toadfish internal parasite-need help

[spotfin]

I bought a gulf toadfish this past weekend and didn't notice this until I got home. THe fish appears to have some internal parasites. There is an outline of a worm in the abdominal area and 2 large clusters around the anus. Any idea what it is? What is the best treatment? The fish is in a qt tank and is eating well.
Thanks.

 

[Hattie B]

Hi spotfin,

i see the pics but I can't really make it out. If you suspect internal parasites (most wildcaught fish are reported to have internal parasites, like 80% but I can't locate that reference right now) so its a good idea to deworm them.

Its easy to deworm veggies eaters or flake eaters becuase there are foods made by Jungle, or Hikari that include deworming medication.

however, since you have a fish that is a carnivore it can be more diffucult the best way is to use Praziquantel (Droncit) for deworming.

If he would eat flakes then you could deworm him that way however, I personally have never owned a toadfish, but I have freinds that have and they seem to be voracious carnivors.

FYI-Droncit not cheap but will work in this situation to deworm.

(the probelm with the flakes that contain the meds are that it needs to be fed continously for a least 3 days as the only source of food).

 

[spotfin]

Thanks Hattie B. Here are some more pics, I tried my hand at arrows and colors... Yellow points to the anus, red to the worm shape, and blue to the bumps.

If I use the Praziquantel liquid, is it administered to the water or should it be injected into the food? The toadfish eats chunks of shrimp. I can try regular flake food to see if it will eat it. And yes, these fish are voracious. This one just about tears the end of the feeding stick off.

 

[Hattie B]

The liquid should go directly in the food if possible. That is the best kind to buy since you know the fish will actually be ingesting it.

There is some made for baths that should not be added to the food. Ingesting is the only way to be sure that the fish receives the appropiate dose IMO, a dose that will be effective in killing the parasites

If he has an infestation that you can see coming out of the anus when he defecates then he most def. has worms.

I have also administed flake food before to carnivors by taking the medicated flakes and placing them in a hollowed out shrimp or something of that nature. Of course, I am not 100% sure that all the parasites are killed as the food does say that it should be the only source of food for X number of days. However, at that time when I did not have any droncit, I personally felt that feeding him that way was better then nothing. All it took was a small amount of meat over the flakes to 'fool' him into eating the flakes.

But all in all the Droncit in food IMO is the best way.

Gel-Tek also makes some food with dewormers in it.