Parasite. How to kill them ?

[dennisks]

There are visible worms or parasite growing only on my Ram which are kept in a planted tank. Can anyone teach me how to kill them? I can't add salt because of the plants. What can I do? Can I reduce the ph down to lower than, maybe 5, to kill those parasite? Please help.

Thanks!!!

[DEA]

white worms growing on the scales, sometimes in a blister?
try coppersafe from mardel
safe for plants and fish, and is supposed to cure the thing encountered above
alternatively you can try blasting salt to 3tbsp per 20l, but the delicate plants might not take it
most plants can tolerate 1tbsp per 20l

[dennisks]

Thanks. Will try that out this weekend.

[NinjaFly]

err .. I took out my RAM and use a tissue to rub away the parasites...
My RAM still seems to be ok.

Weird, I had a few incidents of friends buying RAMs back and they too had these parasites on their fins... Are this fish very prone to parasites attack?

[Allen_1971]

Often, things come in groups.... so I'm not surprised... we've just gone through a spate of white spot issues... before this there were internal worm issues... So I'm not surprised if this is the next problem. Likely most Rams came from the same source originally which might explain why they all get the same problems.

[AroDon]

Hi
In most cases of infected/sickly fish (if it is not huge in size) it is best to separate it from the rest fo the healthy pack and proper treatment be done in a "hospital" tank.

It is best that all new fishes be qurantined properly for stage often will marked the beginnings of days of worries (esp when fishes gets white spot, cotton wool etc etc)

[DEA]

----------------
On 3/20/2003 5:47:28 PM

In most cases of infected/sickly fish (if it is not huge in size) it is best to separate it from the rest fo the healthy pack

that's a good theory
but in practice catching the fish and removing him will often accelerate it's demise

the white worms on the body are a very old problem
i last encountered it 1 yr ago
very irritating
not really fatal, but very much an eyesore

[kingpin]

I too have those parasites on my emperors. Separated them into a hospital tank and dosed coppersafe from Ocean Free. Dun seemed to be very effective. Those parasites still around after a week. In the end, those emperors went to fish heaven because with the medication, they dun seemed to be eating. Seeing them growing weaker by the day makes me sad, especially when they have grown so big.

I dun have much luck treating sick fishes. Usually they die after a week or two .

[DEA]

see the thing in the centre of the pic?
is that what you're talking about?

[dennisks]

Yes, that's the one. I tried using copper safe but they are still there. I guess I'll let them grow since they are only attacking on Ram and not other fishes.

[DEA]

they'll eventually cross the species barrier if left untreated
i think the coppersafe stops the reproduction, so they'll eventually die off