# Platy/Anchor worm?



## nayrz (Jan 22, 2011)

1. What is the size of your tank? 30 gallons

2. What are your water parameters? State the brand of test kit used. I don't own a testing kit currently.

3. Is your aquarium set up freshwater or brackish water? Freshwater

4. How long the aquarium has been set up? Hm, probably half, maybe a little over half a year
 
5. What fish do you have? How many are in your tank? How big are they? How long have you had them?
Let's see, currently I have An Albino Pleco, which I think is turning out to be an albino bristle-nosed pleco, and a bristle-nosed pleco, which I think is turning out to be a normal pleco (dumb store don't know their fish lol) a normal pleco, he's much bigger then the 2 smaller plecos, had him longer, 4 pristella tetras, 1 mystery snail, 1 red neon (there were more but all but him died one day at a time and he's lived almost as long as I've had the tank now, when I got the fish tank I originally had a bunch of neons and zebra danios but all the neons and danios died) I still have a jumbo danio alive, an upside-down catfish, and the other I believe 5 or 6 are red wag tail platys. I would imagine their all adult size except the plecos and 3 of the platys. I couldn't say how long I've had them all, the neon, jumbo danio, and pleco are probably the oldest because I had them as soon as I could put fish in the tank
 
6. Were the fish placed under quarantine period (minus the first batch from the point wherein the tank is ready to accommodate the inhabitants)? I don't know what this is asking, if it means the sick fish it isn't quarantined just yet, I'm waiting for my parents to get back from the store with an extension cord for the heater and the filter because I had to set up a whole new tank for varying reasons.

7. What temperature is the tank water currently? I don't know right now I'm not near it but I've got a thermometer in there and its usually near the upper middle/top of the green bar for where it's suppose to be. If this is that important to know I can check

8. Are there live plants in the aquarium? Yes, all of the plants are live. 

9. What filter are you using? State brand, maintenance routine and power capacity. No idea right now. If it's that important I can go check.

10. Any other equipment used (aside from heater and filter which are two very important components of the tank)? Nope, just Filter, Heater, and the tank light, which is for the live plants. I also have little air pumps but those are never in the tank unless the power goes out.

11. Does your aquarium receive natural sunlight at any given part of the day? What is your lighting schedule (assuming you do not rely on sunlight for our viewing pleasure)? Yes, and I don't have a lighting schedule, when I wake up, if there's enough light in the house from lights or windows that you can see everything in the aquarium then I leave it off until later in the day.

12. When did you perform your last water change and how much water was changed? How often do you change your water? Do you vacuum the substrate? Because it's a gravel based 30 gallon when I vacuum the gravel that IS when the water gets changed, the first time it was like a 75% water change and every one after that has probably been 25%, and I probably don't do it as often as I should, at least I don't know anyways, probably once a month maybe two or 3 times, my 3 plecos, 1 upside down catfish, and 1 mystery snail usually keep it pretty clean.

13. What foods do you provide your fish? What is the feeding schedule? I give them flakes and small pellets, the pellets were originally for baby platys that we had, but the pristella tetras eat them since my platys are pigs and eat all the flakes, the pellets have time to sink lower where the tetras swim, I put some of each in a lid and mix it around then give it to them, always twice a day once in the morning and once about an hour or 2 before I shut their light out for bed, sometimes I feed them a 3rd time between feedings but not often.

14. What unusual signs have you observed in your fish? The current "sick fish" yesterday wouldn't swim to the top to eat, in fact I don't think it ate at all yesterday, it had a very small white bump on its side with a little white thing sticking out from it behind his right fin, like between him and his fin so if it tucks its fin against its body the white stringy thing gets pressed against it. Today the white string is longer and it has a white bump on its left side now, for about maybe a week or 2 it was staying near the heater like wedged between the heater and the glass, it stayed near the bottom of the tank all the time barely swimming unless someone walking by made it want to move, I just figured it was tired because sometimes my platys randomly pop out either a single baby or a few, but until yesterday it still came to the top for feeding, now it doesn't.

15. Have you treated your fish ahead of diagnosis? If so, what treatments did you use? State your reasons for planning ahead of proper diagnosis. I don't own any fish medicines or treatments, I'm mostly posting here because I want to know if it really does have anchor worm, I don't want to treat it for the wrong thing, I read that the anchor worms make the fish flash and rub against things and makes the area red, but this fish doesn't have either of those symptoms, sometimes the fish in the tank do rub on plants but it's rare and mostly because they think it's funny to mess with my plants...the platys like pulling plants out of the gravel as well if their small, and they pull on the big ones after they see me put in a new one or fix one they pulled out, and the white stringy thing doesn't look like any pictures I've seen, but I figured it may be in an early stage of development and just doesn't look like it yet, anyways "Better safe then sorry".

Additional Info: I may be able to take a picture of it but the camera is not that great and the sick fish hardly will come to the front of the tank to see it good enough but I'll try anyways.

I hope I gave enough information and hope someone can help.


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## nayrz (Jan 22, 2011)

Here's the best pictures I could take...sorry for the awful quality, it doesn't even show it the way I see it but after catching it in a net to take the pictures the stringy thing seems to have disappeared...I really hope those weren't eggs and are now in the tank..they should be in the net though but I couldn't see them, I also noticed it seems to have a bit of whiteish stuff under its chin as well.


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## nayrz (Jan 22, 2011)

*UPDATE*
We've placed the fish in it's own tank now and have put in a treatment for varying things in the water, almost immediately he was swimming/floating mid-level and top of the tank, though I don't know if the medicine helped yet or if it was just because there was nothing in the tank but him, but let's be hopeful shall we? lol


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

I can't see the pics well. Does it look anything like this? Should have two tips branching out on its butt.


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

My article.


> *Anchorworm (Lernaea elegans)*
> *Description:*
> The crustacean _Lernaea_ is often called "anchorworm" by aquarists as it anchors deeply in the fish skin with its branched suction organ and has an elongated body without visible limbs. At the back end, there are two sac-like outgrowths where eggs develop.
> 
> ...


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