Red 'worm' In Tail?

[xamy_valox]

Hi there, I posted this topic in trop discussion but had nothing back. I'm not sure it's an emergency but since I've had my Kerri tetras (roughly a week and a half) I've noticed that one has a red blob inside it's tail fin. On one side it looks like a blob and on the other it looks kinda like the equivalent of a fat blood worm.
None of the others have this but I'm worried incase ifs a parasite and spreads to my other fish. Anyone know what it could be and how to treat it?
Thanks xx

 

[colleen0309]

Water parameters and a pic might help more people respond.

 

[Caprichoso]

Hi there, I posted this topic in trop discussion but had nothing back. I'm not sure it's an emergency but since I've had my Kerri tetras (roughly a week and a half) I've noticed that one has a red blob inside it's tail fin. On one side it looks like a blob and on the other it looks kinda like the equivalent of a fat blood worm.
None of the others have this but I'm worried incase ifs a parasite and spreads to my other fish. Anyone know what it could be and how to treat it?
Thanks xx

If you can determine for sure that it's a worm, then you do have the option of manually removing it. This is not for the faint hearted but it's very useful to remove a parasite without having to med the whole tank. I would suggest doing this especially if none of the other fish are infected:

Net the fish and bring it up so it's at the water line. Cup the bottom of the net with your hand and bring the fish out of the water. With the fish on it's side, you can either gently pull the worm off with tweezers or use the tweezers to scrape the worm off. You will most likely damage the fin but as long as your water parameters are good, the fin will heal very quickly. I don't like to use meds because they are toxic and inefficient much of the time. If you can remove it, put the worm in a container with rubbing alcohol and bring it to someone who can I.D it if no one on the forum can do so with a picture.

If you can't bring yourself to do this, then meds may be your only recourse if it starts spreading. It also could be a leech and may just be an isolated incident.