Are these anchor worms?

[Reefer1991]

Hey guys, so i've had a few tangs in quarantine for a little more than a month (2 weeks prazi pro and now on day 18 of cupramine with some metro soaked food every now and then) and everything is going great except today i noticed small translucent specks on the hippo tang. Its definitely not crypto(im working on getting a decent picture) but looks pretty close. They are tiny white "translucent" specks that poke out from his body. Theyre pretty hard to see unless you knew they were there.(also not velvet) I've qted my fair share of fish and have yet to come across this. Until i can get a picture, does anybody have a guess what it could be? After searching around im thinking anchor worms or a prazi resistant strain of fluke? The fish is still eating but is scratching frequently. None of the other tangs are showing these signs thus far. My plan right now is to carry on with the cp treatment for another 2 weeks, then 3 more rounds of prazi and maybe dose the tank with metro afterwards instead of feeding it. Any suggestions are appreciated. Ill go work on getting this picture

 

[Reefer1991]

I dont think ill have much luck with a picture because the spots arent visible enough for the camera to pick up. Just to put in to perspective how small and transluscent they are here is a pic of him. The black part of his body probably has about 15 spots yet they dont pick up on camera. Picture crypto yet 10x smaller and clearish. Ill try for a better pic in the morning when they are all huddled around the seaweed clip.

 

[Reefer1991]

Been searching around for a while and theres not much info on what this could be. After closer examination, they are all over his face also and protrude 1/16". Not sure what it is but ive come across a medication called Dimilin in a few threads now and im interested as it seems its effective in killing parasitic crustaceans. Anyone have an idea what the dosage for Dimilin is?

 

[JustinM]

I can't see anything in the picture. How is your tang eating in QT? Any chance it is the beginning of HLLE? If they are worms, I would recommend a FW dip to confirm and to provide a little more comfort. Hopefully this will dislodge them or weaken them.

If it is an anchor worm, it seems Dylox is the recommended route to take. I would catch him and see if you are able to pull anything off of him or observe and see if it is the beginning of HLLE.

 

[Reefer1991]

I can't see anything in the picture. How is your tang eating in QT? Any chance it is the beginning of HLLE? If they are worms, I would recommend a FW dip to confirm and to provide a little more comfort. Hopefully this will dislodge them or weaken them.

If it is an anchor worm, it seems Dylox is the recommended route to take. I would catch him and see if you are able to pull anything off of him or observe and see if it is the beginning of HLLE.

Thanks for the response Justin. All of the tangs are eating great including the hippo. I feed a clip of seaweed in the morning and a mix of rods,mysis, and pellets throughout the day. Hes gained a decent amount of weight since i got him.

He does seem to have what looks to be the beginning of hlle on his face which i think is being caused by the copper or its just scratches from the flashing but the spots on the side are something different.
The spots protrude from the body almost like hes covered in a bunch of tiny hairs.

Im going to keep an eye on him a little longer before I try to manual remove because the fish is only 1.5" so its pretty small and would be difficult to handle. Ill try a fw dip if the fish starts going down hill. Lights are on soon so ill check him out. Thanks

 

[Reefer1991]

Lights just went on and whatever it is looks worse. In the pictures you can see them all over his face. The fish is pretty irritated. Any ideas? There are a lot of bubbles in the tank but that is definitely NOT whats on his face. Could it be a fungus?

 

[Reefer1991]

Just ordered this.

 

[JustinM]

Fungus is extremely rare in saltwater. I would perform the FW dip before it becomes more of a problem and see if it helps. After the dip, I would put him in a collection cup of saltwater and see if you can get a better picture.

 

[JustinM]

It claims to help with external parasites, anchor worms being one of them so hopefully that helps.

 

[Reefer1991]

Fungus is extremely rare in saltwater. I would perform the FW dip before it becomes more of a problem and see if it helps. After the dip, I would put him in a collection cup of saltwater and see if you can get a better picture.

I'm going to keep an eye on him and hopefully the medicine gets delivered before anything gets too bad. Hes swimming around and eating fine except hes scratching a lot. The second I see him take a turn for the worse ill do a dip and be sure to get some pics while i'm at it. I'm a bit hesitant to do a dip on him as of right now just because the couple of fish i've performed this on didn't fare too well.

Hopefully somebody can identify this.

 

[Dmorty217]

Just ordered this.

