Anchor worm epidemic!!!

[car_leen]

3 out of 4 of my goldfish have anchor worms hanging out of them with the red sores and everything. What can I do to help my fishes? Is there a medicine I can put in my tank to kill these suckers off? Or do I have to pull them out with tweezers?

Also, what can I do to sterilize the tank safely to be sure they're gone?


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[dandries]

My LFS had this issue with fish I wanted. They did heavy salt dips at first but ended up medicating. I put a UV filter in my tank because I read it kills juvenile anchor worms in the water as a precaution. I don't know what medicine they used but I know that it said it worked on anchor worms on the box.

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[jlk]

3 out of 4 of my goldfish have anchor worms hanging out of them with the red sores and everything. What can I do to help my fishes? Is there a medicine I can put in my tank to kill these suckers off? Or do I have to pull them out with tweezers?

Also, what can I do to sterilize the tank safely to be sure they're gone?

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Are you in the US or another country? Med options vary by country. In the US, Cyropro (by Hikari) is your best option.

The anchors can be manually removed with tweezers but the tank will still need to be treated with a full course of meds. Increasing the salinity level gradually to .1% (little less than 1level tsp/g) will help to limit infection in the sores. Predissolve the salt in a container of tank water and add the salt solution gradually over a 24hr period. Only replace the salt you remove with wcs. Please ask any questions!

 

[car_leen]

Do I have to manually do it? How do I do that? I know with tweezers, but what are the other procedures to do it safely without harming them?

Yes I'm in the United States. Thank you for your advice, I'm so worried about them I just wanna fix this already.


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[dandries]

Yes, you would manually have to remove them. Here are some articles that I found helpful when I did my research:


Aquarium FD - Anchor Worms - Disease Identification, Diagnosis & Treatment


Third post:
http://www.myaquariumclub.com/ancho...ing-affects-hello.-id-like-to...-1938954.html

Talks about UV killing juveniles:
Anchor Worms: a Common Springtime Pest in Koi and Goldfish Ponds

 

[car_leen]

Yes, you would manually have to remove them. Here are some articles that I found helpful when I did my research:





Aquarium FD - Anchor Worms - Disease Identification, Diagnosis & Treatment





Third post:

http://www.myaquariumclub.com/ancho...ing-affects-hello.-id-like-to...-1938954.html



Talks about UV killing juveniles:

Anchor Worms: a Common Springtime Pest in Koi and Goldfish Ponds

Thank you so much for those articles. I will be trying to take them out today, & get the tank back to normal. Hopefully all goes well for my fishies.



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[jlk]

Removing them is fairly easy (if your not squeamish). Gently pick the fish up the tummy with your hand and pluck the the anchor. Grasp the anchor firmly at its base where it comes off the fish's body and gently pull until its removed.

As anchors are not actually worms but crustaceous copepods, you need to treat with an organophosphate insecticide. Older meds such as Dimilin or Clout are extremely toxic and may kill already sick fish. Cyropro is a newer, less toxic formulation that I have used successfully to treat anchors in the past. You do need to monitor closely for secondary infections (thus the salt suggestion) as these can result in demise as well. Please ask any questions!