My Poor Betta Died. I Think Due To A Melafix Overdose

[Krullpes]

Hi, my Betta seems to have what I believe is an Anchor Worm problem. I first noticed a white thing sticking out of his right ventral fins in the middle of last week. He also seemed to have another two along his anal fin where it joins to the body. He also has what looks like a welt on the other side of his anal fin but I think its where one of worms has poked through.

I treated the tank with Interpet No. 12 on Thursday as recommended by my LFS (couldn't find anything else) by then they had developed forked tails. The ventral fin one dropped off by the next day but the other two are still there, albeit now black and looking somewhat limp. The welt is still there on the opposite side too. All of the snails I had in the tank have died out (not a problem because they were unwanted) so I'm sure it worked...

Does anybody know how long these take to clear up? Should I be doing anything else? I've read some articles about manual removal with tweezers and treatment with Melafix but I'm not sure how long I should leave it until trying something that or whether a redose is required.

The other fish are absolutely fine and show no evidence of any kind of illness, I will try to get pictures but I've had a hard time getting decent ones because he is blue and they don't show well.

Thanks for help.

 

[WILDER]

Was it the anti crustaceon med by interpet as it wipes the benefical bacteria out in the filter.

Anchor Worm (a.k.a. Lernaea)



Symptoms:

Infected fish can be seen with whitish red worm-like threads, about ¼ inch long. Trailing at the rear of female parasites are two long, tube-like egg sacs. The parasites can be found anywhere on the body of the fish, including the eyes, gills and fins. Raised ulcers may appear at the site of attachment. Consequently, secondary bacterial infections may occur. The tale-tale sign that your fish is infected will be if you notice it rubbing or scraping against objects in the aquarium. It does this in an effort to remove the parasite.



Cause:

The parasitic crustacean Lernaea. Lernaea burrow into the muscle and gill tissue of fish, often times reaching as deeply as the internal organs, causing severe damage. Heavy infestations can cause significant weight loss and death.



Treatment:

You should kill all visible worms by dabbing them with a cotton swab, dipped in Potassium Permanganate or an anti-parasitic medication. Then you should carefully remove them from the fish with tweezers. You should kill the parasites before removing them because if they have burrowed deeply, removing them alive could cause the fish pain and significant physical damage. Once you’ve removed the parasite, you should then dab the wounds with Methylene Blue to prevent secondary bacterial infections from occurring. It is highly recommended that you feed the fish with medicated food. The tank will also need to be treated to kill any unseen, free-swimming juvenile parasites. You can use Fluke Tabs, Clout, Paragon or Trifon for this.


A pic of anchor worm.

 

[Krullpes]

Well, I switched medication to Parazin P to steralize the tank and hoped that it would kill off the remaining two but they were still there today so I took your advice Wilder's and manually removed both remaining worms- definitely anchor worms.

Pretty traumatic experience for both of us, its hard to keep him still enough to remove without catching a fin. He was pretty much shell-shocked afterward but he's more relaxed now but still not interested in eating and likes to stay in the gentle part of the filter outflow and generally doesn't move much, so guessing to sooth the soreness. Dabbed him with Melafix after the procedure and dosed the tank and will do so for 7 days as per instructions.

Now the hard part waiting for him to recover. Fingers crossed he comes through okay.

 

[Forestpisces]

Oh sweetie i hope he pulls through that sounds awful. . I'm sure he'l make a full recovery now that the parasites are out. Nasty things anchor worms. How on earth did u keep him still to get them out?

Good luck and keep us posted

 

[Krullpes]

Unfortunately he appears to be dying. He is laying in a corner barely moving but for laboured breathing. Not sure what can be done...

 

[Krullpes]

He's swimming around again in a fashion. Seems to have a little trouble keeping upright and a couple of times he seems to just stop swimming. His fins are clamped and he uses his front fins somewhat but sometimes he will just stop.

Looks like he still has another anchor worm in him- which would bring it to 4. From what I've read they take several weeks to develop so I think he came that way as I've only had him for 3 weeks.

 

[Krullpes]

He just died...

His name was Chester. He was my fish.

 

[aitchy21]

R.I.P Chester, sorry for your loss Krullpes

David

 

[Cdarmychi]

Poor chester

Sorry hun, I know how it feels...

Sakura

 

[Forestpisces]

R.I.P lil guy
He was beautiful and you did your best for him.

 

[WILDER]

Bless Him. R.I.P.

 

[Anna Robinson]

Sorry to hear about this

Given that he had a serious parasitic infection with subsequent injury it's not surprising. However, if it happens again, I wouldn't recommend dabbing your fish with neat Melafix, no matter how serious the situation. I don't know what the effects would be, but it's fair to say it could cause irritation at least.