Enchantress
Aquarium Advice Activist
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2017
- Messages
- 165
Unfortunately it looks as though my female betta contracted some kind of skin parasite (I suspect skin flukes, Gyrodactylus) - she kept rubbing against objects in the tank and occasionally clamping her fins or swimming in short bursts, but her skin looked clear, which is why I was really confused at first. But then I noticed that if you looked at her from a certain angle you could see tiny, thin white threads stuck to her scales - they looked kind of like those little stinging hairs you sometimes see on leaves, or tiny pieces of debris. Most were probably around 1-2mm long. Too small to remove manually, and they didn't look like anchor worms either (these get quite large, as far as I know). After hours of online searching I came to the conclusion that the most likely candidate was skin flukes, so I gave her a 1hour bath in potassium permanganate, which seems to have helped - I haven't noticed her flashing as much as before, and I can't see those little strands anymore either. Her colours seem more intense now, too. Thing is, I don't know whether that bath was enough - I'm worried there might still be parasite eggs inside the tank, and they'll just keep coming back unless I treat the whole aquarium (a bit difficult, since I have lots of live plants & shrimp in there which are impossible to get out - believe me, I've tried. Plus I don't want to mess up the biological balance). On the other hand, that fish is the only one in the aquarium, so if I got it out and killed off all the parasites that were on it, there shouldn't be anymore left in the tank itself (at least no adult forms)?
I also have one other fish tank that's currently empty except for some amanos, and I was just about to stock it (nota bene with another single betta
), but now I don't know if I should, at least until this issue is definitely resolved. I use the same cleaning equipment for both tanks and I'm worried that I may have transferred whatever was in the betta tank to this one :/ Currently I've come up with a simple 2-step plan: to be on the safe side, treat both tanks with Sera Phyto Med Tremazid OR Sera Med Professional Tremazol (both apparently shrimp-safe? also, any info on their effectiveness would be greatly appreciated) & disinfect all equipment in PP before, during and after the treatment.
Anyway, my question is: was this PP dip enough to kill off the worms, or will they keep coming back unless I de-worm the whole aquarium? And if so, then is my treatment plan OK? Or should I just observe her for now, in the meantime stock the other aquarium and deal with any problems as they come? If you have any other advice, it would also be very much appreciated
I also have one other fish tank that's currently empty except for some amanos, and I was just about to stock it (nota bene with another single betta
), but now I don't know if I should, at least until this issue is definitely resolved. I use the same cleaning equipment for both tanks and I'm worried that I may have transferred whatever was in the betta tank to this one :/ Currently I've come up with a simple 2-step plan: to be on the safe side, treat both tanks with Sera Phyto Med Tremazid OR Sera Med Professional Tremazol (both apparently shrimp-safe? also, any info on their effectiveness would be greatly appreciated) & disinfect all equipment in PP before, during and after the treatment. Anyway, my question is: was this PP dip enough to kill off the worms, or will they keep coming back unless I de-worm the whole aquarium? And if so, then is my treatment plan OK? Or should I just observe her for now, in the meantime stock the other aquarium and deal with any problems as they come? If you have any other advice, it would also be very much appreciated
