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I have two blue gills i keep indoors. One i have had for 2 years now, the other was a recent addition. The new adition has got worms on his fins. He just had odd bumbs on his finns when i first added him(eggs i presume) and now there are actual live worms. What do you do to get rid of these? They arent on any of my other fish. But i want to keep it that way. Any ideas on what to do to rid him or her of these pests?

Sounds like anchor worm, you can remove them your self but it causes great stress to the fish, if you do you dab antiseptic on the wounds afterwards, also their is a med called jungle parasite

Could you give some more details on the worms? How big they appear, a certain color, etc.

If you have a quarantine or hospital tank, I would move the fish to prevent the rest of your fish from getting the worms.

Last edited by Mogmog at 17-Nov-2004 18:07

The worms are pale white in color. They are like skinny and pointed on one end. A blue gill isnt a fish easily netted and handled. And i doubt i could keep hold of it for long to remove the worms and put meds on it. Theres got to be some kind of medicine that will kill them and the eggs?


Edit: The worms are around half an inch long. And they are on the finns. Mostly the tail and flipper(forgot name) finns.

Last edited by gourami at 18-Nov-2004 06:18

Here's a link to some pics. Note they are not all looking white, but other pics I've seen they are. If you see a fork forming in the tail, you know for sure they are anchor worm.

http://www.2cah.com/pandora/Disease.html#Lernea

What else is in this tank - all stock and inverts??? Do you have snails, catfish, etc.? We need to be careful here.

I'm thinking this fish could be a little more difficult to handle than say, a plump goldfish where removal would be easier.

If you do use Parasite Guard or other med claiming to treat Lernea and you don't see this thing fall off after treatment, you may need to pull it off so it doesn't remain dead in the fish. They anchor in pretty good. At a half inch, it doesn't sound like a fluke.

If you don't have catfish and snails, Iwould dose the Parasite Guard or even Parasite Clear, but only if it clearly states it treats lernea or anchorworm. You can look at different brands available. Remove carbon.

When parasites are involved, I would want to treat the tank.

As a preventative, you can feed the fish the new Jungle Anti-Bacterial Medicated Food to prevent infection. These things just don't stick to the outer layers of the fish. They burrow their heads into the flesh, usually between scales. Infections happen easily with such things and once it (infection) gets into the bloodstream forget it. If it is only on the fin, then you may want to dose an antiseptic like PimaFix, along with Melafix. The two together are stronger than either one alone.

I've always wanted a large tank with fish native to Michigan, where I live. Bluegills, pumpkinseed, etc. However, from the wild, they would definitely be quarantined for a good 6-8 weeks, and I wouldn't hesitate to use a dewormer for intestinal worms like Jungle's Anti-Parasite.

Both of these Jungle feeds are only available at Petsmart at this time. They are new releases. I do know that the Anti-Parasite medicated feed is the only fish med that combines the triple power of metronazidole, levamisole (only med effective for camallanus nematodes), and praziquantel (very best med for skin/gill flukes and intestinal worms that are not nematodes like camallanus). If I thought this worm you describe was a fluke, I would recommend this med. However, I don't know that flukes get to 1/2 inch.

I would not mix the two anti-parasite meds or any anti-parasite meds. I also would steer clear of copper based drugs unless you can quarantine or plan to never have inverts in your tank. Keep in mind a large snail die-off can cause an ammonia spike.



Last edited by Cory_Di at 18-Nov-2004 15:05

Last edited by Cory_Di at 18-Nov-2004 15:06