Ropefish - weird stuff going on! *** 1/30 Updated!!

[GouramiFanatic]

Realizing that I'm battling Ich, I've been closely investigating all of my fish. In doing so I found that my Ropefish has what appears to be a tiny black worm or a single hair sticking out from under it's chin and there also a black spot on a little lower than his fins on his belly. It also has red spots near it's anal fin. I have no clue what this is, but I'm terrified of what it may due to my tank. Once again my own impatients (for not Qting) may cause me to lose some of my fish. Things were just going so good for me and the Rope looked so healthy that I just assumed I've come this far with no major problems, nothing will happen now! Guess I may be in for a rude awakening!

Can you please take a peak at these pictures and let me know if you know what it is and how I should treat it? I'm very hesitant in using meds because I don't want to kill any of the fish, but if that's the best chance I'd like to know.

http://www.marinediscoveries.com/black.jpg
http://www.marinediscoveries.com/black2.jpg
http://www.marinediscoveries.com/red.jpg

 

[Gillie]

Looks kind of like an anchor worm or somekind of parasite like it.

 

[Toirtis]

External parasites in the first two photos (Jungle parasite guard works well at 3/4 strength on those)...the third could be a few things...I would just keep an eye on that for changes for now.

 

[GouramiFanatic]

Thanks - this is what I was afraid of. This morning the rope doesn't look to hot. The right side of it's mouth is kind of red, and it's swimming rather sluggishly. I've already seen it a few times stopped with it's head up the air while it's tail end was on the gravel. Kind of like it's just bobbing around with the current. I can also still see these little wormy looking things on its. I'm definitely going to try to treat it, but do you think it's already to late and I'll be losing her?

None of the other fish seem to show any signs of these worms, but since I was stupid and put the rope right in there chances are they have spread and I'm just not seeing them. I have no choice but to treat the whole tank. Not I'm scared to death that I'm going to start losing my fish, mainly my 9" Sailfin Pleco who is my "baby."

Since I'm already treating the tank for Ich by using the heat method (with no salt or meds) the aeration is already up as high as it can go. Is it still safe to use this Jungle Parasite Guard with the temps so high? Also, this stuff is safe for scaleless fish (plecos and loaches) right?

 

[Toirtis]

Since I'm already treating the tank for Ich by using the heat method (with no salt or meds) the aeration is already up as high as it can go. Is it still safe to use this Jungle Parasite Guard with the temps so high?

Yes.

Also, this stuff is safe for scaleless fish (plecos and loaches) right?

As far as I know, yes.

 

[GouramiFanatic]

Thanks Toirtis! I could only find Jungle Parasite Clear, nobody had the Guard. What is the difference between the two?

 

[Toirtis]

Thanks Toirtis! I could only find Jungle Parasite Clear, nobody had the Guard. What is the difference between the two?

Parasite Clear is mainly for internal parasites, Guard is for external parasites.

 

[GouramiFanatic]

Thought I'd post an update on how my fish are doing. So far, I have had no deaths (thankfully!!). However, one of my Rams is swimming very oddly. It's almost as if it's physically unable to move it's tail from side to side. It's still eating and picking at the rocks like the other Rams, but it has a little bit of a difficult time fighting the 'current' because of the high aeration. I can't see any obvious reason as to why it's swimming like this, but I hope it'll get better with time.

I also noticed that my male Pearl Gourami's dorsal fin was very red at the base and was a little ragged at the ends. He also wasn't eating. He was just kind of existing under the filter flow. So I started treating the tank with Melafix on Sunday. I can already see a big improvement in him. His fin is still ragged, but the redness is just about gone. He's swimming all over the place as he did before and he has his appetite back! I was so excited to see him finally eat again. He's another one of my prized fish so I'd be very upset if my inpatients killed him. Hopefully, he'll continue to get better. A few of my Dojos also have a little bit of raggedness on their fins, I'm hoping the Melafix will help them out. They're just as active and crazy as ever so I think they'll be ok.

The Ropefish is doing well as well. She's still eating and traveling the tank as she did before I noticed anything wrong. I don't see the worms anymore, but that doesn't mean I'm assuming they're not there. I'll continue treating for a little bit longer.

All of the other fish are doing great and they're giving me no reason at all to worry. I will continue to treat the tank a bit closer and will be closely inspecting everybody for some time just to be safe. I will say that my Sailfin Pleco is giving me a difficult time. Being shy and nocturnal he's really only out when it's very quiet and dark. I got a decent look at him yesterday and didn't see anything obviously wrong.

***** EDITED TO ADD VIDEO CLIPS *****

Here are some video clips so you can see what's going on with my fish.

Pearl Gourami with his red fin. Video quality not very good because of how YouTube compresses them.

I also uploaded a clip of my Bolivian Ram swimming weird (watch his tail), but it hadn't finished going through the 'processing' part of being uploaded onto YouTube. Hopefully by the time you go to see the Pearl Gourami it'll be posted. I'll post the link as soon as it's done.