# Loach with anchor worm



## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

One of my recently wild caught loaches has an anchor worm attached just inside it's gill flap. I think I can pull it out with tweezers, will this do more harm than good? Should I do a compleat water change? They are still in quarantine so it would be fairly easy.


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## littlefish (Aug 4, 2010)

How does it look ? Like this Manage your freshwater aquarium, tropical fishes and plants: Camallanus infection ?


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

littlefish said:


> How does it look ? Like this Manage your freshwater aquarium, tropical fishes and plants: Camallanus infection ?


No, don't think that's it, it looks just like the pic here:
Aquarium FD - Anchor Worms - Disease Identification, Diagnosis & Treatment


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## littlefish (Aug 4, 2010)

thay are anchor worms if you said they look like those ... never had this problem with my fish.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

It does not seem to be a common problem in the aquarium, more in ponds. These fish were wild caught about 3 weeks ago so it must have come with it.


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## dave in Iliamna (Aug 15, 2009)

There are some different opinions on removing anchor worms. From what I have read they can be deep enough that the fishes organs could be damaged by removing them. There are several treatments out there for Anchor worms. I would think most decent aquarium stores would have one.
I think Anchor worms have a life cycle of around 3 months so it could be difficult to tell when your fish is in the clear.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

I know there are treatments available but are they safe for loaches? I'm not sure I'd risk it. I decided to try removal as the loach was clearly being upset by the anchor worm. It came off easily with tweezers, so I don't think it was super deep. It seems to have caused slight swelling and discomfort to the loach so I'm keeping an eye on him and hoping he'll pull through. I'm not sure if it was the right thing to do or not but I had concerns that leaving it might give it a chance to reproduce, and so far it's the only one I've seen. I'd like to avoid treating the whole tank as there are eight loaches and I don't know how they would take it.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

Good news thismorning, the loach is looking happier and interested in food. He is still holding his head slightly to the side, I presume from swelling. If he doesn't get a nasty secondary infection I think he'll be ok though.


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## dave in Iliamna (Aug 15, 2009)

good I am glad to hear that things apear to be doing ok.


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## Shotgun (Mar 1, 2009)

i bought one infected fish with anchor worm and it caused havoc in my old 55g. spread quickly and was pretty damn hard to get rid of for good. i used a medication called cyro-pro. i swear by it, its awesome. do 90% water weekly changes and put that stuff in there. do it for like 5 weeks or so. i did it for 3 weeks and right when i thought it was gone, it came back. so i did it AGAIN, for 5 weeks. as for removing them, i took them out by hand on every fish that i saw had one. i know, its stressfull for them, but i never heard of cases in which it can hurt the fish's organs. only lost two low-budget fish from the outbreaks. maby a salt bath? works with ich, dont know about anchor worm though. anyone wanna chime in if they didnt so already?

just keep doing those water changes. its a parasitical crustacian, so it will chill out in the water column with its buddies untill it finds a warmer-bodied creature to attach to. good luck.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

Thanks, good to have input from some one who has had experience. I'm doing large water changes every day. So far I cant see any other fish with anchor worms, so I'm hoping I'm clear but not counting on it. I decided not to try chemical treatment unless it shows up again as I don't know how the loaches will take it and I'd hate to kill them with the cure.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

Just wanted to update this, I know it's a bit of an old post to revive but seeing as I found it hard to find too much info on anchor worms I thought it might help others. 

Just after the last post I found another anchor worm on the same fish which I also removed. I have seen no more since then so I think I've managed to get rid of them. The spot on the gill of the fish where I removed the first worm stayed swollen for about a week . The first day after removal the fish was very stressed and I think it could not breathe through the injured gill. I was worried at first that it might die but it has recovered well. The second worm was on it's back and removing it caused little problem. Out of the water the loach flopped around too much so I held it in a net in the water to remove the worms. 

I was taking a bit of a shot in the dark with this one but in the future I think I would go for removal in the case of a small number of anchor worms even though it was a bit stressful on the fish it stopped them from spreading. Also the worm it's self was causing real discomfort even before I removed them. If dealing with an infested tank I'd treat with chemicals right away as it would be hard to get them all and the young would be killed before attaching to the fish.

I am no expert on this but just wanted to mention how it worked out for me incase it is of any use to others.


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