Strange behavior and a WORM!!

[Mimi2023]

Hello, I have a baffling situation, at least to me and the lfs and local aquatics stores I have reached out to. So I have a planted 10g with 3 male guppies. They have been in the tank since 12/31, so 10 days, and have all been thriving and getting along great. Eating and behaving completely normal. Then on this past Saturday I noticed my tuxedo guy seemed to be bullying my cobra. This went on, off and on for the evening then it seemed to calm down a bit. Then Sunday morning I noticed my cobra was behaving differently. He was hiding in the top corner by the filter and only came out a few times that day. I also noticed the dreaded long, whitish but sort of clear string hanging from him. Which was poo I believe. This morning he wouldn’t eat and he was just resting close to the gravel in the middle of the tank.

I know he could be acting this way due to stress if this actually was bullying, but now the other 2 just seem concerned about him and keep going down to where he rests, seeming to nudge him up to play to no avail.

I had to leave today for a few hours and when I got home I saw a long, 1.5 to 2 inches white worm on the black substrate. I immediately suctioned it out to make sure it actually was a worm. It is it is definitely moving without any water flow. So I called several places, including where I purchased the fish, and no one could help me. They said they’ve never seen or heard of such a worm of that size and color in their tanks or anywhere else. Does anyone have any idea what the hell this could be? I am assuming it came out of my sad, disinterested guppy. But I really don’t know at this point or how to treat.

I have a quarantine tank that I have been trying to get through the cycle process so I can purchase 2 or 3 more male guppies, and safely add them to my tank. It is a bit high in ammonia at 1.0 ppm, so I have not put said guppy into quarantine as of yet. I did add some filter media from my main tank to the qt tank about 2 hours ago to try and speed the process. Any knowledge will be greatly appreciated. Also Gary(that’s the fish in questions name)looks healthy still to the eye and will come out of his sad spots briefly once the lights go down. What the heck is this worm??!! I will try to post a photo, wouldn’t let me post my video so you could see the movement. Trust me it’s a worm?

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

It could be a leech, although they are not normally white, or a tapeworm.

Any chance of a video of it moving and maybe a close up of it?

How long is it?

Is it flat or round?
Tapeworm are generally flat and look like they have segments along the body.

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If the fish had worms, and it's highly likely because just about all aquarium fish coming out of Asia have intestinal worms, this could be one that was in the fish. If it did come out of the fish, it could have left some damage inside the fish's intestine.

Did the fish lose weight overnight, (ie: it was fat before the worm appeared and then really skinny after the worm appeared)?
If yes, then it could have come out of the fish.
If no, then it might be unrelated and a coincidence that it appeared when it did.

Is the guppy still eating well?

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Intestinal Worms like tapeworm and threadworms cause the fish to lose weight, continue eating and swimming normally, and do a stringy white poop. Fish can do this for months and not be too badly affected. In some cases, fish with a bad worm infestation will actually gain weight and get fat and look like a pregnant guppy. This is due to the huge number of worms inside the fish.

Livebearers like guppies, mollies, swordtails & platies are regularly infected with gill flukes and intestinal worms.

You can use Praziquantel to treat tapeworm and gill flukes. And use Levamisole to treat thread/ round worms. If you can't find these medications, look for Flubendazole, which treats both lots of worms.

In the UK look for:
eSHa gdex contains praziquantel that treats tapeworm and gill flukes.
eSHa-ndx contains levamisole and treats thread/ round worms.
NT Labs Anti-fluke and Wormer contains flubendazole.
Kusuri wormer plus (contains flubendazole) - sold mainly for discus, comes as a powder which is quite hard to dose in smaller tanks
Sera nematol (contains emamectin)

Remove carbon from filters before treatment and increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise oxygen levels in the water.

You treat the fish once a week for 4 weeks. The first treatment will kill any worms in the fish. The second, third and forth treatments kill any baby worms that hatch from eggs inside the fish's digestive tract.

Treat every fish tank in the house at the same time to prevent cross contamination.

You do a 75% water change and complete gravel clean 24-48 hours after treatment. Clean the filter 24 hours after treatment too.

Do not use the 2 medications together. If you want to treat both medications in a short space of time, use Praziquantel on day one. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate on day 2 & 3. Treat the tank with Levamisole on day 4 and do a 75% water change and gravel clean on day 5, 6 & 7 and then start with Praziquantel again on day 8.

The water changes will remove most of the medication so you don't overdose the fish the next time you treat them. The gravel cleaning will suck out any worms and eggs that have been expelled by the fish. Repeating the treatment for 3-4 doses at weekly intervals will kill any worms that hatch from eggs. At the end of the treatment you will have healthier fish.

 

[Mimi2023]

Hi Colin, and thank you for the reply. I did research leeches and tapeworms. Seems too small for a leech and too big for a tapeworm. Also no segments in the body at all. It is mostly flat but looks rounded at the ends. And it appears to be at least an inch and a half long, maybe 2 in. It’s just so strange. Definitely doesn’t fit the usual type of parasite that guppies would become infected with.

He is not bloated or skinny looking at all. Still looks relatively healthy, body and color wise. Has not lost any noticeable weight as of yet. He has not eaten since Sunday morning. I tried to feed him some veggie flakes after he had been in the qt tank for a hour or so. He ignored and didn’t eat a bite. I am going to get some frozen blood worms today to try and entice him to eat. When I woke this morning he was still chilling close to the gravel middle of the tank. He has been swimming off and on. I did manage to move him into my quarantine tank this morning. Added some aquarium salt to that tank. He is staying more at the top and swimming around a little bit more.

