Danio Seems To Have 'burst' Open?

[pixelpefekt]

Hi. Noticed this last night. One of my Zebra Danios had what looked like a hole in its side and some of it's internals were now bulging out! Any one know what's happened?

Last night, I also spotted what I'm pretty sure were 4 tiny fish egg/fry stuck to the glass in my tank (photo at the bottom). I had not noticed any of the looking fat but is it possible that the fish in question has had complications with it's pregnancy?

Hope you can help. Thanks for looking.

edit- to fix images

 

[humpy_the_humphead_wrasse]

well your photoes did not work, their all broken links. its possible they had to many babies for their bodies to handle or they were to young? and i would consider putting them out of their missery if theres intestines etc hanging out of them

possible there may have been tapeworms etc involved during all this? they can burrow out of the body causing major complications from memory?

 

[rabbut]

Hi,

It looks to me like a worm infection, but what kind? That I cannot confirm. Wilder will be along later today, but with fry presant, medicating could get interesting (fry don't like meds IME). Wilder is probibly the best placed to make a med recomendation. For worms though, you usualy have to get meds from the Vet, as you are based in the UK. Try to keep that fish, so that you can take it with you to a co-operatie vet to get your meds sorted, if this is what Wilder recomends. They will probibly euthanise it and then carry out an autopsy to confirm the type of worm involved before pescribing meds.

Waterlife Staerazin treats some worms, but it is weak and only treats some. Wilder, I suspect, will advise against this med.

I would surget that you google (or equivilant) "fish worm infections" under the images section and see if you can get a deffinate ID. If this is possible, I can tell you if sterazin is any good, or if you have to wait for Wilder.

HTH
Rabbut

EDIT to add, can you post waterstats, tank occupants, tank size and what your maintanance regime is please.

 

[WILDER]

I agree I would end the fish misery.
What did the worms look like.
If the worms are thread worms or tape worms you can get wormer plus.
If there camallanous worms you need a vet to perscribe levaimsole.
Do you keep any livebeares in the tank.
[URL="http/www.aquarist-classifieds.co.uk/php/detail62_45492.php"]http/www.aquarist-classifieds.co.uk/php/detail62_45492.php[/URL]

 

[pixelpefekt]

Got some more pictures of it. Now it seems more obvious that it's a worm. First time I've seen one so can't tell you what type it is.

I take it there's no hope for this little fella? If so, I guess I'll need to put it out of its mysery (but how?)

Also, if this IS a worm...
- should I expect that the others will be infected?
- are there signs before things go as bad as they have done here?
- how did it get in the tank?
- I was going to buy a couple of Khuli loaches at the weekend, should I leave that for now?

Stats: Amonia 0 | Nitrites 0 | Nitrates 5 | 60l tank (60 x 30 x 30cm)
Tank mates - 5 Zebra danios | 3 Neons | 3 Amano shrimp

 

[humpy_the_humphead_wrasse]

as for how to put it out of its misery, most probably the toilet unless your a chem student in which case you'd have a concotion somewhere like my friend to put small animals out of their misery.

i would completely change the water if i were you, the worms may have been living within the fish growing from day one or its possible they came in out of your tap water. if it turns out it was the tap water well.....id be calling the local water board and sticking to bottled drinks for a while.

i would deffinately do a major water change if possible because the lil fkers may have laid eggs or there may be the possibility that there is larvae in your tank but i do believe there is also meds to kill of any worms in your tank but youd need to confirm that, im not to sure myself.

 

[WILDER]

Ok I would worm the tank with wormer plus that will kill thread worms and such.
If it camallanous worms the med won't touch them i'm afraid.

 

[pixelpefekt]

Do you know if the worm meds are safe for shrimp?

Should I break down the quarantine and clean it out now that the infected fish has been in there?

Also, do you think it would be okay to add fish at the weekend?

 

[humpy_the_humphead_wrasse]

well the problem is dude, the worms will continue to come back if their in your tank, you cant see them and wont know theyr there till they get into your fish, id be doing a full water change, as close to 100% as you can cause your whole tank could be infected with the nasty buggers, or atleast medicate the tank

 

[calandra]

I agree Humpy, I had an infestation of worms last year, and just when I though it had cleared up, it came back again. Cull the infected fish (rip) Take all the fish out, and start again is the quickest option, but don't replace the filter media. Turn off the heater/s. Get a hosepipe and syphon out all of the water and wash the substrate. Then get a vinegary rag and wipe the tank. The acid in the vinegar should kill any nasties. Fill back up with warm water and add the fish. Look to see as you are adding the fish, that no others look ill or have symtoms of worms. I would then add one course of Womer plus as Wilder says just as a precaution.

 

[humpy_the_humphead_wrasse]

yeah, your potentially faced with 2 problems here and im just talking from what i know about worms, not having gone through them ina tank befor.

