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hey everyone,
for some reason, for past week, an emporer tetra has a small string hanging fron its side of body, maybe from his gills. unsure what it is or what caused it, everybody else in tank seems fine!

please help, so far unmedicated as unsure what to use.

Is it possibly a string or piece of poop, or algae? If you think for a minute that it is a parasite, then you will want to medicate. I would suggest the Aquamaster Fluke & Tapeworm shown at the Adelaide Aquariums website:

[link=http://adelaideaquariums.com.au/products/medication.html]http://adelaideaquariums.com.au/products/medication.html" style="COLOR: #C000C0[/link]

Follow the link for parasite treatment and you will see it there. It has praziquantel which is outstanding for gill and skin flukes and relatively harmless. However, if you end up with products containing other, more harsh treatments, it could be hard on scaleless fish and catfish, and kill snails (malachite green, copper, formalin/formaldehyde, victoria green, etc.)

Prazi won't hurt plants or even fry. You can ask about inverts as I'm not sure.

Does it look like an Anchor Worm?

With most "visible" parasites, you have to pull off the parasite, and treat with anti-bacterial meds to prevent the sore from being infected, also make sure the head of an anchor worm comes off, don't just rip off the tail.

I don't think Flukes are visible to the naked eye.. but anchors are usually around the dorsal fin..

Treatments are the same, but be sure to treat with some anti bacterial meds since most parasites don't kill the host, the bacteria do.

if you have a picture that would be very helpful.

http://www.adelaideaquariums.com.au/faqs/disease/showdis.asp?DiseaseID=1

Last edited by Wizzard~Of~Ozz at 01-Jan-2005 01:10

Nice pic - I didn't realize Adelaide had those pics. I'll have to explore further.

This is true that flukes are very tiny and nearly invisible to the naked eye.

Has this tank had any exposure in recent weeks to the great outdoors (plants, rocks from rivers/ponds, fish in tanks with outdoor stuff)? Did you buy any new plants from a fish store recently?

thanks everyone, i used melafix for 3 days straight with water changes, etc.. and he has recovered well, thanks for everyones input.

Umm, no, nothing new to use it, only that tank was moved about 1 month ago to my new house which has more windows