Questions About Parasites In Fish
Sharon asks…
Can I get parasites,or bacterial infections from a fish tank by accidentally ingesting water?
I used a manual pump to do a water change and got a small amount of the water in my mouth. 3-4 of my fish have died in 2 days from what I believe to be parasites. I rinsed my mouth out right away. That was last night and I was fine all day today. It is now almost 9pm and 2-3 hours ago, I started having bubble gutts, etc. Do you think it is from the fish parasites?
Ellen answers:
Most likely not. Any bug or most parasite will be destroyed by your stomach acid. Also you don’t need to use your mouth. Just fill the entire pump with water and it will start the siphon way easier and better than sucking the tube. Must be something you ate…taco?burritos?
Robert asks…
Can fish parasites live without water?
I have emptied my tank, but I am concerned there are still parasites in the moist sand. It is in the sun drying, will that kill the parasites?
Also, will soaking live plants in bleach kill parasites/parasite eggs/larvae?
I have black sand, and I’m afraid bleach might fade it…….? It is natural black sand, not colored, but I’m still not sure.
Ellen answers:
Most parasites cannot live without water. You can actually bleach your sand as well if you want to make sure that the parasite is dead. You would want to add some water back into the tank and add a dose of bleach. After a short time, remove as much water from the tank as possible and fill the tank back up with new water. Add a large dose of your dechlorinator and it will take care of any bleach that is left in the water. (Straight bleach is just chlorine)
You can rinse the plants in bleach as well but I would recommend two things. I would use a very diluted bleach/water solution. Dip the plants into the bleach solution for a few seconds and then immediately dip them into dechlorinated water. Bleach/chlorine can be harmful to the plant so you won’t want to soak them for a long time. A few seconds will usually get the job done.
Edit: Obviously you wouldn’t want to add bleach to the tank if FISH are still in it. I am assuming from your question that the fish have been removed and the tank is empty other than plants & decor.
Lisa asks…
how do you get rid of internal parasites in fish?
My fish that died had lumpy bellies with red streaks going through them. Also on one I saw circular scars (on the same spot on the left and right side of the fish) that looked like entry points. That one also had raised scales before I killed it.
Before the disease I bought a south american bumblebee catfish that nipped at all the fish and I returned it. I had a female rosy barb that was slightly deformed at the tail and all of its fins were bitten off by the cat fish. Then it died. I had two pearl gouramies with brown algae or fin rot on them that I was trying to treat and they died.
The fish that had the red streaks were zebra danios. I lost 4 of them.
Could this be Red Pest? (Symptoms: Bloody streaks on fins or body.)
Tank:
55g
1red tail black shark
1 common pleco
3 cory catfish
4 neon tetra
2 zebra danios
1 gold tetra
1 rosy barb
2 cherry barb
5 black neons
3 penguin tetra
2 mystery snails and some small ones
2 kuhli loaches
5 guppies
1 pearl gourami
Ellen answers:
OK go to any pet store or a store that sells fish then there will be packets of bacteria be gone or para sight begone the tablets you want to use are the ones you drop in the tank and fizz and it will release into the water and kill the para sights but this sounds crazy but even though there fresh water fish they still need a little salt in the tank which helps the fishes gills open up and then they will eat more and there metabolism will be better to so wen u add new water add a forth of a teaspoon of non iodised salt for every gallon u put in but put the salt behind the filter so it will spread out and release as needed
Mark asks…
what stain/s to use when looking in the microscope fro fish parasites and bacteria?
Ellen answers:
I know only for bacteria
the stains used for looking bacteria
the gram stain divides bacteria into gram positive and gram negetive bacteria. The ziehl-neelsen stain into acid fast and non-acid fast. The flourescent antibody technique enables one to identify them according to their surface antigens.
Lizzie asks…
what are theese things in my fishtank? eggs, parasites or fish?
our chichilds laid eggs last week loads of them, then another pair laid more eggsafter a few days they started to pick at the eggs, the overnight the eggs had dissapeared and all in the tank are now tiny white worm things, we cant make out what they are, will these turn into fry the bigger they get we cant find any pictures on the internet about what baby fish look like. or do we have some sort of parasite? please help anyone….
Ellen answers:
I wouldn’t worry about them being parasites, practically no parasites work like you describe. Odds are good that you are seeing baby fish, or in this case fry. Another possibility is small non parasitic worms such as planeria that would feed on fish eggs and be active and noticable when eggs are present in the tank. If these worm like creatures are swimming around up in the water for any length of time, they are more likely to be worms than newly hatched fish. One last possibility os that they are larvae from a small winged insect like a midge. These would be harmelss to the fish or fry and in fact would be good food for the baby fish as they age just a few days. Here’s a photo of a cichlid with 2-3 day old fry.
Http://www.aquariumfish.net/images_01/wild_convict_fem_with_fry.jpg
and one of fry about 5-6 days old I would guess
http://www.aqualandpetsplus.com/Cichli1419.jpg
and some planeria stuck to the glass of a tank:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/images/articles/critters/planaria1JOHNSON.jpg
Hope that helps
MM
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