Most of our marine fishes come from the wild. It isn’t unusual for the fish to be carrying a worm infection in its intestinal track. It's been estimated that up to 30% of the fishes in the wild have some kind of intestinal worm infection. This number can considerably increase as fish are kept in holding tanks along transfer points, where they can share diseases and infections.
In the wild, this is not much of an issue. The fish can find enough nutrition for its own needs and the needs of the worms. The worms of course are taking nutrients away from the fish. But if the intake of nutrients is enough, the fish is happy; the worms are happy. However, I the aquarist, am not happy. I want worms out.
If the fishes are de-wormed (which is very easy to do) the aquarist does not have to worry about the worms taking nutrients away from their fishes.
Unfortunately, it isn't easy to always tell if a fish has these worms. The symptoms of a worm infestation match other intestinal disorders. Generally though, the symptoms and observations of fishes with intestinal worms include:
Strange feces (stringy, solid lengths, colored wrong, worms in feces, etc.) [NOTE: normal feces is grainy like fine sand -- usually lightly colored white to beige]
'Strings' peeking out from the fish's vent (anus)
Fish eats voraciously but doesn't seem to gain weight
Fish eats but is losing weight, or seems to be wasting away
Fish eats but is losing coloration and clear marking boundaries
Fish eating habits have changed to picking at foods or it stops eating
Obviously the above set of symptoms can apply to certain other conditions, however, the strange feces and worms peeking out from the fish's vent are the ones you'll come to rely upon most. You have to be a Super Pooper Snooper to sniff out the problem.
I would like to cover in this post the three most common problems which are indicated by the above symptoms.
The peculiar feces is usually a sign of an intestinal/internal problem.
There are three (3) basic possibilities when it comes to an intestinal problem. This reference outlines the three nicely:
http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/internalinfections.html
Garlic is not a remedy. It has been suspected of helping in one case of internal parasites. The fish was fed solid chunks of it. Garlic juice does nothing in this case.
Knowing how long you have had this fish would help in the diagnosis, as well as whether or not you use a quarantine system to verify the fish was healthy before you put it into your display tank. Since I don't know this information when I wrote this post, I have to assume either possibility and provide how to deal with each.
Whatever the intestinal problem, the fish needs the best water quality and the best diet AND supplements added to its diet. Remember, it is eating for two or two thousand!
If the fish is not eating then the only way to get medication to the intestinal track is to put the fish in a quarantine tank and treat the water with chemicals that will kill the internal condition. The drug Praziquantel (a.k.a. Droncit) will treat intestinal worms (see below for other suggestions), Maracyn Two for Saltwater fish will treat an internal bacterial infection and Metronizazole will treat dinoflagellate infections.
To be conservative: I recommend either of two ways forward:
1. If you've had your fish for several months or more: First check your source water for contaminants. Use only the best source water and make up a new batch of salt water. Now check that freshly made up water for quality/contaminants. If it passes, then adjust it for pH, temperature and salinity, mix some more, then do an 80% water change and see if the fish seems to 'perk up' (e.g., starts eating or eats more or swims around more in the open). If the fish definitely perks up then it maybe a combo of water conditions and bacteria. In this case, I'd treat the fish for an internal bacterial infection. Move fish to a hospital/quarantine tank and treat with Maracyn Two for Saltwater fishes. Begin with a double dose and continue double dosing what is recommended on the medicine insert. With proper nutrition and water quality, the fish may gain control and conquer the internal infection.
2. If you recently acquired the fish: Treat the fish for worms (using Praziquantel or an alternate noted below) first and if no improvement, treat for dinoflagellates (using a medication containing Metronizazole). How to find these is given below -- keep reading!
If the fish was fat and eating properly and being fed a proper diet (see above reference), with vitamin and fat supplements, it can live without eating for several weeks, providing all other environmental and water quality conditions are as they should be and the fish is not diseased. Praziquantel is best administered orally so if your fish isn't eating, try to get the fish eating.
De-worm all newly acquired fishes with Praziquantel (or one of the given alternative drugs given below) right after acclimation. Acclimation suggestion:
Dose Praziquantel (or an alternate drug) as instructed below. Wait 6 days and dose again. This treatment is over!
----------
Medications:
Maracyn Two for Saltwater fishes. Made by Mardel. Contains the antibiotic Minocycline with B complex vitamins (to stimulate appetite). Available at some LFSs, Petco, and on line.
