Anchor worms!

SawickiB

SawickiB

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Feb 22, 2014
400
7
33
FL, United States
Alright so heres the problem, ive gotten a species of anchor worm that wont freaking go away, most likely from either the new ropefish or the new teugelsi bichirs. ATM ive been treating for five days now with paraguard by seachem, and it doesnt seem to be doing any good. So i ordered some dimilin powder and im wondering how much i should dose for a 55 gallon and how ofter. Its a grow out tank with 2 delhezis, 2 buets, 1 retropinnis, 5 tuegelsis, 1 ropefish, one synodontis hybrid, a L114 and 2 peacock eels. I list them because i would like to know if any of them would be harmed by this powder also if it matters that the smallest bichir is about 5"
 
SawickiB

SawickiB

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Feb 22, 2014
400
7
33
FL, United States
Not very close up pictures but its not the average anchor worm, i believe its the one blondie described as thing string like worms.




 
Dr.B

Dr.B

Bronze Tier VIP
MFK Member
Jul 28, 2012
3,594
649
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Texas
can't really see it, but for me almost the base of every treatment I do has me bumping up the temp to 84-86, putting some salt in there, and using either a parasite medication, fungus medication etc.., I have used API general cure to cure all the worm problems I've had and it's worked like a charm. I also treated worms with prazi pro which like general cure works really well. I would assume it's from your rope fish, because of different things , however different scenarios could've played to where your teugelsi introduced it. Either way I usually always bump up the temp, and put some salt in there for almost anything I treat.
 
SawickiB

SawickiB

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Feb 22, 2014
400
7
33
FL, United States
Alright i just purchased prazipro which should be here in two days, i added salt at first, and the temp is at 82, ill bump it up some more. The weird thing about the ropefish is it apparently was sitting at the store for 2 months before i bought him. I didnt notice worms on any of my fish but first noticed it on the ropefish and it spread the most on the ropefish. So should i treat with dimilin or not?
 
Nim Dibbley

Nim Dibbley

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Aug 13, 2010
725
34
61
CA
SawickiB said:
Alright i just purchased prazipro which should be here in two days, i added salt at first, and the temp is at 82, ill bump it up some more. The weird thing about the ropefish is it apparently was sitting at the store for 2 months before i bought him. I didnt notice worms on any of my fish but first noticed it on the ropefish and it spread the most on the ropefish. So should i treat with dimilin or not?
Click to expand...
are the worms only on the ropefish and bichirs? I am assuming it is bichir worms and I had success with Prazipro, but i had to treat for 2 weeks straight.
 
SawickiB

SawickiB

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Feb 22, 2014
400
7
33
FL, United States
Yea its only showing up on the bichirs and worms, ive heard that dimilin destroys all cycles of the worms and is commonly used on koi ponds. But ill try the prazipro first, should i do a big water change to get rid of the paraguard?
 
RLHam3

RLHam3

Candiru
MFK Member
Oct 29, 2008
536
9
48
Georgia
It is most likely a parasite called Macrogyrodactylus, which very commonly comes in on new wild caught ropefish. It is a potentially deadly parasite so I would take action sooner rather than lately. The treatment for this parasite is fairly simply. I have used Prazipro in the past with great success. I would dose as recommended, wait 7 days, and the dose again. It is a powerful chemical so just be mindful of this. Many will even do a smaller dose for polypterus because they're sensitive to many chemicals, but I usually just treat as recommended.

You will hopefully see the worms fall off within a day it two after the treatment as they become paralyzed . One very important thing to keep in mind is that as these worms fall off, they will leave behind open wounds which will very likely become infected. The most common infection is hemorrhagic septicemia, so definitely keep an eye out for this. If this does happen it isn't a big deal but you will also have to treat with an antibacterial such as sulfathiozole. Good luck with this issue. Keep us posted.
 
SawickiB

SawickiB

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Feb 22, 2014
400
7
33
FL, United States
Wow thank you so much for clearing that up, that looks exactly like it, the prazipro will be here in about 2 days, should i continue treating with paraguard or just dose with salt until the prazipro arrives? Ive been dosing for 6 days now with the paraguard and it seems there is less of them but not really signs of them falling off completely.

At first i believed those white patches were made from my synodontis sucking off the ropefish's slimecoat but it appears to be from the worms, is that because they fell off or because its getting worse? The white patches are gone now btw.

Since the meds are strong i should dose less because i have scaleless fish in the tank as well right?

Also should i do a large water change to get rid of the paraguard? I dont want to be mixing chemicals with deadly affects.
 
M

mike_sema

Hail Hogs
MFK Member
Jul 13, 2008
2,230
6
0
HOT Water
RLHam3 said:
It is most likely a parasite called Macrogyrodactylus, which very commonly comes in on new wild caught ropefish. It is a potentially deadly parasite so I would take action sooner rather than lately. The treatment for this parasite is fairly simply. I have used Prazipro in the past with great success. I would dose as recommended, wait 7 days, and the dose again. It is a powerful chemical so just be mindful of this. Many will even do a smaller dose for polypterus because they're sensitive to many chemicals, but I usually just treat as recommended.

You will hopefully see the worms fall off within a day it two after the treatment as they become paralyzed . One very important thing to keep in mind is that as these worms fall off, they will leave behind open wounds which will very likely become infected. The most common infection is hemorrhagic septicemia, so definitely keep an eye out for this. If this does happen it isn't a big deal but you will also have to treat with an antibacterial such as sulfathiozole. Good luck with this issue. Keep us posted.
Click to expand...
Solid info.
OP, praziquantel is safe for all your fish so no worries. If you do not have a Q tank it's always a good idea to try and get one esp with wild fish, not only will it cut the cost of treatments it will eliminate the need to treat your display tank/s.


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