Worms bursting out of skin

[Mr.Manty]

I had 3 needlenose gar that i have been feeding wild mosquito fish for months.

Aboutt 2 months ago two of the gar along with my sengali bichir started developing these red swollen spots on their abdomens. One of the gar died a couple days later but the other two seemed unfazed.

The bulges continued to grow for over a month when my research eventually lead me to callamanus worms. This made sense looking at the swollen anus of the bichir and the internal nature of the disease. So i blacked out the tank amd treated wih levamisole for two days strait. The bulges remained, all fish continued eating. I fed the gar ghost shrimp from this point onward.

Well over a week later after no improvement on the red bulges, worms are now spewing out of the skin of one of my gar! I have never seen a single worm be pooped out by any of them. Now my bichir seems like he is about to burst too.

These worms do no seem to be contained to the digestive track. What do i do?

 

[kno4te]

Never seen it like this. Does look like callamanus worms. Could take some real up close picks if able.

Should be protruding out the anus.

Try some febendazole if levamisole didn't work. But not sure if it'll survive like this.

Is the water brackish?

 

[kno4te]

May need to repeat the dose of levamisole or fenbendazole as a couple of re-treatments is neeeded.

 

[Drstrangelove]

Really sorry. That looks quite like a nasty issue.

No experience, but here's a few threads on it.


https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/urgent-need-of-help-callamanus-worms.672811/

https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/...worms-and-levamisole-hcl.549094/#post-6556126

https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/callamanus-the-war-begins.542990/#post-6487904

 

[Mr.Manty]

Thanks guys

I am beginning round 2 of levamisole tonight. Worms are now bursting from the bichir in his shoulder area.

Never seen it like this. Does look like callamanus worms. Could take some real up close picks if able.

Should be protruding out the anus.

Try some febendazole if levamisole didn't work. But not sure if it'll survive like this.

Is the water brackish?

I have never seen a single worm protrude out of their anus. The bichir even has worms coming out of his shoulder area.

The water is fresh water.

 

[kno4te]

Not sure if it'll make it. Reminds me of the scene from alien with bursting out of the chest scene.

Anyway....may need to increase the salinity in the tank. Most needle nose gar need brackish water unless can be verified from a proven freshwater source. Most are from brackish water. The salt will help with irritating the worm. I'm not sure about these worms and salinity but salt does irritate parasites.

Bichirs don't like brackish water, irritating and may cause skin and eye issues, so may need to move it to another qt tank or setup.

Probably using live food (gar especially) to feed and this maybe the possible source vs being wild caught.

Would retry with levamisole or fenbendazole if available. When it's egg form it may not be killed and need to be retreated.

Will need to continue to treat the entire tank.

Hope for the best. Keep posting as it progresses good or bad.

Charney

 

[Mr.Manty]

From all my research needlenose do just fine in freshwater. These guys have been healthy with huge appetites.

I pretty much know for sure it was the wild feeders that carried the parasites. I will need to get a healthy breeding colony of feeders next time around. Cant trust wild ones. The parasites weren't created in a lab just for our aquariums, parasites exist in the wild in abundance.

I will update tomorrow, thank you!

 

[Mr.Manty]

Before i started treatment the worms did leave his wound overnight. He seems unfazed. The bichir and other needlefish still have visible red bulges on their bodies.

The tank has been blacked out for about 30 hours now. I will update at the end of 72 hours.

 

[Mr.Manty]

So the gar an bichir seem to be healing despite worms bursting from their flesh. However, after completeing treatment, i still see many red bulges of worms under their skin.
I am thinking that these worms are protected from the levamisole by the flesh of the fish considering they are not consrained to the intestinal tract. My current plan is to feed as normal with clean food and medicate when i see worms emerge from the skin.

 

[kno4te]

If there eggs then the meds won't work. As far as i know the meds don't penetrate the eggs. So have to keep repeat treating 3-4 times. Eventually they will be gone after rounds of treatment.