Can fish get worms or help!!! GUPPY BREEDERS HELP!?

Question

My guppy gave birth to 20 fry 2 weeks ago. I asked this question and got very little answers. My guppy has 4 red threads coming out of her er.....you know and she going to have more fry in aprox 3 weeks. Im a little worried as i think it looks like worms but can fish get worms? She poos fine and looks heathy. HAS ANYONE HAD THIS ISSUE WHEN BREEDING GUPPIES?

OK BUT MY FRY??? SINCE MOVED TO A DIFFERENT TANK BUT MOST LIKELY AFFECTED> HOW DO I TREAT THEM???? THANK YOU!!!

If i kill the fish that looks infected will this get rid of the infection. No others show signs.

we right now im freaking out!!! The lnk you provided is really confusing, where will i get Levamisole from?? I have 2 tanks one 180L with 1 electric yellow, 1 electric blu, 1 silver shark, 1 blue ram, 1 unknown fish, 1 cory catfish, 1 bristlenose catfish and in breeder nets 4 adult guppies. The other tank is 28L and only has 30 guppy fry. MY GOD ANY EXTRA HELP WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!!! IM SO SCARED I ONLY DEFEATED WHITE SPOT NOT THAT LONG AGO AND NOW THIS... the catfish and frt will have to be treated together but i dont even know if they mix = (. Im going to ask this question again and see if i can get some different cures THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!!! 10 point for sure. MERRY CHRISTMAS

Answer 1

It's not an issue of breeding - your fish is infected with camallanus (intestinal parasite). This will be fatal to your fish if not treated. When you see them hanging out, they're laying eggs, so you have to treat the entire tank and all fish in it.

It's not limited to just guppies, either. I've dealt with this in bettas and cichlids too.

Here are two articles that can help you out: http://www.inkmkr.com/Fish/CamellanusTreatment.pdf
http://www.petfish.net/articles/Diseases/Camallanus.php

I treated my fish using the first method and it works quite well - most anti-parasite medications meant for other parasites don't. I haven't tried the Panacur, but it supposedly works just as well, but it doesn't lower the pH (which the Levamisole does) which could stress some fish.

Good luck with this, and start treatment as soon as possible - one of the effects of this is that your fish will develop spinal deformities because of muscle contractions caused by the worms.

(Photo of camallanus in a guppy: http://www.alaquairum.net/imagenes/Camallanus1.jpg


ADDITION: Unless you added new fish/plants after the fry were separated, chances are they've been exposed to the parasites as well. So have any other fish that are in the tank. To be sure you're rid of this, you'll need to treat them all, especially in the main tank. You could try not treating the fry, but because of their small size, if any are infected by the parasite they would start to show the spinal deformity that much more quickly because of their size. Once the deformity begins, it's not able to be corrected.

Killing the fish you know is infected won't necessarily prevent the infection of others - it takes a while for the eggs to hatch, and infected fish may not show symptoms of the worms for some time.


ADDITION: If you're in the US, try a farm supply store for the Levamisole. You should also be able to get it (and the Panacur) through a veterinarian (best source for outside the US). Even though it's what's most effective for fish, it's actually a livestock dewormer.

Answer 2

yep,not only do they get them but there's different types.
Most are obviuosly intestinal worms,so very hard to detect untill external signs becoma apparent&usually to late@this stage.A trip to the aquarium for a quick autopsy is the only way to know what tpye.Usually called MORPHOLOGICAL DISORDERS.A swollen or even the reverse a shrunken in abdomen can be a clue.The eyes can also reveal health issues.If cloudy or potruding.This could be tuberculosis or the presence of worms in the eye.
Generally speakin,TREMATODE WORMS+parasitic flatworm.EG:Gyrodactylus
that's all i can think of,off top of my head,but it's the basics.hope i gave you insight.