Okay.... I Got The Medicated Food....

[fry_forever!]

The worming med fine as it treats most internal parasites.
Camallaonous worms are white but only turn red when there been feeding on the host.

If you see any worms remove them with a net and check if there dead.

So they'll be moving if alive? Are there any other ways to tell if they're alive? So the worms my fish have are camallanous, they are just not feeding on the fish?
Aren't callamous the worms that stick out of the fish's anal area? They look like red sticks? THe worms my fish are pooping out are clear, sometimes white, and stringy, attached to regular poop.

It's only the platies and swordtails that are pooping out the stringy stuff now. (Mostly.) Some of their poop even looks like string, like, coloured, usually green, string. Weird.

 

[WILDER]

Yes they should move if the worms till alive. But they still could still be dying because of the med.
There coming out to get away from the med thats killing them.

How long do you have left to treat.
Clear mucas poo can also mean the fish is running on empty and the fish isn't eating.

 

[fry_forever!]

Yes they should move if the worms till alive. But they still could still be dying because of the med.
There coming out to get away from the med thats killing them.

How long do you have left to treat.
Clear mucas poo can also mean the fish is running on empty and the fish isn't eating.

Okay, I tried to take a look at the worms with a magnifying glass, outside of the tank, but they are so SMALL! I can't seem to find one big enough in the tank to take a good look at! And, they're all attached to regular poop, so I have even more trouble finding what's a worm and what's poop. From what I saw, it looked like they were dead.
Why is there normal poo attached to the worms though? And why would the worms be trying to get out if the med kills them?

I have 3 more days left of treatment. Can I go longer if need be? It seems to be my platy pooping them out now - only her.

Thanks.

P.S. *IMPORTANT!* I uploaded a video on youtube just for you, to show you the condition of my fish. If you couldn't understand me in the video, I basically was saying that my fish were eating like crazy, (but don't worry, I feed them regularly.) and I was talking about the female swordtail that was really skinny, and the female platy that wouldn't stop pooping out the worms! Urg! Watch carefully, it may help you understand what I'm talking about!

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT7Sf9wMQZI

Cheers!

 

[WILDER]

Dead worms will come out in the fish poo. They do with humans as well.
No don't treat any longer once the med course has finished. Stick to the instructions.
Good Luck.

 

[fry_forever!]

Dead worms will come out in the fish poo. They do with humans as well.
No don't treat any longer once the med course has finished. Stick to the instructions.
Good Luck.

Thank you. Did you watch the video?
We have worms in are poo? Only if we're sick, right?

So my fish will have babies once they're completely healed? Or are their insides too damaged now to have babies?

Thanks a bunch Wilder.

 

[WILDER]

The vid wouldn't play but I will try later again.
When you worm human and fish worms will come out in the poo. But they should be dead or dying.

I can't say if the females will have babies it depends on how much the internal parasites have damaged the insides of the fish.
Let me know if your females do start to have babies.
Good Luck.

 

[fry_forever!]

The vid wouldn't play but I will try later again.
When you worm human and fish worms will come out in the poo. But they should be dead or dying.

I can't say if the females will have babies it depends on how much the internal parasites have damaged the insides of the fish.
Let me know if your females do start to have babies.
Good Luck.

Okay, thank you!
Not to be down, but I doubt the females will have babies again, because the worms have infested them for a long time already. Maybe a couple of them will, but not much... You can't get healthy fish anywhere...

I'll check out the video: maybe it's something with youtube.

Got to go for now, in school, am supposed to be doing a project!

P.S. How come you don't question marks at the end of questions?

 

[WILDER]

Answered or other thread.
Check vid now on other thread to see if it works this time.

 

[WILDER]

Most of the fish look healthy now and are lively which is a good sign.
If fish have alot of worms inside them and really infested with them and there skinny, the damage has already been done to the internal organs.
If there been infested along time the worms have done the damage to the fish thats still skinny. I surprised that so many have returned back to being healthy fish.
I wouldn't worry to much if they are still pooing worms out. Thats normal.

Does it say in the med instructions when to retreat in so many weeks.




Camallanus



Symptoms:

When the fish is stationary, deep red worms can be seen protruding from the anal pore. They are only visible when the fish is still because the worms retreat into the intestine at the fish’s slightest movement. Other signs may include an inflamed and enlarged anus. In severe infestations, the fish may become emaciated and spinal curvature may also occur.