------------------
Praziquantel. Praziquantel may be hard to find. But it is available on-line along with other medications. Sources come and go, so just do a Google (or other) search for praziquantel for fish and find a source for the powder. I've found it on eBay, too!.
Unfortunately, the quantity of Praziquantel you need to order as a minimum order may be more than you'll need in the next few years. It is administered at 23mg per pound of fish, in their normal food. Wait 6 days, then treat again. Verify the 'cure' by observing the faces form/shape. There is no need to move the fish to a quarantine/hospital tank. The fish can be treated wherever it is, so long as you are putting the medication into the food. Don't get crazy about determining the weight of your fish! Just guess. An average deck of playing cards is about 3 ounces, which is about 84 grams. So if your fish is about the size of a deck of playing cards, use 3 ounces. There are how many ounces per pound? Yes. 1 oz = 0.0625 pound. So 3 ounces would be 0.188 pounds. You'd need about 4.5 mg of the powder if our fish is the size of a deck of cards! Increase or decrease this proportionately.
If you saw about 4.5 mg of powder on a clean glass surface, it would look to be a tiny pile about the size of a soaked-wet green lentil. This is as close as you need to get as far as being accurate. This amount can be put into one or a few pieces of food (spread out) as long as the fish eats all the pieces. OR if you're feeding this to a whole tank of fishes, spread it out so that each fish will get its proper amount. Don't need to give it more. So more is NOT better.
Another de-wormer alternative is the product Pipezine. Look for products that contain the ingredient you want, only don't use products meant for dogs and cats.
The aquarist is looking for a treatment that the fish will swallow (not a water treatment). However, if the fish isn't eating, the water treatment is necessary. Follow directions that comes with these alternate medications.
Alternative Meds (overseas). I try to be on the look-out for meds available outside North America. I've recently come across some that are suitable for de-worming. Those aquarists in the UK and Europe may find Fenbendazole or Piperazine more readily available. They are dosed at 250mg/100g of food, fed for 7 to 10 days. Medications containing these will likely come with dosing instructions. Follow label instructions for administering these products.
-----------------
Metronizazole. Also found in several products. (See above). Follow the directions that come with the medication.
BE THE SUPER POOPER SNOOPER. Watch your fishes' feces! (This is a hobby?)
In the wild, this is not much of an issue. The fish can find enough nutrition for its own needs and the needs of the worms. The worms of course are taking nutrients away from the fish. But if the intake of nutrients is enough, the fish is happy; the worms are happy. However, I the aquarist, am not happy. I want worms out.
If the fishes are de-wormed (which is very easy to do) the aquarist does not have to worry about the worms taking nutrients away from their fishes.
Unfortunately, it isn't easy to always tell if a fish has these worms. The symptoms of a worm infestation match other intestinal disorders. Generally though, the symptoms and observations of fishes with intestinal worms include:
Strange feces (stringy, solid lengths, colored wrong, worms in feces, etc.) [NOTE: normal feces is grainy like fine sand -- usually lightly colored white to beige]
'Strings' peeking out from the fish's vent (anus)
Fish eats voraciously but doesn't seem to gain weight
Fish eats but is losing weight, or seems to be wasting away
Fish eats but is losing coloration and clear marking boundaries
Fish eating habits have changed to picking at foods or it stops eating
Obviously the above set of symptoms can apply to certain other conditions, however, the strange feces and worms peeking out from the fish's vent are the ones you'll come to rely upon most. You have to be a Super Pooper Snooper to sniff out the problem.
I would like to cover in this post the three most common problems which are indicated by the above symptoms.
The peculiar feces is usually a sign of an intestinal/internal problem.
There are three (3) basic possibilities when it comes to an intestinal problem. This reference outlines the three nicely:
http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/internalinfections.html
Garlic is not a remedy. It has been suspected of helping in one case of internal parasites. The fish was fed solid chunks of it. Garlic juice does nothing in this case.
Knowing how long you have had this fish would help in the diagnosis, as well as whether or not you use a quarantine system to verify the fish was healthy before you put it into your display tank. Since I don't know this information when I wrote this post, I have to assume either possibility and provide how to deal with each.
Whatever the intestinal problem, the fish needs the best water quality and the best diet AND supplements added to its diet. Remember, it is eating for two or two thousand!