I am going to my local aquatic fish store to get some parasite medication in a little while. Just so I will have on hand if he doesn’t get any better in the qt tank.
I keep wondering if maybe it was just a coincidence that the worm appeared as he’s been showing these symptoms, but I really do not know where it could’ve come from. I did add a small fern on Saturday but I washed it thoroughly and kept it soaking for hours before I placed it in the tank. It’s dark green and I feel
like I would’ve seen it had it been on the plant. But it is possible, stranger things have happened.

I have tried to upload a video of the worm and it won’t let me. Just says video not allowed. I am loading two more pics of Gary from just a few minutes ago. Thanks again for your help!!✌?

 

[Colin_T]

You can upload videos to YouTube, then copy & paste the link here.

Is the fish breathing rapidly?
If yes then that is either a gill problem or more likely pain from the internal issue.

There's no point getting medications yet, because we're not sure what is wrong with the fish. If you get something that treats protozoan parasites, it probably won't make any difference because the fish doesn't have a protozoan infection.

It doesn't appear to have a bacterial or fungal infection either so antibiotics and anti-fungal medication isn't needed.

With salt, you need to add 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres (5 gallons) of water. If there's no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres of water.

The worm? could have been in the plant roots.

 

[Mimi2023]

Ok good to know. Yes he is gasping for air or breathing rapidly. Since this morning only. I feel so bad for him and I don’t know what to do for him. I took the worm to an aquatic store close by and the owner said it definitely looks like an internal parasite. They sold me praziPro but I have not dosed it yet. I’m still reading and researching. Don’t worry I am not going to just start throwing meds in the tank. I tend to err on the side of caution when it comes to medicating my fish. But he did say that if I wanted to use it it wouldn’t hurt the fish, so idk what to do. I feel like he is going to die if I don’t do something.

I’m just at a loss for which treatment. I also have general cure not sure which is better. I did dose the proper amount of aquarium salt. I was thinking of waiting till tomorrow morning to dose anything, see how he does with the salt for 24 hours. If he makes it through the night. The water parameters are all fine so idk what else causes the rapid breathing. Now he is just staying at the top of the qt aquarium in the same spot. I just tried to give him a bit of shelled pea to nibble, wouldn’t touch it. I also have frozen baby brines to try later. I doubt he will eat it though.

And yes, it totally could have come from the roots. Didn’t think of that. Thanks again.

 

[Colin_T]

PraziPro contains Praziquantel, used to treat tapeworm and gill flukes.

General Cure contains Metronidazole and Praziquantel.
Metronidazole is an antibiotic that can treat internal protozoan infections in fish.
Normally internal protozoan infections cause the fish to eat but not as much as normally, lose weight over a couple of weeks, do a stringy white poop, and then die.

The fact the fish isn't eating and is breathing heavily would suggest it's dying and I would euthanise it. You can try offering it some live brineshrimp and see if it eats, but if it doesn't eat, then there's not much you can do and the fish is unlikely to live much longer.

 

[Mimi2023]

He is still alive this morning. His breathing has calmed down and he is swimming around the tank now. He still won’t eat. I did start the prazipro last night. Figured it couldn’t hurt to try since he looked like he wasn’t going to make it through the night. I was so shocked and happy to see him alive this morning. He’s a strong little dude for sure.

 

[Colin_T]

Monitor and see how it goes.

 

[Ed Pursell]

Well, call me out, but I’ve owned Dogs, Labs for appx. 30 years, not that I had issues, but years ago, I had to “de-worm” one. Had some kind of worm that apparently came from roaming around in the soil/ yard taking him for walks.. If the plants were grown in soil, I wonder if this thing came along from a plant. I remember after treating my dog years ago, these things looked very similar when they passed out of the dog. Apparently the Vet said that they can be picked up from other dogs ( poop) and actually are in the ground, grass, dirt. They looked like a small spaghetti, similar to your picture. Make any sense? Maybe this was brought into your tank by the plants? That’s pretty big for regular aquatic parasite. Almost like a round worm?

 

[Mimi2023]

Hi Ed, I know, everyone I have shown the pic and video to says the same thing. Too big for an aquarium parasite and never seen anything like it before. Just my luck?I am still so confused. Guess I’ll never know.

Gary is still hanging in there. He is acting exactly the same. Just laying at the top or bottom of the tank and having a few swims throughout the day. I did get him to eat some cucumber today though, so that was encouraging.

I have not seen any worms in the qt tank since I added the meds to the water two days ago. I hate when my fish get sick, it’s such a mystery a lot of the time.

 

[Colin_T]

If you send pictures and video of the worm to a biology lab at a high school, university or government department of agriculture, they might be able to identify it for you. You should try to keep the worm alive and maybe even take it in to one of those places for identification purposes. If it dies, freeze it in a small container of tap water or put it in a container with alcohol (at least 25% alcohol).

 

[Mimi2023]

It did die the first day I had it in a bowl in tank water. I took it to the aquatics shop and they kept it.

 

[Colin_T]

They probably threw it out

If you ever find something unusual like this again, give it to a museum. They might be able to identify it and can add it to their collection if it's something different.

I would still send pictures to biology places and museums and see if anyone can ID it.

 

[Mimi2023]

I’m sure they did. I didn’t even think about it. I sure hope I never have to deal with something like that again. He just died a few minutes ago. I hate this part?

 

[Colin_T]

sorry to hear that