Something hanging from eye - Anchor Worm
My sailfin molly has something hanging from its eye and has popeye now. Any ideas?
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@drewsuf82 Thanks for the reply. I think this is a good course of action. So much conflicting info. One person says cupramine works great another says it didnt work and they uses paraguard. Who knows. I think this should work.
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Thanks for the advice and I will.
I dont think he is going to make it. Got home from work tonight and he is on the bottom huffing and puffing. I added prime last night to stimulate his slime coat so I am waiting another hour before adding the cupermine.
I dont think he is going to make it. Got home from work tonight and he is on the bottom huffing and puffing. I added prime last night to stimulate his slime coat so I am waiting another hour before adding the cupermine.
Mollies are very tolerant of salt. Salt can help a stressed fish with osmotic regulation.
If you have this fish in a hospital tank I would add salt this way:
Mix the salt with some water and pour it in over several hours:
1 teaspoon per 5 gallons tonight.
1 teaspoon per 5 gallons tomorrow.
1 teaspoon per 5 gallons the next day.
You can add more if you want, though usually this much is enough.
This much salt can also kill external parasites.
This is a lot of salt. Do not use this dose on non-salt tolerant fish, or in planted tanks.
When you do water changes add salt to the new water at that rate.
When the fish is feeling better gradually remove the salt by doing 25% once a week or smaller water changes twice a week with no added salt. It will take time for the fish to adjust to less salt, so let this process take several weeks to a month.
If you have this fish in a hospital tank I would add salt this way:
Mix the salt with some water and pour it in over several hours:
1 teaspoon per 5 gallons tonight.
1 teaspoon per 5 gallons tomorrow.
1 teaspoon per 5 gallons the next day.
You can add more if you want, though usually this much is enough.
This much salt can also kill external parasites.
This is a lot of salt. Do not use this dose on non-salt tolerant fish, or in planted tanks.
When you do water changes add salt to the new water at that rate.
When the fish is feeling better gradually remove the salt by doing 25% once a week or smaller water changes twice a week with no added salt. It will take time for the fish to adjust to less salt, so let this process take several weeks to a month.
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I have some other fish I am treating at the same time that are scaleless 
The little dude died tonight. I'm very disappointed to say the least.
The little dude died tonight. I'm very disappointed to say the least.
What med did you end up using?
Pretty sure the anchor worm didn't kill the fish. Doubt it was the secondary infection of popeye either. Sounds more like the med did him in. I know the other fish are doing well, but it's always a combination of stressors that can cause a fish to succumb.
Some meds are more harmful if used on open wounds. And some meds are more are rendered more effective or ineffective and/or more or less dangerous depending on water parameters. Most meds are harsh as it is though. There are safer med/treatment options to deal with Popeye.
Happen to know your pH, kH, gH? Temperature as well?
Might of not really been Popeye in the normal cause if the anchor worm showed up first, then the fish got popeye.
Sorry for your loss.
It is still wise to treat the entire tank to prevent other fish from getting anchor worms.
Pretty sure the anchor worm didn't kill the fish. Doubt it was the secondary infection of popeye either. Sounds more like the med did him in. I know the other fish are doing well, but it's always a combination of stressors that can cause a fish to succumb.
Some meds are more harmful if used on open wounds. And some meds are more are rendered more effective or ineffective and/or more or less dangerous depending on water parameters. Most meds are harsh as it is though. There are safer med/treatment options to deal with Popeye.
Happen to know your pH, kH, gH? Temperature as well?
Might of not really been Popeye in the normal cause if the anchor worm showed up first, then the fish got popeye.
Sorry for your loss.
It is still wise to treat the entire tank to prevent other fish from getting anchor worms.
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@WaterLife and @Nordic thanks for the replies. The anchor worm was hooked right at his eye I am sure a secondary infection at the worm hook site caused the popeye and probably killed him. I am sure the stress of taking him out of the tank to remove the worm added stress and added to the issue. He was already in the process of succumbing when I got home from work and before I got a chance to start medicating. The meds I am using are cupramine and kanaplex. I will continue to treat as directed on the bottle and keep the qt fish that way for 30 days after all signs of the anchor worms are gone.
