Possible worm on clown loach body?

[jdmstop]

Hi, I recently (last week) added a batch of 4 clown loaches, 2 large clown loaches at about 3.5 inch and 2 medium size, these are donated from my buddy to me because they outgrew his tank.

They were really healthy loaches, however, last night I just saw one my my biggest clown loach has a what it appear to be a slight white thing popping out of the skin. I'm thinking this can be a worm because lately I had couple of little neon tetra which had the same thing on their body which I removed from the tank right away. I don't think this can be ICK because it's not just a white spot but a white thing that kind of protrude out of the skin. What do you guys think this is? I have been treating the clowns all of them by soaking some hikari sinking wafer in GEL TEK ultra cure PX for the past couple days. WE'll see how it goes.

Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. I will also attempt to take couple of photos of the spot on the clown tomorrow!

Thanks in advance!

[Diana]

It is possible for fish to get a parasite that lives in the flesh and then comes out like you are describing. I do not know what sort of medicine works on that, though. Regular wormers do not; these meds are mostly gut acting, and do not enter the fish's body in a significant dose to kill such a parasite.

Any way to post a picture?

[mickthefish]

the only medication that ive heard will combat parasites is flubenol, if you can get hold of it, we can in the UK but not sure anywhere else.?

mick

[loachmom]

Hello and welcome,

I have a similar problem. A little while ago, I posted about this fish with a lump on his belly.
http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php?t=10782

This fish is still alive, and the lump is completely gone. But this past weekend, this fish had something protruding from the skin where the lump had been. It looked like a small white splinter. I thought it must be some type of a parasite. I retreated the tank with Levamisole Hydrochoride because that was all that I had. The white splinter-like thing is completely gone.

Another fish (danio roseus) that had a small blister never developed a lump but is very, very skinny. Now third fish (also a danio roseus) has a huge, bulging lump and pop-eye. These last two fish are in a quarantine tank right now being treated with Melafix as a precaution.

I'm not sure what's going on, but hopefully it doesn't spread anymore.

Hope all goes well for you. I'll be watching this thread. Please keep up updated.

[jdmstop]

Hi, I call a Local Fish Store,

He mention that this may be a hook worm and he gave me a white tablet to treat the whole tank, I'll see how this work.

[jdmstop]

Hi, I took a picture of the fish today infected with possible worm. look carefully direct to the left of this loach's gill. This "thing" is protruding out of the skin, though it looks flat from the picture, it is not flat. The area where the protrusion is slightly swell up as well.

[shari2]

Be careful messing about with hookworms in your tanks. They are transmittable to humans. Mainly from eating fresh fish, or walking barefoot in moist soil, but I'd be careful if you have any open wounds on your hands if this is what's in your tank. I'm also not sure that 'hookworm' is the correct term for what you're seeing. Most of what I found Goggling around describes 'hookworms' as a parasite transmittable to humans from soil, or other mammals.

Here's a handy little chart that is a good starting place to hunt down info on what your fish may be suffering from.

http://www.plantedtank.net/articles/Com ... seases/13/

If I were you I'd check out anchorworms (Lernaea). If that is what is bugging your fish treatment involves removal with tweezers or forceps, dabbing a petroleum based antibiotic on the open wound, excellent water care and watching carefully for re-infestation.

You could also look into fish lice, though it seems less likely to me.

An alternative that is worth a try is plain old salt. Dipping the fish in a 3% solution for 10 minutes (or until you see the fish is stressing) will cause most external parasites to swell, sometimes burst, and release from the fish. If you think you see several fish affected dip them individually, remove them to a qtank after treatment and watch your main tank carefully. You can try treating the tank with formalin while the symptomatic fish are in the qtank, but i'm unsure if it will eradicate the parasite.

Let me know the ingredients in the med your fish store gave you, please.

Sounds nasty to me. I'll look about a bit longer, then I'm off to house cleaning (oh joy) and Christmas stuff, then work.

[loachmom]

That picture of the worm in the "lernaea" link looks very similar to the white splinter that was sticking out of my fish. Two more roseus are developing that lump under their belly today. I think I'll remove the whole school to a quarantine tank to keep them from infecting the rest of the tank (hopefully, I'm not too late.) I hope I can catch them.....

[jdmstop]

Thanks you Shari for taking the time to help me out.

I just treated my tank today with some medication. I'll do a 50% change of water tomorrow. This lump I have on the loach does not indicate that there is a worm sticking out of the body, but its more like a body sore or small lump and its white on the surface. I am not sure if there is a worm inside the body. How can I lay the fish out and try to extract whatever it is from the skin, wouldn't the fish go into a shock? This is a pretty large size loach, it is about 4 inches long.