Re: apisto with intestinal worms

[Chad Attlesey <davinci@uswest.net>]

I had some wild caught Rams that had intestinal worms.  They had 1-3 worms
hanging, wriggling out their anuses.  Like was mentioned earlier in the
thread, I didn't notice it until I started feeding them well with live
frozen foods.  However, I have always had my suspicions that they got the
parasites from a feeding of live black worms the first week I got them.
Since then I have come to believe that live black worms should be completely
avoided - they always seem to introduce nasty stuff to the tank.

I never noticed eggs.  In fact, I didn't have anything that would be a
typical carrier in the tank - snails, etc. (except other fish).  About the
time I noticed the worms in the fish, I also noticed hundreds/thousands of
tiny worms (just visible) wriggling on the front face of the aquarium glass.
Soon after that all of the fish in the tank showed signs of the parasites.
I tried using the recommended dosage of Clout and it seemed to work
initially.  However, I noticed that one of the fish was either still
infested or re-infested.

Next, I tried using Mardel CopperSafe at the recommended dosage for over 14
days.  I monitored the copper level with a test kit in order to maintain the
proper amount in the tank.  That did the trick.  A warning from my
experience though: if you use a copper-based treatment in a planted tank, be
prepared to lose the plants.  I lost most of the plants I had in the tank
that I treated.  I guess that copper absorbs more readily in plants than
iron.  Without the iron, the plants thinned out and died.

I have read and personally noticed that there is a risk of secondary
infection in fish that are treated for parasites.  I would recommend (once
again from my experience - the experts may shoot me down for this) trying a
product called Melafix.  It is a concentrated tea-tree extract that acts as
a natural anti-biotic and also helps to rapidly repair tissue damage.  I
have even started to use it when I first introduce new fish.  I recently got
a trio of archer fish.  One had a large chomp out of its tail.  The Melafix
had the tail fully repaired in 4 days.  It also has worked for me with
helping to repair body wounds and a scraped eye on one of my African
cichlids.

Good luck, hope this helps.

Chad



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