Temp 75
GH 7
kh 11
ph 8
Since I got back into the aquarium hobby I have bought a lot of fish, about 45 of them in total not counting the 11 cherry shrimp that now number 50+ ( thats probably a low number) the 10 I just bought and thats not including what came in my 75g when i bought it used. The 75g that was used came packed with a bunch of incompatible cichlids. The only fish I had lost up to this point was 3 from an over aggressive cichlid (thats why I first ended up with multiple tanks was so I could save the remaining cichlids) and one oto out of 9 that died 30 days after I got them (the oto spent 2 days in the mail getting here). I have never when I had fish before or this time lost fish due to disease. I have never had to treat ich or anything else. Years ago I had a pair of green terrors that I really babied and kept the local lfs stocked with baby green terrors. I take care of my aquariums. I am kicking myself in the ass right now for not having meds on hand and treating from the get go even before signs of disease. I have never needed meds before.
This go around I bought 10 fish from a fish store 80 miles away that has a good rep. While walking through the store I saw the warning signs told my wife I should just walk away but I let my impatience and stubbornness override my common sense and bought 10 fish anyway. The store I bought them from has always had an excellent rep. When I called yesterday and told them about the anchor worm the lady acted like it was no big deal and said she wasnt worried, that they treat all of their tanks. I had to laugh at that because if they were quarantining and treating I would not have lost fish.
I have 4 'show' tanks and one hospital tank. I do 30% weekly changes on my planted 75g. I do 30% water changes bi-weekly on a 44g with one 4 inch hongi, a 55g with two small calvus cichlids and a 6 inch pleco, and my 10g planted with cherry shrimp. All my tanks are well filtered and established. If I need to move fish to a new tank quickly for some reason I use tetra safestart to get the bio going. I try to take good care of my fish. The cichlids I have traded the lfs people always comment how good they looked even with the stress of being in a bucket and moved. For me to lose fish makes me feel like a failure the way I take care of them. I am not happy with this at all. I can say if there is one thing good came of this it is I will change how I do a few things. Luckily I found a store I didnt know was there, much closer, (the one that sold me the meds) that had pristine tanks with no dead fish in any tanks.
Temp 75
GH 7
kh 11
ph 8
Since I got back into the aquarium hobby I have bought a lot of fish, about 45 of them in total not counting the 11 cherry shrimp that now number 50+ ( thats probably a low number) the 10 I just bought and thats not including what came in my 75g when i bought it used. The 75g that was used came packed with a bunch of incompatible cichlids. The only fish I had lost up to this point was 3 from an over aggressive cichlid (thats why I first ended up with multiple tanks was so I could save the remaining cichlids) and one oto out of 9 that died 30 days after I got them (the oto spent 2 days in the mail getting here). I have never when I had fish before or this time lost fish due to disease. I have never had to treat ich or anything else. Years ago I had a pair of green terrors that I really babied and kept the local lfs stocked with baby green terrors. I take care of my aquariums. I am kicking myself in the ass right now for not having meds on hand and treating from the get go even before signs of disease. I have never needed meds before.
This go around I bought 10 fish from a fish store 80 miles away that has a good rep. While walking through the store I saw the warning signs told my wife I should just walk away but I let my impatience and stubbornness override my common sense and bought 10 fish anyway. The store I bought them from has always had an excellent rep. When I called yesterday and told them about the anchor worm the lady acted like it was no big deal and said she wasnt worried, that they treat all of their tanks. I had to laugh at that because if they were quarantining and treating I would not have lost fish.
I have 4 'show' tanks and one hospital tank. I do 30% weekly changes on my planted 75g. I do 30% water changes bi-weekly on a 44g with one 4 inch hongi, a 55g with two small calvus cichlids and a 6 inch pleco, and my 10g planted with cherry shrimp. All my tanks are well filtered and established. If I need to move fish to a new tank quickly for some reason I use tetra safestart to get the bio going. I try to take good care of my fish. The cichlids I have traded the lfs people always comment how good they looked even with the stress of being in a bucket and moved. For me to lose fish makes me feel like a failure the way I take care of them. I am not happy with this at all. I can say if there is one thing good came of this it is I will change how I do a few things. Luckily I found a store I didnt know was there, much closer, (the one that sold me the meds) that had pristine tanks with no dead fish in any tanks.
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