Be sure and measure actual water volume and don't over dose. I use clout all the time but it's some serious stuff. Mix the med and put half in and watch the fish for the first hr. Add the rest if fish are acting normal.

 

[JustinM]

FW dips are extremely safe. How are you performing them?

 

[Reefer1991]

FW dips are extremely safe. How are you performing them?

Aerate the water for 30 minutes and match temperature Put the fish in for 3-5 minutes then return to tank. Every fish ive done this to is very disoriented after and usually dont make it. Sometimes ill hold them gently and move them through the water to get saltwater into their gills. Maybe its just a freak thing for me but most people i know dont have luck with them either.

 

[Reefer1991]

Be sure and measure actual water volume and don't over dose. I use clout all the time but it's some serious stuff. Mix the med and put half in and watch the fish for the first hr. Add the rest if fish are acting normal.

Alright thanks for the info. Ill do a 100% waterchange before I dose it and keep track of the water going in. Is it safe to use with cupramine? The delivery date for the medicine is going to be the 21st day of cupramine treatment ,but id like to keep them in copper a little longer if possible.

Have you seen anything like this and did you have success in killing it with Clout?

 

[Dmorty217]

Alright thanks for the info. Ill do a 100% waterchange before I dose it and keep track of the water going in. Is it safe to use with cupramine? The delivery date for the medicine is going to be the 21st day of cupramine treatment ,but id like to keep them in copper a little longer if possible.

Have you seen anything like this and did you have success in killing it with Clout?

It's hard to tell from the pictures. Looks like lymph on the face but if the fish is scratching it is something else. Not sure about cupramine and clout together, I use it with chloroquine phosphate. I'm not one for FW dips for the same reasons you mentioned. I'm not a fan of TTM either

 

[Reefer1991]

It's hard to tell from the pictures. Looks like lymph on the face but if the fish is scratching it is something else. Not sure about cupramine and clout together, I use it with chloroquine phosphate. I'm not one for FW dips for the same reasons you mentioned. I'm not a fan of TTM either

Ill probably transfer the hippo to another tank and see how he reacts to the clout before i treat the rest since they aren't showing signs. Is it relatively easy on fish at the right dosage? I just hope I was right that its a parasite of some sort and not bacterial. Otherwise the clout won't be very effective

 

[Reefer1991]

Im starting to lean more towards a bacterial infection only because if it was a parasite, i feel all of the fish would be infected at this point especially because of how bad the hippo is. His face is pretty chewed up now from rubbing on the pvc.

 

[JustinM]

FWIW, anchor worms rarely kill their host. I have never had a fish react poorly to FW dips and have performed many. It helps in the dislodging of parasites, and providing relief for other parasites as well.

I wouldn't recommend combining cupramine and clout, only because your fish seems to be in a lot of stress already. Move him to the other tank as you said and take better pics of him in a collection cup, and it will also give you a chance to see what it is.

If they are worms, I would definitely treat for a bacterial infection regardless. I would start with Kanamyacin(Kanaplex) and add in bifuran(furan 2) before treating with clout. As I said earlier, anchor worms rarely kill their host so concentrating on the bacterial infection first should be priority in my opinion.

 

[Dmorty217]

Trichlorfon is the ingredient that is scary. There have been several public aquariums that wiped out entire tanks from misdosing the med (trichlorfon, which is a insecticide but works for many things found in the saltwater hobby. Many use a Bayer insecticide for their corals as a dip). If you follow the directions and have the water volume correct you have nothing to worry about.

 

[Reefer1991]

FWIW, anchor worms rarely kill their host. I have never had a fish react poorly to FW dips and have performed many. It helps in the dislodging of parasites, and providing relief for other parasites as well.

I wouldn't recommend combining cupramine and clout, only because your fish seems to be in a lot of stress already. Move him to the other tank as you said and take better pics of him in a collection cup, and it will also give you a chance to see what it is.

If they are worms, I would definitely treat for a bacterial infection regardless. I would start with Kanamyacin(Kanaplex) and add in bifuran(furan 2) before treating with clout. As I said earlier, anchor worms rarely kill their host so concentrating on the bacterial infection first should be priority in my opinion.

Thanks ill do the 2 treatments seperate to avoid any problems. Im about to run out to the store and purchase some bacterial medication so i have it on hand.