Red sharp line

Hi everyone. I got some 2 pairs of red albino guppies last week. I put them in quarantine and they looked fine and ate. One of them had a curved spine which I didn't notice upon purchasing.

3 days ago, I noticed a sharp orangey thin and short king of sting or line coming out of one of the female guppies anus. I am not sure if it is the anus or some other parts but it is roughly that spot where they poop and deliver fry. Yesterday, the male with the curved spine died. It may be too tired it had pinecone scales which I assume was dropsy.

Today, the one male and 2 females are swimming very actively and eating with vibrant colours. The guppy with a sting also seems pregnant. But the sting isn't affecting her.
So what is the sting? It is kind of sharp and short and it does not seem to be moving. I have read about camallanus worms but they go back into the fish's body right? and I have never seen the sting go back or move.

Does anyone know what it is Thank you very much

 

Do you have a pic

 

The sting is so small and so thin that it cannot be seen under camera

 

Are you saying string? Like its pooping a tiny, thin, orange-ish colored string? If your Guppy has a stringy looking poop, its probably a parasite, especially if your male pineconed and died. If it is a parasite, youll need a copper medication to treat it. Try to get some better looks and a pic if possible.

 

Ok, but she gave birth to 4 fry last night. And she wasn't squared off

 

So thanks for the help, fast forward to now, the sting is still there, hasn't been bigger and it didn't pass on to other fish. The guppy with the sting is active, gave birth to 2X fry, and is eating constantly moving around
I finally have some spare time to take photos, I'll attach them.
So what's this thing and should I be concerned, I have been quarantining them for almost 2 months
Thanks for the help

 

That is Camallanus Worms. Nasty buggers for sure. Good thing you quarantined them for the length you have, or else you'd be in a whole expensive world of trouble. But have you been using the same gear to do WC's as your other tanks?

 

No, I assumed it will be contagious so I used other things
But what should I do now, there are 30 something fry sitting in the tank as well
And the female showed no symptoms except for having a red sharp sting
And I don't want to dose levamisole or fenbendazole. They are rare here. I think we may have flubendazole and mebendazole
Btw, we also have prazi but I don't think that will be effective against camallanus
Would there be a chance that the other female or the fry are not infected because I thought camallanus worms needed an intermediate host. My tank is like seperated into 2 sides, one for the fry, one for the females, I used folder as the wall but I still plucked small holes in the middle for water exchange
However poop or other stuff may not comer into contact with the fry
and is flubendazole or mebendazol ok?

But most importantly, will the fry become infected they are not in direct contact with the adults.
Thanks a lot

 

Perfect
Any water that flows from the infected side will have the chance of infecting the fry. That was the first sign I had also. Until 3 or so months later, the only visibly infected guppy pineconed up and died. Now, I have one permanently messy up guppy, because I didn't know better. Levamisole or fenbendazole are your only chance. Levamisole is the only one that really consistently works. Prazi has been overused to the point where the worms are immune to it now in most cases.

 

Is flubendazole or mebendazole ok?
Because the fry and the other female seem so fine and so good that I don't want to dose anything, I'm afraid that after dosing they will die

 

As long as the fry are a couple of weeks old, they will be fine. But you have to assume all of them are infected. The messed up female had no symptoms until she also started to pinecone.

I haven't read anyone them working.

 

We don't have fenbendazole or levamisole, we only have mebendazole which I have read is also effective against the worms is that true?
If yes, then how do I dose it, thanks a lot

 

We don't have fenbendazole or levamisole, we only have mebendazole which I have read is also effective against the worms is that true?
If yes, then how do I dose it, thanks a lot

Unfortunately, levamisole, flubendazole, and fenbendazole are your only options. If you can't use those, then you have 1 option. And sadly that's euthanasia. You say you have flubendazole right? It's not as effective as levamisole, but it's worth a shot.

 

So mebendazole doesn't stand a chance? Because I have heard various cases of them to be effective as they are in the same family with fenbendazole

 

So mebendazole doesn't stand a chance? Because I have heard various cases of them to be effective as they are in the same family with fenbendazole

I've never heard of it being used, AvalancheDave probably knows if it is effective.

