. I'll update in 3 hours. :)
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Dadof4
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Re: Annabelle IP's and Ich with pictures

Post by Dadof4 »

One thing I thought of and I hate to even bring it up because I'm not sure and this may sound silly but its the nurse in me coming out even after I put him away for the day.....edmlfc1, wash your hands with hot soapy water! The larva from these guys can form a hard protective shell around them and they need to be washed off. I don't know if this is transmittable from fish to human. If you were in the tank or handled Annebelle there is a chance that the larva can end up on your hands.
"Darwin swings...annnnnnd a miss. Boy Jim, Chuck's suffered at the plate tonight. He's 0 for 3 and I'm not sure he's recovered from that shoulder pull a few weeks ago. I'll bet the front office is re-thinking that contract."
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edmlfc1
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Location: Texas

Re: Annabelle IP's and Ich with pictures

Post by edmlfc1 »

I did! :D That thing was so gross, when it touched me it was like snot! I couldn't wait to wash my hands. :D
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Dadof4
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Location (country): United States
Location: North Wisconsin

Re: Annabelle IP's and Ich with pictures

Post by Dadof4 »

edmlfc1 wrote:I did! :D That thing was so gross, when it touched me it was like snot! I couldn't wait to wash my hands. :D
I figured you had the smarts to do that! :lol: That damn nurse part of me keeps coming out and if I didn't say it I wouldn't have slept tonight....
"Darwin swings...annnnnnd a miss. Boy Jim, Chuck's suffered at the plate tonight. He's 0 for 3 and I'm not sure he's recovered from that shoulder pull a few weeks ago. I'll bet the front office is re-thinking that contract."
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edmlfc1
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Location: Texas

Re: Annabelle IP's and Ich with pictures

Post by edmlfc1 »

Not a problem I appericate it. :D
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t1gerbee
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Re: Annabelle IP's and Ich with pictures

Post by t1gerbee »

i still feel sick..
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edmlfc1
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125G:Fahaka (Annabelle)
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Location: Texas

Re: Annabelle IP's and Ich with pictures

Post by edmlfc1 »

How do you think I feel? I just hope Annabelle's going to be ok. :(
Another 30 minutes and I will be home to check on her. I really don't understand how she got it.
Is it going to come back? And did I get it all? I know you probally can't answer all those questions but I'm just so worried about my baby. :( I have never in all my fish keeping years seen anything like that before.
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Re: Annabelle IP's and Ich with pictures

Post by pinkfloydpuffer »

Oh my gosh that's disgusting! I hope she gets better quick
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Re: Annabelle IP's and Ich with pictures

Post by Pandora114 »

Technically they aren't larvae

You get the egg casings.

See the life cycle of that specific tapeworm you saw is:

Egg casings get cast off in fish feces.

Shellfish, shrimp, clams ect eat the fish feces, become intermediary hosts. Then fish eats the shellfish and become infested with the adult, which are just head...and segments. They self fertilize as well, so each segment, produces eggs, and as they get longer throughout the intestine of the fish, they break off eventually and the fish poops it out, to continue again.

Now what happens when HUMANS eat an infected fish not cooked properly: The tapeworm larvae get lost. Burrow into other tissues such as muscle.

You have no worries about infection unless you put your hand to your mouth immediately after stirring the substrate...with your hand. And I suggest that you keep treating the fish for IP every 2 or 3 months after the fact, just in case she ingests some substrate and eats any segments that happened to have been cast off during her initial infection
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edmlfc1
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Location: Texas

Re: Annabelle IP's and Ich with pictures

Post by edmlfc1 »

Ok so that would explain how I've treated her twice for IP's and this happened. Now I understand. :D Thanks so much. I'll make sure to keep treating her.
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Pandora114
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Re: Annabelle IP's and Ich with pictures

Post by Pandora114 »

And I suggest not feeding her any live wild caught crayfish in the near future. Stick with farmed/captive bred ones from close friends or even set up a crawdad tank of your own.
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