anchor worm ?

[saaebn]

Hello-

After watching my 5 goldfish tonight I noticed that one of my newer goldfish had something sticking out of the side. Upon forther research I believe it to be an anchor worm. My book says to pull it gently out with tweezers. swab it with mercurochrome. then apply long term pool treatment of metrifonate at 0.25-0.5 ppm or 1-2 per 4000 l of pool water every two weeks for six weeks with pool water at 18-20 C or more.

This raises several questions. First what is the best way to take a fish out and remove the anchor worm? I will go out and buy the necessary meds but are these the correct meds I will need? Also, when I treat the fish do I treat the whole tank? Is this going to spread to my other fish? The area does not seem red or very infected so I am hoping it isnt too bad.

Also, I have a 75 gallon tank with 5 goldfish. My ph is 7.5, my ammonia is 0, and my nitrates are 0. Can someone put it in simple terms how much meds should i give?

Thanks,
Stacie

 

[Allivymar]

While I haven't had to deal with anchor worms myself, I've come across there sites:

From fish-diseases.com: You should kill all visible worms by dabbing them with a cotton swab, dipped in Potassium Permanganate or an anti-parasitic medication. Then you should carefully remove them from the fish with tweezers. You should kill the parasites before removing them because if they have burrowed deeply, removing them alive could cause the fish pain and significant physical damage. Once you’ve removed the parasite, you should then dab the wounds with Methylene Blue to prevent secondary bacterial infections from occurring. It is highly recommended that you feed the fish with medicated food. The tank will also need to be treated to kill any unseen, free-swimming juvenile parasites. You can use Fluke Tabs, Clout, Paragon or Trifon for this.

From goldfishinfo.com: Treatments: If you can see the parasites you can kill them with Dimilin. It is a gyrase inhibitor that is added directly into the water. It is non-toxic to the fish. It will clear the parasites within 3 to 4 days. Visit your local petstore and purchase some medication that states it treats anchor worms and follow directions accurately! Another method is to take a pair of tweezers and carefully remove the worm.

You'll have to read the instructions of the meds you chose; each will be diff, and dose accordingly. Dimilin seems to be the drug of choice, although I know it can't be used with arrowanas and prob other sensitive fish. If you've only goldies in the tank it should be fine.

As for how to take out n remove, I've read some people simply net the fish and hold it in their hands. Dunno if I could do that. You might want to try holding it in a wet paper towel maybe? Other recommend anesthesizing the fish with clove oil, but I consider that risky at best.

 

[saaebn]

Anchor worm update...

I went to two lfs before I found Paragon. One guy told me to just put in this stuff you use for ponds- I have no idea if that would have worked. I did my first treatment today and do a second one on Tuesday. My water is now a funky yellow color, but if it is working I dont care. Hopefully this will clear up soon! One of my fish seems to be swimming funny and the other fish keep pushing him around. What does this mean?

Stacie