Fish died, all stats fine, worms? HELP!?

Question

OK my guppy just died.. she was heavily pregnant. I tried to save her babies but they were to young. I think she had worms because she had like 5 red threads coming out of her well down there. (Its definately not poo, there 5 hanging out of her at once an they go back in and never go away, NOTPOO) well as has these han Now my other guppy has those threads too, she also looks like shes moulting her scales. These two females were in with two other males and 30 fry. The females are gone but the males airnt. One doesnt look to good i think hes just too old. the thing im worried about is how do i cure the worms and will my cichlid tank 180L be infected as i had the females in there earlier today and decided to put them in my smaller tank with the fry. And my major problem is i have catfish loaches and fry whitch are all hard to treat (lower doses). See my problem?

HELP how do i cure the worms? i live in Australia QLD and will my beloved cichlid tank fishes be ok?? Im scared any help!

OK eve:

Checked everything normal, not event he slightest off!! I change water once a week, its a 28L tank with a areater and a very good filter that flow like a waterfall.

I know it NOT POO, she does poo but these are different. I now have the males and fry in the 28L tank and everyones fine but i had the females in breeder nets quite often. (one dies yesterday tring to give birth, the other i flushed because of the threads moving inside her and she was loosing scales like skin. Everyone fine now and the fry are to big for dad to eat!! Got filter on low because of fry. Also my 180L tank is good.

Also a few fake plants and a fake aligator that blow air, and little rocks all over bottom is my decoration.

AND..no heater. Alot of info hey lol.

temp 25-30 celcius. Its summer at the moment may go over 30 but only by like 5.

Answer 1

The red things are the guppy equivalent of umbilical cords, they are not true umbilicals (they don't actually attach to the fry), but they are part of the system that nourishes the eggs during gestation. If you netted or tried to move the female into a breeding tank too near to the birthing time, that's probably the cause of the problem. Female live-bearers should not be moved or otherwise stressed for two weeks prior to delivering.
The tank does not require any treatment,those are definitely not worms.

Answer 2

Sorry to hear about your guppy. I answered on your previous question, when you first saw the worms, and most parasite medications don't work on this (camallanus - http://www.alaquairum.net/imagenes/Camallanus1.jpg for those who didn't see the original question). The only two medications I've ever heard were effective for this are the Levamisole and Panacur I mentioned previously.

All fish in your tank are going to get these eventually, since eggs are laid in the water. It takes a while for the worms to become evident, and the larger the fish, the longer it may take - but they will get them, and once they build up in number, they will kill any fish. They could also be passed between your two tanks in water attached to nets, or in containers (or within the fish themselves).

I know you're worried about the fry and loaches, but if you don't treat with one of the effective medications, all of the fish might die. Just start with a 1/4 dose and build gradually to the full dose - it's not so much that loaches and other sensitive fish can't take medications, they just need to adjust to the gradually. I've treated loaches, tetras, and scaleless catfish with medications and salt at full doses (I never had them in a tank with camallanus, though).

Answer 3

I had a tankful of fish come down with this. I lost everyone of them before I could get it under control. It's a type of parasite, I knew the name at the time but I can't remember it now.

You need to buy some parasite control fish food. The fish store should sell it right with the normal food. Feed all of the fish this food, even the fry. Just crush it up very small for them. Hopefully you'll be able to save the fish that have just been infected and the ones that don't have it yet. I don't know about the ones that are already showing symptoms. It might be too late for them.

Good luck!