ID Worm in my goby

Mitch's Tanks · May 30, 2018

I'm not sure if this post is in the right place or not, but I was hoping someone could help me ID the worm sticking out of my goby. I'm on my second round of prazipro so Im guessing it isnt the right treatment.

Brew12 · May 30, 2018

I haven't seen one like that before.

#mods can we get this moved to the fish disease section please?

Maggie321 · May 30, 2018

I hope that li'l guy is in QT... following because I am very curious.

Highgrade · May 30, 2018

Anchor Worm possibly? If so Formalin and Prazi may help. Metroplex treatments as well.

Might want to add this to the following Thread
https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/fish-disease-index-pictorial-guide.199/

Mitch's Tanks · May 30, 2018

Maggie321 said:
I hope that li'l guy is in QT... following because I am very curious.

Yea definitely in QT. This is my first reef tank so trying to start off with best practices.

ae87 · May 30, 2018

Mitch's Tanks said:
I'm not sure if this post is in the right place or not, but I was hoping someone could help me ID the worm sticking out of my goby. I'm on my second round of prazipro so Im guessing it isnt the right treatment.

WOW! Following for educational purposes. Interesting at the least-hope someone on here knows! Gook luck!!

JBKReef · May 30, 2018

Is it possible you have something scrubbing the prazi out of the system? Carbon or what filtration do you have?

Maggie321 · May 30, 2018

It looks like some kind of a nematode worm.

http://www.mesa.edu.au/marine_worms/marine_worms03.asp

chris85 · May 30, 2018

+1 on the nematode.

What have you been feeding and how and how long have you had it? Any live food?

I have collected a few fish with them and just the immunity of the fish will usually kill them....but that one is huge and may require differant measures.

Mitch's Tanks · May 30, 2018

JBKReef said:
Is it possible you have something scrubbing the prazi out of the system? Carbon or what filtration do you have?

I'm only using a HOB on the QT and I've pulled the carbon out. I did a 50% change before the second dose of Prazi

Mitch's Tanks · May 30, 2018

chris85 said:
+1 on the nematode.

What have you been feeding and how and how long have you had it? Any live food?

I have collected a few fish with them and just the immunity of the fish will usually kill them....but that one is huge and may require differant measures.

I've had it for a week and a half now. It came from the store with it. Feeding frozen mysis

chris85 · May 30, 2018

Is there anyway to get live seafood... Live clams or mussels bait shrimp?

Mitch's Tanks · May 30, 2018

chris85 said:
Is there anyway to get live seafood... Live clams or mussels bait shrimp?

Probably? Can I just snag them from a bait shop or grocery store? Im not very familiar with feeding live.

chris85 · May 30, 2018

Sure.... You just want the live bacteria in the guts from the food source to help out with the fish's bacteria. Think of it like us eating probiotic yogurt.

seaplane · May 30, 2018

Oh my goodness, that's creepy. Poor fish. Thank you for trying to help him. Hoping for success.

Humblefish · May 30, 2018

Maggie321 said:
It looks like some kind of a nematode worm.

http://www.mesa.edu.au/marine_worms/marine_worms03.asp

^^ This; or possibly a trematode.

Either way, manual removal is the only viable option here.

Read through this thread: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/id-please.314152/

Maggie321 · May 30, 2018

Hmmmm. Looks like surgery to me. Scalpel, sponge...
I got lucky on that ID, all the knowledge of the modern world at my fingertips helped me out... @Humblefish, I aspire to have your wealth of knowledge in my head one day.
Keep us up to speed on the little guys progress. I am still curious.

Highgrade · May 30, 2018

Humblefish said:
^^ This; or possibly a trematode.

Either way, manual removal is the only viable option here.

Read through this thread: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/id-please.314152/

@Humblefish As I previously mentioned Anchor worm, understandably they normally attach to the skin of the host but eventually burrow into the skin and remain visible. Aren't Trematodes generally a flatworm? I understand they can be external and internal parasites. Your help is always appreciated!

Mitch's Tanks · May 30, 2018

Thanks Humblefish. I saw in the post you linked to treat with Prazi, freshwater dip, and formalin. Did this not work or do you think manual removal and then the following treatments? Do I need to bleach out my QT while Im pulling the worm out?

Humblefish · May 30, 2018

Highgrade said:
@Humblefish As I previously mentioned Anchor worm, understandably they normally attach to the skin of the host but eventually burrow into the skin and remain visible. Aren't Trematodes generally a flatworm? I understand they can be external and internal parasites. Your help is always appreciated!

Whatever it is, it needs to be pulled out with small tweezers. You can use MS-222 to sedate the fish beforehand and a tiny dab of Neosporin to ward off infection.

If the exit wound(s) start turning red, dose antibiotics ASAP. I’m becoming a big believer in NFG: http://store.nationalfishpharm.com/NFP-products-Nitrofuracin-Green-59584.Item.html

I think the Methylene Blue it contains helps heal the wounds, while the two ABX works to clear the infection. I had a nasty outbreak (gram negative bacterial infections) in 3 of my QTs recently, and am using NFG in all three. Every day I can see the infections getting better. When I would dose the trifecta (Kanaplex + Furan-2 + Metroplex) it took a lot longer to see positive results like this.