Fruitbat
Aquarium Advice Addict
A few weeks ago I introduced a new female Blue Gourami (Trichogaster trichopterus) to my main tank after having her in a QT tank for a week with no outward signs of problems. About two days after putting the new fish in the tank I noticed a reddish ulcer right at the base of her tail. I thought it might have been the result of a nip from the resident male who was chasing her around a bit (obviously in an amorous mood)so I dosed the tank with Mela-Fix and kept an eye on her.
A couple of days later I noticed a similar ulcer near the anal fin of the male gourami...then another at the base of the tail of the new female. I looked a little more closely and quickly noticed a small thread-like object protruding from the area of the ulcer on the female. Within two more days, all three of my blue gouramis were festooned with these little repulsive parasites. One of the poor females had so many on her back half that she looked almost hairy. All three gouramis were obviously in distress...swimming listlessly and scratching themselves against any rough surface in the tank in an attempt to rid themselves of the parasites.
For those of you unfamiliar with anchor "worms"...they aren't really worms at all. They are parasitic copepods, mostly of the genus Lernea that resemble small threads (about 5/8 inch long) when they attach to a host fish. The "anchor" part of their name is because the front end of the female develops into an anchor-like "foot" embedded in their host's skin. The body of the copepod is so tough that it usually won't break with the hard pull it takes to extract the anchor.
Some people advocate physically removing these pests with a pair of forceps but I didn't want to subject my already stressed fish to that kind of abuse unless it became absolutely necessary. The first thing I did was to rack up the temp in my aquarium (slowly) to 85 degrees in hopes of screwing up the free-swimming larval stage of the copepods. Then I brought in the 'big guns' - a formulation called Parasite Clear by Jungle. Within two days of using the med I noticed a dramatic decrease in the number of parasites clinging to my fish. After a week I did a 25% water change and dosed the tank a second time with the Parasite Clear.
I'm happy to say that the anchor "worms" seem to have been cleared. I'm observing the gouramis carefully for any new outbreak. Interestingly enough...none of the Tiger Barbs or loaches in my tank were affected by these parasites.
A couple of days later I noticed a similar ulcer near the anal fin of the male gourami...then another at the base of the tail of the new female. I looked a little more closely and quickly noticed a small thread-like object protruding from the area of the ulcer on the female. Within two more days, all three of my blue gouramis were festooned with these little repulsive parasites. One of the poor females had so many on her back half that she looked almost hairy. All three gouramis were obviously in distress...swimming listlessly and scratching themselves against any rough surface in the tank in an attempt to rid themselves of the parasites.
For those of you unfamiliar with anchor "worms"...they aren't really worms at all. They are parasitic copepods, mostly of the genus Lernea that resemble small threads (about 5/8 inch long) when they attach to a host fish. The "anchor" part of their name is because the front end of the female develops into an anchor-like "foot" embedded in their host's skin. The body of the copepod is so tough that it usually won't break with the hard pull it takes to extract the anchor.
Some people advocate physically removing these pests with a pair of forceps but I didn't want to subject my already stressed fish to that kind of abuse unless it became absolutely necessary. The first thing I did was to rack up the temp in my aquarium (slowly) to 85 degrees in hopes of screwing up the free-swimming larval stage of the copepods. Then I brought in the 'big guns' - a formulation called Parasite Clear by Jungle. Within two days of using the med I noticed a dramatic decrease in the number of parasites clinging to my fish. After a week I did a 25% water change and dosed the tank a second time with the Parasite Clear.
I'm happy to say that the anchor "worms" seem to have been cleared. I'm observing the gouramis carefully for any new outbreak. Interestingly enough...none of the Tiger Barbs or loaches in my tank were affected by these parasites.
