# Possible worms?



## Misakitty (Dec 8, 2011)

1. Size of tank? 15 gal

2. Water parameters
a. Ammonia? 0
b. Nitrite? 0
c. Nitrate? 
d. pH, KH and GH? pH 7
e. Test kit?

3. Temperature? 77 F

4. FW (fresh water) or BW (brackish)? 
FW
5. How long the aquarium has been set up?
7 months
6. What fish do you have? How many are in your tank? How big are they? How long have you had them?
Cory catfish, neon tetras, rubberlip pleco- all over 2 months, one new cory one week old-not the sick one
7. Were the fish placed under quarantine period (minus the first batch from the point wherein the tank is ready to accommodate the inhabitants)?
No
8. a. Any live plants? Fake plants? live plants
b. Sand, gravel, barebottom? sand
c. Rocks, woods, fancy decors? Any hollow decors? rocks and driftwood

9. a. Filtration? HOB filter
b. Heater?

10. a. Lighting schedule? What lights are used? CF 8 hour lighting
b. Any sunlight exposure? How long? no

11. a. Water change schedule? weekly
b. Volume of water changed? 20%
c. Well water, tap water, RO water? tap
d. Water conditioner used? Prime
e. Frequency of gravel/sand (if any) vacuumed?

12. Foods?
How often are they fed? daily

13. a. Any abnormal signs/symptoms? tiny wormlike growths on the tips of fins and barbels, sudden deterioration of fins
b. Appearance of poop?
c. Appearance of gills? nothing unusual

14. a. Have you treated your fish ahead of diagnosis? no
b. What meds were used?

15. Insert photos of fish in question and full tank shot if necessary.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hirLRSiNtg0&feature=youtu.be
 
I couldn't get a photo of her still enough to see the worms, so I tried a video. They are most apparently on the caudal fin and barbels of the albino cory. None of the other fish are showing symptoms of this strange white wormlike thing. I need to know if I should quarantine her quickly to keep it from spreading? What is it, since I can't come up with a diagnosis myself from the forum info. It appeared suddenly, and whatever it is seems to be eating the areas it is attached to. The fish is acting completely normal, surprisingly.


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## Misakitty (Dec 8, 2011)

Correction, it appears that all of my cory catfish have them, but not as extreme yet. I guess at this point quarantining the one would be useless. Please advise!


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## Misakitty (Dec 8, 2011)

My friend and I combed google and I finally found out what this thing is- Gyrodactylus. It is a type of fluke, supposedly very hard to treat, and I'm not sure what to do. If anyone has any suggestions about dealing with this in a planted tank containing snails, I'd appreciate it. None of my mid-level swimmers are affected, just my bottom feeder fish.

Here is an image I found of what it looks like:


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

The trouble is with flukes, you would need a microscope to be certaiin but this is already prevalent with goldfish so prazi treatment for goldfish against flukes is no question at all sonce we have standardized that already. It is already an acceptable fact that goldfish are almost always afflicted by those stubborn parasites.

Are your cories scratching in certain areas at all? Scratching frequently can be attributed to almost all parasitic problems and flukes are just one of the many parasites. My first impression was possible bacterial infection. But cories are prone to bacterial infections that cause disintegration of the barbels.


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## Misakitty (Dec 8, 2011)

The barbels are still intact, they just have these tiny white things hanging off them, just like the picture of the platy. The cories only seem to mostly have it on the fins at the moment, though I have observed the occasional bout of flashing from the one with the worst infestation. We did observe something new last night, that my zebra nerite had several of these little parasites on his shell. I didn't know if they would be interested in the snails or not, and I can't see if there are any on the fleshy part or if they're just riding around on the shell.


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

This really stinks. Nerites are crazy sensitive with just any meds and my last nerites didnt take well to prazi. I suggest try doing a teaspoon per gallon dose of salt. The platy on pic is afflicted with columnaris, a gram negative bacteria however, salt prevents them from entering any open wounds or holes of your fish's epidermis. It's why I suggest doing salt at a minimum dose only. Try to dissolve salt thoroughly before adding to tank since te grains can burn your fish's skin.


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## Misakitty (Dec 8, 2011)

Thanks, I'll try to find something to quarantine the snails in; I've already separated everything else out depending on whether they're visibly infested. So far the tetras all still look clean. Any suggestions on making the original tank inhabitable again? Prazi is pretty expensive from what I've seen, and not easy to come by, so I feel like my best option right now is salt and waiting it out to see who survives.


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