red "spikes" from anal opening and small white worms in gravel...

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kendrew

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 9, 2009
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Fall River Ma.
so here is my issue...i use to have some africans that had a similar problem that ended up being fatal to some...now my female flowerhorn seems to have contracted...
there are 2-3 small spikes that are protruding from her anal opening.... does anyone know why???? i couldnt figure it out in time to save my africans but i hope to get an answer b4 its too late for my FH.... please post pics if you know what i am talking about.....i thought in the past they were "nematodes" but i havent fed this one any live food and sanatized the tank b4 getting her.....
also there are small white worms i find floating around my tank when the gravel is disturbed....they are barely visible to the naked eye they are about 1-2 1/8ths of an inch long and about the with of a hair they basicaly drift in the water....(they actualy look like this "~" and are about the same size just thinner).could they be the problem???? any help will be appriciated greatly!!!!!:(
 
Hey Kendrew

I know exactly what you are talking about with the red spikes from the anus. I only notice the red spikes protrude out when my fish poops then it retracts back in the anus. And I also have little white worms in a tank i have and they dont seem to do my fish any harm.

If anyone knows what we are talking about, i'd also like to know what and if the red spikes from the anus and the white worms will harm my fish.
 
not to sure on the worms from the anal but the worms that are free floating are planaria worms they are from either to much waste or to much uneaten food they shouldnt hurt your fish. just do normal tank change and try to remove any food after a min time. good luck on your other problem. i know there are others out in the forum that can help you with the other problem
 
the red "spikes" protruding from the anal pore of the fish are called camallanus worms and are a nasty parasite that suck the blood from the host fish. When they protrude from the anus like that they usually are depositing eggs into the water. Very hard to get rid of. You will have to use a dewormer and make several water changes over a course of 6 months just to get rid of camallanus worms. there is also a anti parasite fish food that many pet stores carry that seems to work but the fish don't care for it too much but it works. you still will have to vacume the gravel alot with the food treatment or dewormer. To get the dewormer you need to go to a vet and have them pre messure 3cc liquid fenbendazole (panacur) for a 2 day course. soak frozen bloodworms in the medication and feed every 12 hours for 2 days (4 feedings), then repeat in 14 days.

the other white worms are planaria worms, caused from too much food, or dirty tank, clean your filter and do a couple water changes and cut back feeding. If you want to permenently remove the worms pick up a product called clout. they worms do not hurt the fish but too many of them can cause irritation to gills. They make great fry food!!! smaller fish will eat them with no harm.
 
Kendrew, get pics.

Blueflowerfish, do you have a pic of this on a FH? I thought I saw something similar in mine a while back, bit not in the recent past. I googled some images of them, but it did not look similar to what I thought I saw in mine.
 
flowerhorns don't generally have this problem unless they come from a fish farm in Florida that I can't remember the name of right now. I have only noticed that fish that are from a particular fish farm in Florida have these and they can spread but it's a long process. If you buy any fish from PetSmart, all their fish usually have them since they buy them from this farm. Here are a couple pics that I could find on the net. Oh and do not try to pull the worms out of the fish.
displayimage.php

camallanus.jpg
 
Well I don't think it was anything quite this bad. Do they hang out all the time? I took my FH out of tank last week to get a few vent shots and did not see anything like this. I'll check again when I get home tonight. What should I do if I see any?
 
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