PlanetCatfish.com

Hi all,

This is my first post here, but I've been active on WetWebMedia. You guys are the "catfish gurus", so hopefully you can help me out! I've got a 44 gal. planted FW tank that currently houses the following: 2 male threadfin rainbows, 1 female boesemani rainbow, 3 green cory cats, 5 balloon mollies, 2 Singapore wood shrimp and about a half dozen ghost shrimp. One of my corys is active more lethargic than usual (i.e., resting on bottom of tank for semim-long periods of time) and I noticed that he's got a very thin, translutcent string type thing coming out of his gill area. Attached to the end of this "string" (which is about 3-4 cm) are two round translucent egg looking things. What is this? Gill parasites, flukes, etc.?

Here's my quandry...I have a QT tank, but right now I've got two male boesemani rainbows living in there...they had some unidentifiable disease (possibly a fungus of sort...growths attached to mouth areas) that has been successfully treated with QuickCure. They showed no further signs of illness since July 6th or so; I pulled out the med. w/ the carbon and water changes, but have kept them QT'd in case of re-appearance. Sofar, so good, but I was planning on keeping them in there for at least two more weeks.

I think I should pull the rainbows, put them in the main tank, and get the cory into QT. Agreed?

Having done that, how should I treat my little cory friend? And, should I put his two friends in QT with him- what are the chances they may be infected also?

Thanks so much- I look forward to hearing back from the "catfish experts"!

-JKJ

Does the parasite look like this?

If so, it's Lernea or anchor worm. There are commercial medications you can use to treat the fish.

Thanks for the reply...

It doesn't look like that. The "body" part is much longer, and the two "egg like" things are almost perfectly round...the string literally looks like a thin bit of wax from a hot glue gun (don't ask me why that popped into my head, it just did!)

-JKJ

The only worm-like parasite commonly encountered in the aquarium is Lernea (see close-up photo below). Do you have a pic of your cory? It's much easier to identify the parasite this way.

Just wanted to report that whatever was attached to my cory is now gone...perhaps it was a thread or even a cat hair - I've heard of it happening! My little cory is back to normal (has been for a couple of days) and I just re-introduced him to the main tank.

Thanks for the info.; I appreciate the help.

-JKJ

It's also possible that whatever the parasite is has died, but the eggs or larvae are in the water, ready to infect other fish. I'd watch the tank carefully for a few more days to be on the safe side.

I do have a UV sterilzer on the tank...I assume this will help if in fact the parasite had laid eggs, they hatch and then begin to swim around. It is my understanding that the UV will kill protazoa in the "free-swimming stage", correct? GPH on UV is just about 100...

-JKJ