Worms in pimafix?!!

[Bmtiz92]

Just put the first dose of pimafix in my tank with fish I think have ick, and as soon as I dosed it there were all the little worms in my tank! What on earth do I do??

 

[Bmtiz92]

Now my fish are dying!!

 

[Bmtiz92]

I moved all the fish from that tank into just an empty tank with new water and an air stone, and they have perked up. What on earth was in that stuff?! Do I have to change my filter and lose all my BB?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Don't change your filter just do a large PWC. I've used pimafix before and I found it to be completely useless.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Why where you using it to treat ich?

 

[Bmtiz92]

I don't have an adjustable heater and that's what I've always heard to use for it. But as soon as I added it to the tank these worms were everywhere and my fish were laying on their sides barely breathing. I didn't know what else to do so I just filled up a tiny 1.5 gallon tank, put prime in it and scooped them all out. Several were completely lifeless after only 5 minutes.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I don't have an adjustable heater and that's what I've always heard to use for it. But as soon as I added it to the tank these worms were everywhere and my fish were laying on their sides barely breathing. I didn't know what else to do so I just filled up a tiny 1.5 gallon tank, put prime in it and scooped them all out. Several were completely lifeless after only 5 minutes.

Ok, do a 100% PWC in you tank and rinse your media out in fresh dechlorinated water. Then move your fish back to their tank (making sure to acclimatize them properly). You have two options that I can think of. Buy some proper meds to treat the tank. (Sorry can't recommend anything. Never used any myself.) Or go buy an adjustable heater and some aquarium salt. I would pick the latter. I will attach some info on ich for you.
http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_ich2.php

 

[Batt4Christ]

Something more to the story:

Water parameters?
What did these worms look like?
Unstable tank temps is an ich outbreak waiting to happen- and a "cure" will be fleeting.

My thoughts- there was another underlying issue going on. Lots of "worms" might indicate an outbreak of flatworms- generally harmless and not uncommon even in healthy tanks- but when you poured in the melafix (how much did you add?), might it have stirred up a cloud of these worms from the substrate?

Excessive flatworms means there is a LOT of organic "junk"- surpluses unbeaten food or dead critters is the usual source.

Could the cloud of worms clogged fish gills? Or could the fish already have been stressed (ich, unstable temps, water chemistry?), and the. Get hit with an additional stress of a big dose of melafix?

 

[Batt4Christ]

Excuse me-pimafix, not melafix...

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Something more to the story:

Water parameters?
What did these worms look like?
Unstable tank temps is an ich outbreak waiting to happen- and a "cure" will be fleeting.

My thoughts- there was another underlying issue going on. Lots of "worms" might indicate an outbreak of flatworms- generally harmless and not uncommon even in healthy tanks- but when you poured in the melafix (how much did you add?), might it have stirred up a cloud of these worms from the substrate?

Excessive flatworms means there is a LOT of organic "junk"- surpluses unbeaten food or dead critters is the usual source.

Could the cloud of worms clogged fish gills? Or could the fish already have been stressed (ich, unstable temps, water chemistry?), and the. Get hit with an additional stress of a big dose of melafix?

I just thought of that too. Maybe plantra (or what ever you call them) in the substrate and they didn't like the pimafix.

 

[McLumpy]

Worms?! Ok, that is strange!

Have you poured some of the Pimafix into a clear glass to make sure they come out of the bottle? I'm not saying it isn't possible that they were in there, but I would verify that they did in fact come from the bottle. If they did, I would definitely contact the store or even the company that makes Pimafix.

As far as Ich treatment goes... you could always try Rid Ich since the heat/salt method isn't an option. Of course, that should be the least of your worries at the moment. Doing pwc's should definitely help get the critters out. In between the pwc's you can just rinse your filter media out in dechlorinated water.

 

[Batt4Christ]

I just thought of that too. Maybe plantra (or what ever you call them) in the substrate and they didn't like the pimafix.

Planaria - aquatic flatworms

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Planaria - aquatic flatworms

Thanks! Knew it started with 'plan'.

 

[Bmtiz92]

Parameters are amm-0 Nitrite- 0 -nitrate- 10. The tank was actually an emergency set up for surprise guppy fry, has been up and running for about 2 1/2 months. Never had a problem with it until they suddenly broke out with ich, I do 50 % PWC with gravel vac every other day because the tank is so small so I don't think it's because of bad water quality but I don't know, I'm still relatively new to all of this. I've just been waiting for them to get a little bigger before I move them in with everyone else. I may move them in the morning to my ten gallon with the adjustable heater. The tank stays at a consistent 76 degrees, I just can't control the temperature, there's no turning it up or down. I did pour some of the pimafix into a clear glass and there are worms in it, but not as many as showed up in my tank so maybe I already had some? Also, when I put them in the new water, worms actually started coming off of the fish as they livened up, but I swear they weren't there before, I watch my fish more than my TV. I dosed a little bit under what the bottle recommended. It smells REALLY strongly, so I don't know if that's not normal either? Even my tank smells like rotten mint.
Oh..forgot to say what they looked like. They looked like little tiny, white pieces of thread, but were definitely moving.

 

[Hholly]

Wow, sounds gross. Hope it goes away for you.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

How are your fish going now? Any better?

 

[Bmtiz92]

Everybody seems back to normal today, and, on the plus side, the ick seems to be gone. I'm not dosing with that junk again. I changed the water completely, rinsed all the gravel and plants, and swished out thr filter media. Hopefully they continue to be ok..

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Everybody seems back to normal today, and, on the plus side, the ick seems to be gone. I'm not dosing with that junk again. I changed the water completely, rinsed all the gravel and plants, and swished out thr filter media. Hopefully they continue to be ok..

That's good to hear. Are you sure it was ich you were seeing in the fish? Maybe it was the worms. Just a thought.

 

[Bmtiz92]

I'm not so sure now, I'm really confused ROFL. It really did look like ich but I may have been wrong. That sure was scary though.