What Kind Of Parasite?

[wodesorel]

So, this one has me stumped, and I would really like to know what it is I'm dealing with so I can treat the tank properly and stop it from coming back.

First fish was a female betta - she developed a bumpy lump on the top of her head which I thought was cancer, but about a week later this two inch long worm came swimming out of the lump, next to her eye. I treated with Prazi-pro, but I think the damage done by the worm was too much and she passed away not long after.

Fish number two was her roomie on the other size of the divider, and it happened about five months later. He got a pimple (white inside, red ringed) on his lower jaw that also had a bumpy lump. I treated with Prazi again, and the bump healed over in about week. However, he was already old and not in great health, so he passed away about two weeks after treatment. That was about two months ago. I have photos of the mark that was on him, beneath his lip, taken a few days after treatment started: http/i86.photobucket.com/albums/k104/wodesorel/The%20Fish/skinnyoldman.jpg

Fish number three is a giant healthy male betta, and he was moved into that tank about a month ago. Noticed yesterday that he had the bumpy lump on the side of his head, in front of his gills, and that there was a big white pimple there ringed in red. Dosed the tank with Prazi, and today it's already shrunk by a large amount. Wish I could get photos of it, but he is terrified of the camera.

Any ideas on what it is or what I need to do to get it out of that tank??

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

No idea of the infection, but a little confused why you decided to put a third fish into the tank that saw a fish and its tankmate on the other side of a divider show syptoms of the same infection using the same medication. Personally, I would be not adding anything new to that tank until someone experienced enough has correctly diagnosed the infection and used the corrects meds to kill it once and for all.

 

[glolite]

Sounds like anchor worm to me. Treat with specific meds for this but you will need to make sure to rid the tank of this disease before adding more fish.

Usually you do 2 treatments 3 weeks apart. The trouble is that anchor worm weakens the fish and even if the medications clear this, the fish are susceptible to bacterial and fungal diseases after so need further treatment for these.

I certainly would not be adding new fish to this tank.

 

[wodesorel]

I never really thought that much of it - with her I did only a single run of Prazi since she had died and he was showing no symptoms at the time. (Didn't want to overmedicate when there was no reason.) After he did have it months later and later passed away, I did a double treatment of Prazi in the empty tank thinking that would have been enough to take care of whatever may have been in the water. I then gutted the tank, washed everything down, and started with fresh water, but I used the same filter media so I wouldn't start from scratch. To be honest, I didn't think anything would have made it through two weeks of Prazi and an empty tank, and a half-decent cleaning.

It's only a 7 gallon tank, divided down the middle. There's a female betta on one side, and the affected betta on the other. She's fine, and he's acting normal save for the mark on his face. (Which is mostly gone now.)

And it's not an anchor worm. The pustule is completely smooth until it the worm emerges, and the scales around it are raised in a lump with what I figure is the developing worm underneath. What came out of the first fishes face was a thin white squiggly worm about two inches long. Maybe a roundworm or nematode of some sort?

 

[wodesorel]

I kinda figured ID was gonna be a hard one.

What would be the next step up in strength from Prazi-pro then on a general anti-parasitic? The spot is already gone and it's healed over, so like before the Prazi worked, but I don't trust it now to have eradicated the threat completely. I really need to move this big guy into a bigger tank like I had planned, but don't want to do so until I know I've done what I can to make sure he's been treated properly.

 

[glolite]

Hi again

Just a thought. It's not hexamita (hole in the head disease)? Not sure if Bettas get it but pus develops in the wounds caused by the parascite then oozes out and can look like a worm,