If the fish is not eating then the only way to get medication to the intestinal track is to put the fish in a quarantine tank and treat the water with chemicals that will kill the internal condition. The drug Praziquantel (a.k.a. Droncit) will treat intestinal worms (see below for other suggestions), Maracyn Two for Saltwater fish will treat an internal bacterial infection and Metronizazole will treat dinoflagellate infections.
To be conservative: I recommend either of two ways forward:
1. If you've had your fish for several months or more: First check your source water for contaminants. Use only the best source water and make up a new batch of salt water. Now check that freshly made up water for quality/contaminants. If it passes, then adjust it for pH, temperature and salinity, mix some more, then do an 80% water change and see if the fish seems to 'perk up' (e.g., starts eating or eats more or swims around more in the open). If the fish definitely perks up then it maybe a combo of water conditions and bacteria. In this case, I'd treat the fish for an internal bacterial infection. Move fish to a hospital/quarantine tank and treat with Maracyn Two for Saltwater fishes. Begin with a double dose and continue double dosing what is recommended on the medicine insert. With proper nutrition and water quality, the fish may gain control and conquer the internal infection.
2. If you recently acquired the fish: Treat the fish for worms (using Praziquantel or an alternate noted below) first and if no improvement, treat for dinoflagellates (using a medication containing Metronizazole). How to find these is given below -- keep reading!
If the fish was fat and eating properly and being fed a proper diet (see above reference), with vitamin and fat supplements, it can live without eating for several weeks, providing all other environmental and water quality conditions are as they should be and the fish is not diseased. Praziquantel is best administered orally so if your fish isn't eating, try to get the fish eating.
De-worm all newly acquired fishes with Praziquantel (or one of the given alternative drugs given below) right after acclimation. Acclimation suggestion:
Dose Praziquantel (or an alternate drug) as instructed below. Wait 6 days and dose again. This treatment is over!
----------
Medications:
Maracyn Two for Saltwater fishes. Made by Mardel. Contains the antibiotic Minocycline with B complex vitamins (to stimulate appetite). Available at some LFSs, Petco, and on line.
------------------
Praziquantel. Praziquantel may be hard to find. But it is available on-line along with other medications. Sources come and go, so just do a Google (or other) search for praziquantel for fish and find a source for the powder. I've found it on eBay, too!.
Unfortunately, the quantity of Praziquantel you need to order as a minimum order may be more than you'll need in the next few years. It is administered at 23mg per pound of fish, in their normal food. Wait 6 days, then treat again. Verify the 'cure' by observing the faces form/shape. There is no need to move the fish to a quarantine/hospital tank. The fish can be treated wherever it is, so long as you are putting the medication into the food. Don't get crazy about determining the weight of your fish! Just guess. An average deck of playing cards is about 3 ounces, which is about 84 grams. So if your fish is about the size of a deck of playing cards, use 3 ounces. There are how many ounces per pound? Yes. 1 oz = 0.0625 pound. So 3 ounces would be 0.188 pounds. You'd need about 4.5 mg of the powder if our fish is the size of a deck of cards! Increase or decrease this proportionately.
If you saw about 4.5 mg of powder on a clean glass surface, it would look to be a tiny pile about the size of a soaked-wet green lentil. This is as close as you need to get as far as being accurate. This amount can be put into one or a few pieces of food (spread out) as long as the fish eats all the pieces. OR if you're feeding this to a whole tank of fishes, spread it out so that each fish will get its proper amount. Don't need to give it more. So more is NOT better.
Another de-wormer alternative is the product Pipezine. Look for products that contain the ingredient you want, only don't use products meant for dogs and cats.
The aquarist is looking for a treatment that the fish will swallow (not a water treatment). However, if the fish isn't eating, the water treatment is necessary. Follow directions that comes with these alternate medications.
Alternative Meds (overseas). I try to be on the look-out for meds available outside North America. I've recently come across some that are suitable for de-worming. Those aquarists in the UK and Europe may find Fenbendazole or Piperazine more readily available. They are dosed at 250mg/100g of food, fed for 7 to 10 days. Medications containing these will likely come with dosing instructions. Follow label instructions for administering these products.
-----------------
Metronizazole. Also found in several products. (See above). Follow the directions that come with the medication.
BE THE SUPER POOPER SNOOPER. Watch your fishes' feces! (This is a hobby?
)
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