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Re:Parasitic/worm infestations
Hi Silvia
the worms you describe hanging from the fishes anal area are Chamelonis
worms and are deadly.
They get into the fishes intestine and literally eat it away. When you see
them hanging out they are attached in the fishes intestinal tract with a
small barb. They hang there tails out to lay eggs into the tank.
At this stage the tank and all fish must be treated or you will eventually
over time lose all fish put into the tank even years later.
The treatment I will describe is 100% effective and will not harm your
plants but care must be taken to get the dosage absolutely accurate.
1st you must find out the exact water volume in your tank including
allowing for rocks and gravel which you must subtract from the normally
empty tank volume.
The medicine is [ Ivomectin ].
The stock strength should be 1:20.
then using a diabetics type syringe available from chemists carefully
measure out 0.5 (1/2) mg per 140 litres of tank water and then mix it with
some tank water and distribute it evenly into the tank.
In 2 days do a 1/3 water change and repeat. Leave for a further 4 days and
then change water as normal.
After the 1st dose you should see the fish excreting dead worms which will
have turned white and be up to an inch long.
3 months later do the same again.
Some fish that have been badly infested may die but if left will surely kill
your fish.
This is a fairly common problem with rainbow fish but as I said earlier it
can be easily treated.
Some other signs of these worms in fish are hollow stomaches and distorted
fish eg bent backs.
Note that this will kill all worms in your tank and most if not all snails
but not the snail eggs.
Hope this helps you and feel free to contact me if you have any further
questions.
cheers
Neil
From the" Land Down Under"
icq 13931687