2 questions where did they come from? and how to prevent reintroducing them?

so where did they come from?
this is the tricky of the two questions as there are a number of potential candidates for the prize going out to the answer of this question! your options from what i know are:
your tap water is holding worms and introduced when you filled the tank up.
it may have been in one of the fish and spread from the droppings.(you didnt pour the water in from the bag your fish came in did you? big nono!!!)
the worms may have been one anyone who've put their hands in your tank or any other body part.

judging by the size of your outbreak and multiple hosts though i would say your lfs may be going through a danois VS worm fight at the moment and not told you.

making sure you get rid of the worms. well the best way as calandra said would be to completely scrub out and use anything possible to kill those worms as they can come from virtually anywhere, probably even airborn. after this sterilization you'll want to re cycle your tank and when thats done possibly think about adding more fish but i would possibly stay away from danois at your lfs and as i mensioned befor they may have been in the tap water you filled your tank with but im not sure how youd deal with that if that was a possiblity, maybe meds? or sterilizers for worms? personally id just chuck a worming tablet in there, but then again thatd be my way of dealing with anything worm related haha, always works for my dogs >.< but then again my dogs arent fish tanks haha.
might be better off trying calandra's idea for refreshing your tank lol goodluck m8

p.s. i dont recomend using worming tablets in your fish tank.... giant mutants are sure to attack you in your sleep lol i hope you can manage to get on top of this problem


protect against the crown of thorns starfish, save the wrasse XD

 

[rabbut]

Sorry, humpty, but since when have worms been airborne? I'm sceptical that they would come through the tap; the water board adds that many chmicals to kill them, and it's unlikely that this is a hubandary error considering the worm life-cycle. They most likely came in on an infected fish.

Don't flush fish to euthanise, it can pass their disease on to fish in native watercaurses, decimating the wild fish populations in your area unless they have imunity to the infection. I don't belive that fish can become imune to worms. I'm sure Wilder can give a more deffinate answer to that...

I strip the tank as surgested, cleaning the substrate throghly and wipeing down. Euthanise and fish showing symptoms and re-build the tank. Don't sterilise the filter, you need it's bacteria to keep your fish alive.

After the re-build of the tank, you can try wormer plus, but if it's as good at treating worms as it is flukes, it won't do anything IMO. TMC (Tropical Marine Company) have just obained a licence to import another wormer, made by a competitor. I don't realy have any details of the product, but it should be cropping up in marine specialst stores over the next few weeks. IMO you'd be best to try getting some of that

HTH
Rabbut

 

[pixelpefekt]

Thank for the input.

Like Rabbut, I seriously doubt they came from the tap water. Scottish tap water is generally thought of as being really clean and of good quality and if it were the source of the infection, I'd have thought there would be far more worm breakouts reported on here than there are.

Humpty - You mentioned "judging by the size of your outbreak and multiple hosts..." - you must be mixed up. There is only one danio showning any sign of worms.

I'm surprised that I need to break down the tank and scrub it out to start again. Nightmare! I don't want to ditch my mature media though, starting the cycle again isn't going to be fair on the fish (or me). Guess I will take everything out and scrub it clean like advised but I'll be keeping the media safe - just hope this doesn't mean that the worms could hide out in there in the meantime.

Does anyone have links to good information online about worms? I'd really like to know more about what I'm dealing with. Any one had this problem in their tank? I'd like to hear from you in particular.

Thanks.

 

[WILDER]

If you don't want to strip the tank down I would buy some wormer plus and see how it goes.
Left a link in my reply.
[URL="http/www.loaches.com/disease-treatment/l...hydrochloride-1"]http/www.loaches.com/disease-treatment/l...hydrochloride-1[/URL]

Taken from the above link.

Which parasites will respond to treatment with Levamisole?


Levamisole has been found highly effective in the treatment of mature and developing immature stages of major stomach and bowel worm species in cattle and sheep including gastro-intestinal worms such as: Stomach worms--Haemonchus spp; Ostertagia spp; Trichostrongylus spp; Roundworms-- Nematodirus spp (which include threadworms); Cooperia spp; Nodular worms--Oesophagostomum; Chabertia spp; Hookworms--Bunostomum spp; Necator spp; and Ancylostoma spp; and Lungworms-- Dictyocaulus spp. Nematodes (roundworms) in particular are a common problem. Nematodes such as Capillaria, Eustronggylides, Camallanus, and Contracaecum are common among many fish species. Levamisole is highly effective as a treatment against nematode species.



It is INEFFECTIVE as a treatment for:
For excellent information on parasites of freshwater fish see the very informative articles posted at the University of Florida IFAS Extension: Introduction to Freshwater Fish ParasitesCestodes (tapeworms)
For Cestodes the recommended treatment is Praziquantel.


Trematodes (flatworms or flukes)
For Monogenean Trematodes with a direct life cycle the suggested treatment is Formalin, administered as a short-term or prolonged bath.
For Digenean Trematodes which have a complex life cycle, using differing hosts, the best control is to break the life cycle of the parasite. Elimination of the first intermediate host, the freshwater snail is often recommended.




How can I tell which parasite is affecting my fish?


The best way to determine if your fish is suffering from parasites, and which kind they are is to have the fish examined by a fish health specialist (veterinarian). Accurate diagnosis of an internal parasite infestation in aquatic animals is often outside of the ability of the average hobbyist. Stool samples, slides, microscopes and sometimes necroscopy or in the worst case scenario, autopsy, are the most effective way to determine exactly what parasite is inside your fish. Many of us are just not equipped or knowledgeable enough to perform the necessary diagnostic procedures. What we can do is observe our fish, become aware of what symptoms may indicate parasitic infection, and learn what methods are best used to treat them.


Levamisole HCL is not a cure-all but it is a good first line of defense against many parasites common to wild caught f

 

[WILDER]

http/edis.ifas.ufl.edu/FA041