 

Ok, thank you. Btw, I the other female in the same quarantine tank is pregnant. Should I put her in the main tank when she gives birth so the babies don't get infected or leave the babies in the same infected tank

 

Ok, thank you. Btw, I the other female in the same quarantine tank is pregnant. Should I put her in the main tank when she gives birth so the babies don't get infected or leave the babies in the same infected tank

No don't do that. Act as if all fish are infected. Camallanus can be in a fish symptom free for months. If you do this right, you should be able to save the babies and the parents from worms. Hopefully AvalancheDave or someone else with knowledge on medication will tell you I'd mebendazole will work.

 

Ok, thank you

 

I breed guppies and recently got camallanus worms from importing guppies. I treated ALL of my tanks even ones that didn't show signs yet. I used levamisole .1 gram per 10 gal I can give treatment guide if you get levamisole. I did 2 treatments a few weeks apart and now I see nothing.

you definitely have camallanus worms and need to treat asap to keep your fish. yes also treat fry

 

It should work the same as fenbendazole. It might take repeated applications and will be technically challenging to dose in food. But safer than levamisole.

Treating worms takes some patience. You often don't get instant results.

 

It should work the same as fenbendazole. It might take repeated applications and will be technically challenging to dose in food. But safer than levamisole.

Treating worms takes some patience. You often don't get instant results.

thanks for that paper, saved on my computer and will read and save to reference.

 

Thank you everyone. I recently went to the pharmacy and they only have mebendazole but I still got it. Will try later tmr. If there is no improvement, I will try the levamisole but up till now, I cannot find it. So I mix the mebendazole in the fry food and adult food right? Its in a tablet form so I'll have to crush it to powder. Or I just add it in water? and how much powder to add in food or in water?
Thx a lot, I am really anxious abt this

 

AvalancheDave knows way more than myself on this subject, so I believe them if they say will also work. but yes worms are tough to get rid of no matter the medicine. I did the recommended double treatment of mine then waited 2 weeks and did again. with huge vacuums on bottom of tank to get those buggers.

good luck

 

Thanks, will try my best

 

Thank you everyone. I recently went to the pharmacy and they only have mebendazole but I still got it. Will try later tmr. If there is no improvement, I will try the levamisole but up till now, I cannot find it. So I mix the mebendazole in the fry food and adult food right? Its in a tablet form so I'll have to crush it to powder. Or I just add it in water? and how much powder to add in food or in water?
Thx a lot, I am really anxious abt this

on that paper avalancedave linked a few pages down has the recommended doses of meds and mebendazole is on there

 

Thank you everyone. I recently went to the pharmacy and they only have mebendazole but I still got it. Will try later tmr. If there is no improvement, I will try the levamisole but up till now, I cannot find it. So I mix the mebendazole in the fry food and adult food right? Its in a tablet form so I'll have to crush it to powder. Or I just add it in water? and how much powder to add in food or in water?
Thx a lot, I am really anxious abt this

Here are some ideas on how to make medicated food:

https://www.hikariusa.com/articles/medicatedfeed.html

Proper Dosing of Medicated Foods

 

Thanks again everyone

 

Hi guys, after reading the docs you sent, I still don't quite get how much mebendazole I should add into food for treating camallanus worm in guppies. Can anyone help me? Thank you for all the help.
So the mebendazole tablet I'm seeing is 100mg, how much of it should I mix which each time of feeding, an do I keep feeding medicated feed everyday or once then wait for a week

 

Hi guys, after reading the docs you sent, I still don't quite get how much mebendazole I should add into food for treating camallanus worm in guppies. Can anyone help me? Thank you for all the help.
So the mebendazole tablet I'm seeing is 100mg, how much of it should I mix which each time of feeding, an do I keep feeding medicated feed everyday or once then wait for a week

2 grams of mebendazole per kg of food. One kg is a lot so say you make 100 g instead. You would need 200 mg or two tablets then.

 

ok, thank you. Do I feed the medicated food everyday?

 

ok, thank you. Do I feed the medicated food everyday?

Every day for 10 days. Repeat in two weeks.

 

Thank you