Cause:

The parasitic worms Camallanus Cotti and Camallanus lacustris. These small, livebearing parasitic worms attach to the intestinal walls and rectum with pinchers. The worm’s grip is so tight that any attempts to remove it forcibly will rip away tissue from the intestinal wall. The worm’s pinching causes ischemia (reduced blood flow) to that part of the intestine. In time, the tissue to that part of the intestine will die, at which time the worm will migrate to another part of the intestine. This causes perforations throughout the intestine, which allows other pathogens to gain entry. If the fish is not treated, either the parasite or bacterial will kill the fish. Camallanus infestations occur most often in livebearing fish such as Guppies and Mollies, though infection is possible in all fish. Camallanus infestations are contagious. All fish, including those not yet showing visible symptoms, as well as the aquarium, should be treated.



Treatment:

Treat with Internal Parasite Guard, Pipzine, Disco-Worm, Trichlorfon or Fluke-Tabs as well as a medicated food to prevent a bacterial infection.

Another good link to camallanous worms.
http/www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/health/nematodes.shtml

 

[fry_forever!]

Thank you VERY much, Wilder!
What do you mean "for the most part" my fish look healthy?

Sorry, but what were you talking about when you said "answer or other thread" or something?

Thanks for the info. But aren't callamous worms red? I had those in my tank last year, and two doses of the external water treatment got rid of those quick. It's just, the worms my fish have right now aren't going away even after like, 4 weeks of treatment.

It says you can and should feed the food once a month to prevent the worms from coming back. That's what I'll do, but right now, I'm on my last 3 days of treatment. (Because you treat for 3 consecutive days a week for 4 weeks.)

I hope my fish have babies again!

Thanks again.

And okay, sorry again, but it's really bothering me. (I don't know why...) How come you don't put question marks at the end of your questions?

 

[WILDER]

Sorry. Just being lazy not putting question marks after a question.
I will get someone else to look at your thread for you.
I will pm them now.

 

[Colin_T]

Intestinal worms suck blood through the fish’s intestinal wall. The blood gives them the red colour. If a worm has a clear body then it will look red after feeding on the blood (camallanus). If a worm has pigment in its skin then it will usually appear white or cream after feeding on the blood, (tapeworms and some other thread/ round worms).

If the worms are coming out of the fish then they are either dead, dying or paralysed from the medicated food. Some medications paralyse the worms and they are expelled from the fish in the poo. Other medications kill the worms directly and they get expelled in the poo. Basically if the worms are coming out of the fish, they are not going to cause any more problems to the fish.

If the fish are gaining weight, then they don’t have as many, or any worms left in them. If you have been treating the fish for the recommended time, then they should be free of worms. It will take several months for the fish to recover properly from the worm infection, (assuming there wasn’t too much damage done to their insides).

It is a good idea to do daily water changes and gravel cleans when treating for intestinal worms. The gravel cleans will suck up any worms and worm eggs and reduce the chance of the fish picking up any of the eggs in the substrate and becoming reinfected.

The reason you treat the fish for several days in a row is to make sure the fish eats enough medication to kill the worms in them. If you only fed them once the fish might not eat enough of the medicated food and the worms might not be killed. By feeding them for several days in a row, you are making sure the fish ingest enough medicated food to do the job.
The reason you feed them each week for several weeks is to kill any new worms that have hatched inside the fish from eggs that were in the body. The medications don’t kill or affect the worm eggs and only kill the adult worms. By treating the fish weekly for a month you should kill all the adult worms, and any new worms that hatch out during that time. At the end of the month the fish should be completely free of worms and not be troubled by them again unless they are reinfected.

You don’t normally have to re-treat the fish every few months unless you feed the fish on live foods that have been collected from natural waterways (ponds, lakes, etc), or you introduce new fish into the tank. The live foods (Daphnia, Cyclops, etc) often carry worm eggs or worm larvae. When the live foods are eaten by a fish, the worms can move into the fish’s digestive tract and carry on their lives.
Most worm eggs don’t tolerate freezing so frozen foods are usually safe to use and don’t normally cause worm infestations in fish. Dry foods are safe too. If you culture your own live food in ponds or containers that don’t have snails, fish or water birds in, they will usually be safe to use as well.
If you add new fish to the tank, they can have worms and infect the tank. This is a reason why you should quarantine all new fish before you add them to your tank. While they are being quarantined you can treat them for worms, gill flukes and monitor their general health. And when they are clean and have finished being treated for worms, they can be added to the display tank.

 

[fry_forever!]

Wow, good info! Thank you very much!

So should I use an anti-bacterial food after I'm done with the anti-parasite one? They aren't showing signs of bacterial infection, but Wilder said it would be good to treat.

Also, I just got 4 new guppies that seem to have internal worms as well, (they are quarantined though.) would I have to treat for a month though? Because the worms already seem to be gone after 3 days of treatment, and plus, the guppies are in my 2.5 gallon fry tank, so there is definitely not enough space there for them to be in there for a month.

I very much appreciate all the help.
Thank you.

I hope my fish can start having babies again....

