Angelfish torn fins and protruding strings

[Navfish]

As I posted in another forum, my angelfish had something protruding out of him. I didn't know if it was prolapse or parasites but now he has torn fins due to maybe getting caught by the filter. I was wondering if there was a way to help him heal.

Also going back to his protruding thing, it changed into this?

He is somewhat struggling too swim normally.
I want to try an epsom salt bath for his protruding thing but there are so many varying answers for treatment. I don't want to use a lot of water for the treatment as he is still pretty tiny. Should I use 1g of water and 1 teaspoon of Epsom salt

 

[Colin_T]

It is Camallanus thread worms. It will not respond to Epsom salts, in fact that won't do anything to help in this case. You need to deworm the fish with a Levamisole or Flubendazole based deworming medication.

See section 3 of the following link.

What to do if your fish has Stringy White Poop.

Fish do a stringy white poop for several reasons. 1) Internal Bacterial Infections causes the fish to stop eating, swell up like a balloon, breath heavily at the surface or near a filter outlet, do stringy white poop, and die within 24-48 hours of showing these symptoms. This cannot normally be...

www.fishforums.net

 

[GaryE]

This is serious. Camallanus protrude from a fish to lay eggs, so your entire tank has them. They attach to the intestinal wall as parasite, and eventually kill their host. Standard dewormers, with praziquantel will not bother them. You need the more specialized medications @Colin_T has listed. And you need them soon. Once the worms are hanging out, there are a lot of them inside. You will have to follow the instructions to the letter, as the nematode worm has a specific life cycle that causes trouble for lazy or careless aquarists.

Because the parasite bites into the intestinal wall, as it dies it can still cause bleeding that sometimes kills the fish. Most fish survive the treatment period. But untreated Camallanus is a death sentence.

You are in the US, so you should be able to get meds easily online. I doubt standard pet stores carry them, - they didn't the last time I was in your country before the pandemic.

 

[Navfish]

This is serious. Camallanus protrude from a fish to lay eggs, so your entire tank has them. They attach to the intestinal wall as parasite, and eventually kill their host. Standard dewormers, with praziquantel will not bother them. You need the more specialized medications @Colin_T has listed. And you need them soon. Once the worms are hanging out, there are a lot of them inside. You will have to follow the instructions to the letter, as the nematode worm has a specific life cycle that causes trouble for lazy or careless aquarists.

Because the parasite bites into the intestinal wall, as it dies it can still cause bleeding that sometimes kills the fish. Most fish survive the treatment period. But untreated Camallanus is a death sentence.

You are in the US, so you should be able to get meds easily online. I doubt standard pet stores carry them, - they didn't the last time I was in your country before the pandemic.

It is Camallanus thread worms. It will not respond to Epsom salts, in fact that won't do anything to help in this case. You need to deworm the fish with a Levamisole or Flubendazole based deworming medication.

See section 3 of the following link.

What to do if your fish has Stringy White Poop.

Fish do a stringy white poop for several reasons. 1) Internal Bacterial Infections causes the fish to stop eating, swell up like a balloon, breath heavily at the surface or near a filter outlet, do stringy white poop, and die within 24-48 hours of showing these symptoms. This cannot normally be...

www.fishforums.net

I just bought fritz expel P. It will arrive soon in about 1 day and I will treat him.


I have one question about Expel P. So it says to treat 1 day and do a 25% water change the next day.
But would I dose again after the 25% water change? Or leave it and dose the next week?

 

[GaryE]

When I treated Camallanus (twice so far), I dosed, siphoned to get the paralyzed worms off the substrate, waited a week, dosed again, did it again and repeated for a third time, even if I no longer saw signs of them. I usually have continued treatment for up to 6 weeks.

The fish tend to pick up eggs off the substrate, and you are trying to kill the successive waves of parasites as they develop. The first dose should rapidly get the adults, but each one hanging has produced young. The adults will be killed if the meds are mixed into food, a far more efficeint method of fighting the little $%^%$%#$s. With meds added to the water, the adults are paralyzed and fall off, but it can take a lot longer.

They are a fishfarm special, and have gone from an extreme rarity to a common problem in just a few years.

 

[Ichthys]

Big shame you can’t get Sterazin in the US. Simple 10 day course, no vacuuming required. I’ve used it countless times over the years on Camallanus. Works every time. It’s piperazine-based.

 

[GaryE]

Out of curiosity and not wishing to hijack, @Ichthys , do you see new fish coming in with Camallanus countless times? I have gotten it here twice, once in the 90s, and once about 10 years back. It has never returned in a tank if I treated with food based meds, and could always be traced for arrival. Is it that common in the UK hobby?

 

[Ichthys]

Historically we’ve always got most of our fish in the UK from Singapore until quite recently (we still do for most common species). Camallanus has always been quite common in our imports… maybe 10% of all fish imported? (guesstimate). When I was in the trade we imported every week and I had to kill Camallanus in new imports most weeks. It’s quite common over here.

 

[Navfish]

I have started treatment and he indeed has Camallus and is currently expelling them out! I will repeat treatment next week and hope the tank is clear of those nasty parasites.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Here is a very good paper on Camallanus and treating them with levamisole hydrochloride:
http://www.inkmkr.com/Fish/CamellanusTreatment.pdf

I buy both Levamisole and Flubendazole from Dr. Harrison who wrote the paper above.
http://www.inkmkr.com/Fish/ItemsForSale.html

 

[Navfish]

Here is a very good paper on Camallanus and treating them with levamisole hydrochloride:
http://www.inkmkr.com/Fish/CamellanusTreatment.pdf

I buy both Levamisole and Flubendazole from Dr. Harrison who wrote the paper above.
http://www.inkmkr.com/Fish/ItemsForSale.html

I have a question.

It’s been 24 hours and he is still excreting worms out. Should I just do a water change and dose again next week. Or should I dose again right after?

 

[Colin_T]

Wait 48 hours after treatment before doing a 75% water change and gravel cleaning the substrate. Clean the filter then too.

Make sure the filter doesn't contain carbon because that will remove some or all of the medication.

Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Treat the tank once a week for 3-4 treatments. This will ensure you kill any baby worms that hatch from eggs.

 

[Navfish]

Wait 48 hours after treatment before doing a 75% water change and gravel cleaning the substrate. Clean the filter then too.

Make sure the filter doesn't contain carbon because that will remove some or all of the medication.

Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Treat the tank once a week for 3-4 treatments. This will ensure you kill any baby worms that hatch from eggs.

got it! Thanks for all the help guys


He made a full recovery and has expelled all the worms!