New discus has worms

[benmc]

Hi guys

I have a bit of a dilemma here, and I'm hoping someone can help. My wife and I bought a couple of new discus today, from two different stores, to add to our existing tank. When we got them home, we noticed that the plastic bag with one of the fish in it was full of white stringy stuff, which I understand means that the fish has worms. For the time being I've put this newcomer in a 20L bucket with a heater, but I need to decide whether I should allow him to join the main tank and treat the whole tank for worms, or keep him in the bucket and treat him there. Which is the best way to go?

Thanks

Ben.

[tanzy]

Hi Ben,

I would keep a close watch on the temp in the bucket because heaters can over heat very quickly in small amounts of water, but it does depend on your heater wattage.

As for adding your new fish, they really should be quarantined and treated for such occurring problems before adding to your healthy main tank. The reason for this saves a lot of heart ache and hard work, plus money on medication.


Kell

[Merrilyn]

Hi Ben, welcome to the forum.

Gee that doesn't sound good. I certainly wouldn't be putting him in the main tank with your other fish. It may not be a simple case of worms.

First thing I'd do is go back to the shop and complain. Return the fish if you can, and don't let it anywhere near your other fish. Make sure no water from the isolation bucket gets into your tank, that includes nets, hoses and wet hands. Keep the fish strictly isolated from the others.

If you're not able to return the fish, for whatever reason, you'll need to set up a hospital tank quite a bit larger than the 20 liter bucket, because the fish will need to be kept in quarantine and treated for at least four weeks.

Let us know how he fares overnight, and if he's eating at all.

If he survives the night, and you want to keep him, we'll give you advice on what treatments to use.

[benmc]

Thanks a lot for your replies.. We were worried that the new discus wouldn't last the night, so we ended up putting the new fish in with our others. After reading your replies this morning I understand this probably wasn't the best thing to do. So now they're all still alive but we need to look at worming the tank. We were probably due to worm our other fish about now anyway.

I've read your sticky thread about worming (really good info!) and will look to pick up some praziquantal today. Is there anything to watch out for with this medication? The tank is still a bit traumatized from all the action yesterday, and the newcomers aren't eating yet, although I suspect this isn't unusual. The other thing I have to consider is that is a featherfin catfish and a small bristlenose in the tank. A guy in one shop told us that we can't worm the discus with catfish in the tank. Is that true? There is so much misinformation out there! :?

Thanks

Ben.

[ILLUSN]

prazi will only treat tapeworms, while your out grab some levimenisole as well.

both the worming meds will be fine with catfish, my whiptails still spawn during a treatment, just make sure you have PLENTY of air going into the tank.

godd luck, keep us posted.

[Hollowman]

I just hope that you have not introduced any more nasties into your tank. I know of people who have wiped out all of their fish by making this mistake.
Please watch ALL of your fish VERY closely over the next few weeks, any changes let us know.

Fingers Crossed :(

Hollowman

[benmc]

Hi guys

Thought I'd post an update on how things are going.

On Monday I treated the tank with Prazi at half strength which was recommended by the shop, and did a 25% water change on Wednesday. The two catfish were both okay throughout the treatment. I didn't see any obvious signs of worms being excreted however the new discus has slowly become more active, and today he ate his first meal :D He must have been hungry, it's been 8 days since we got him. He still looks very frail, but it's so encouraging to see him eating.

We're planning to do a follow-up dose of prazi this week too. Are there any other things I should be treating for at this stage?

I've posted a close-up photo of him too, so you can see what he looks like. Once everything settles in the tank, I'm planning to post some better photos of him and his tankmates in the photo album section.

Ben.