Microworms escaping through gills?

HI all,

Is it just me or do you also notice that during feeding, some escape through your fry's gills??

I have goldfish fry. I spend quite some time watching them eat^^ It looks like some microworms swim out of my fry's gills - which is fine but.... is it possible that they get stuck and hangs from the gills? I have a couple goldfish fry that has one or two micro white hair strand hanging from their chins but only after I fed them microworms. However, it's still there after I stopped for a day. Thoughts?

I've seen these micro white hair stands before in my other batch and thought they could be gill fluke as I've read a similar description on a goldfish site. Some say you can spot them in fry, some say it's impossible without a microscope... so idk what to think. I want to consolidate tanks but afraid of cross contaminating.

Thanks for reading,
Jennifer

 

Is there any way you can start feeding them an alternate food source like baby brine shrimp and observe them over the next week or so?

In this case, it would be very difficult to discern gill flukes from microworms. I have experienced gill flukes before - definitely no fun - but with how tiny and white and worm-like both of them are, you would need a microscope to tell the difference.

 

Is there any way you can start feeding them an alternate food source like baby brine shrimp and observe them over the next week or so?

In this case, it would be very difficult to discern gill flukes from microworms. I have experienced gill flukes before - definitely no fun - but with how tiny and white and worm-like both of them are, you would need a microscope to tell the difference.

Thanks for replying!

I have been doing brine shrimp. But I'm hoping to give them more variety or when I'm tight on time.

What symptoms do you notice when your fish had flukes? The first batch I suspected to have flukes is still alive and growing (lost a bunch but is expected for goldfish fry). Just growing slowly but I'm new so I don't have much experience to compare them with.

I've read that you'd see flashing, white micro hairy beard, slow growth, and it's a slow killer? They can eat and live almost like normal and for a long time... will it eventually kill them? My first batch is getting bigger (no sight of white hairy beard) and I wonder if it'll be a point where they'll just live with it and grow into adulthood?

- Jennifer

 

My fluke-infected fish got through quarantine without me noticing anything at all. It certainly is a slow killer. After they got through quarantine and were in the main tank for a month or so, I started noticing them gasping at the surface but only briefly in the beginning stage, and becoming a bit lethargic, sometimes spitting food, breathing faster than normal, and head-shaking.

Sometimes they can go quite a while like this, but ultimately, it's no way to live, even if they don't die. I would not let them live with it, especially if you ever plan to move them into another tank with other fish or sell them to other people.

Pick up some Prazi-Pro and preventatively (even if you're not sure whether or not it's flukes) treat all of the fish once they are at least half an inch long (Prazi-Pro is a very safe medication, but I would feel better letting them get some weight on them first). You may have to dose multiple times since it sounds like you've got multiple batches of fry. Certainly don't let them inter-mingle while they're in between respective treatments. I would also treat your adult goldfish and any other fish that have been exposed to them. This is just for good measure as, like I said, Prazi-Pro is very safe and flukes may go undetected for a very long time but will inevitably do damage. Best to have fluke-free fish friends.

 

My fluke-infected fish got through quarantine without me noticing anything at all. It certainly is a slow killer. After they got through quarantine and were in the main tank for a month or so, I started noticing them gasping at the surface but only briefly in the beginning stage, and becoming a bit lethargic, sometimes spitting food, breathing faster than normal, and head-shaking.

Sometimes they can go quite a while like this, but ultimately, it's no way to live, even if they don't die. I would not let them live with it, especially if you ever plan to move them into another tank with other fish or sell them to other people.

Pick up some Prazi-Pro and preventatively (even if you're not sure whether or not it's flukes) treat all of the fish once they are at least half an inch long (Prazi-Pro is a very safe medication, but I would feel better letting them get some weight on them first). You may have to dose multiple times since it sounds like you've got multiple batches of fry. Certainly don't let them inter-mingle while they're in between respective treatments. I would also treat your adult goldfish and any other fish that have been exposed to them. This is just for good measure as, like I said, Prazi-Pro is very safe and flukes may go undetected for a very long time but will inevitably do damage. Best to have fluke-free fish friends.

Ouuuuuu, that's a very detailed reply <3! Thank you for that!! Have you used prazi-pro on goldfish too? Fry? Or what kind of fish?

I've read a lot of good things on prazi-pro but I don't know anyone personally that uses them and especially for fry - so I'm always hesitant about the dosage and when are they considered old enough to do it. I like your tips and I feel more confident about giving prazi-pro a try if I can get it online. Our Ontario fish stores no longer sell these medication (that I know of) and we now have to go through a vet for them.

I really love my adult goldfish, I almost lost them to an ich outbreak. And since then almost a year now, everything looks stable and I'm reluctant to add or do anything new to the tank to rock the boat. I even have a larger tank running empty for months now. It was originally intended for them but they look so happy and stable in their tank, so just I want to keep it that way.

After ich, they start spawning and so I guess I'll use the larger tank in the future as a grow out. It was unexpected but exciting. This is a hobby for me. I'm still so new to this and I'm attached to all of my fry atm. Gone through a lot of trial and errors, so I only have a small few that's growing strong from all my batches combined.

I feel really uneasy medicating fish if they look fine. But if I'm suspecting my fry to have flukes then the only possibility is they got it from their parents... I'm relieve to hear how confident you feel about prazi-pro and how safe you think it is. I definitely would love to give them a fluke-free life. Also, that would mean their future spawns would be super healthy and fluke free too. That'd awesome

(Wow... I'm much more long winded with this whole social distancing going on. Sorry, eheheee)

- Jennifer

 

I personally did not use Prazi-Pro. Being confident in my skills as a biology major, I did some research and figured out that another anti-parasite medication I already had should also work against flukes, though it was not labeled for them. From what I could tell, it did kill flukes - I saw them drop off during medication. But the medication I used was a bit more finicky and less safe than Prazi-Pro, and I wish I did use Prazi-Pro. Soon after, I ended up losing my male pearl gourami who was the first one to show symptoms (and the one I am certain brought it to the rest of the tank), though all other tank inhabitants were fine after medication. I am convinced that the silent damage done by the flukes had gotten to the point of being irreversible, and even after medicating, that fish in particular was still suffering and was too far gone to make a recovery.

That is why I am now so insistent on preventatively treating animals that might only show partial symptoms or do not show any symptoms at all but have a high likelihood of carrying them, and doing it the right way with Prazi-Pro.

If I were you, I'd sleep better at night knowing all my fish are completely fluke-free! Knowing that all of my fish survived the harsher medication, including guppy and platy fry, I am confident that goldfish fry will survive the much safer Prazi-Pro.