 

[Colin_T]

Once the intestinal worms have been removed from the fish, there is often a lot of scarring/ damage to the fish’s intestine from where the worms were attached, (the worms bite through the intestinal wall to feed on blood). If the fish is in a weak condition (from being infected with worms) then they can sometimes develop bacterial infections in their intestine where the worms damaged the intestine. It isn’t that common but does happen. To prevent the intestines developing bacterial infections after a severe worm infestation, you treat them with an anti-bacterial medicated/ food for about 5 days. This allows the intestine to heal up without the presence of bacteria that could easily infect the damaged area.

Most fish don’t have a problem and if the tank is clean and well maintained, then you don’t normally have to give the fish medicated food to prevent internal bacterial infections. But if the fish are old and weak, then it might be an idea to feed them medicated food after they have been dewormed. However, you should give the medicated anti-bacterial food straight after you finish the worm medication. Because you have been treating the fish for a few weeks, it probably won’t make any difference now. This is because most of the worms will have been expelled from the fish a while ago and the intestine will have healed up to some degree since then. Once the worm damage in the intestine has healed up, there will be little chance for the bacteria to get in and damage the intestinal wall.
It only takes a day or two for the worm damage to the intestine to heal up once the worms are gone. However, the scarring can take months to heal up properly and the intestine can take months to work properly again.

You want to treat all new fish at least twice, preferably 3 or 4 times at weekly intervals. If you only treat the new fish once for 3 days, then you will probably kill off any adult worms inside them. However, any worm eggs in the fish will hatch out after treatment and the fish will need a second or third treatment to get rid of these new worms. The worm eggs take about 7 days to hatch at 26C. Some species of worm take longer, and cooler water will also increase the worm egg hatching time. If the fish are kept in warm water (say 28C) then the worm eggs hatch sooner and you can usually treat the fish 2-3 times, rather than 3-4 times, at weekly intervals.

I would treat the new guppies 3-4 times and keep them away from the other fish until they have finished treatment.
4 adult guppies will be fine in a 2.5g tank for the next month as long as you do regular water changes to keep the tank clean. You might have to do a water change each day or every couple of days to accomplish this. But the fish should be fine as long as the water is kept clean.

 

[fry_forever!]

Once the intestinal worms have been removed from the fish, there is often a lot of scarring/ damage to the fish’s intestine from where the worms were attached, (the worms bite through the intestinal wall to feed on blood). If the fish is in a weak condition (from being infected with worms) then they can sometimes develop bacterial infections in their intestine where the worms damaged the intestine. It isn’t that common but does happen. To prevent the intestines developing bacterial infections after a severe worm infestation, you treat them with an anti-bacterial medicated/ food for about 5 days. This allows the intestine to heal up without the presence of bacteria that could easily infect the damaged area.

Most fish don’t have a problem and if the tank is clean and well maintained, then you don’t normally have to give the fish medicated food to prevent internal bacterial infections. But if the fish are old and weak, then it might be an idea to feed them medicated food after they have been dewormed. However, you should give the medicated anti-bacterial food straight after you finish the worm medication. Because you have been treating the fish for a few weeks, it probably won’t make any difference now. This is because most of the worms will have been expelled from the fish a while ago and the intestine will have healed up to some degree since then. Once the worm damage in the intestine has healed up, there will be little chance for the bacteria to get in and damage the intestinal wall.
It only takes a day or two for the worm damage to the intestine to heal up once the worms are gone. However, the scarring can take months to heal up properly and the intestine can take months to work properly again.

You want to treat all new fish at least twice, preferably 3 or 4 times at weekly intervals. If you only treat the new fish once for 3 days, then you will probably kill off any adult worms inside them. However, any worm eggs in the fish will hatch out after treatment and the fish will need a second or third treatment to get rid of these new worms. The worm eggs take about 7 days to hatch at 26C. Some species of worm take longer, and cooler water will also increase the worm egg hatching time. If the fish are kept in warm water (say 28C) then the worm eggs hatch sooner and you can usually treat the fish 2-3 times, rather than 3-4 times, at weekly intervals.

I would treat the new guppies 3-4 times and keep them away from the other fish until they have finished treatment.
4 adult guppies will be fine in a 2.5g tank for the next month as long as you do regular water changes to keep the tank clean. You might have to do a water change each day or every couple of days to accomplish this. But the fish should be fine as long as the water is kept clean.

Okay, thank you very much. I can't wait until this nightmare is over...

I can't get that anti-bacterial med for a couple week anyhow, so I don't think there's THAT much of a point in treating. I DO have this "Seachem" thing, that you like mix you fish food in, and it will treat bacterial infections. I don't get the instructions though.... I'll ask my parents about that.

Okay, thanks!
I had another question, but now I forget... I'll ask when I remember.