Deworming different types of fish

[Kieflow]

Hello all, I’ve heard that deworming fish is a common practice during quarantine. I am wondering if that applies to ALL fish, most fish, or just certain types of fish? Are there some species of fish that rarely ever have parasites? I’m sure there are some that more prone to having worms than others.

I recently bought some Siamese algae eaters to combat black beard algae in my 40 breeder. Right now they are in my quarantine tank, and I’m debating on whether to deworm or not. Thanks for any input!

[Mmiller2001]

I would 100% deworm all new fish. If they are wild caught, they definitely have parasites. Paracleanse or General Cure are excellent options.

[Colu]

I usually only deworm wild caught fish but theirs no hard and fast rule I Qarantine and monitor fish for 6-8 weeks I only treat if I see any symptoms during the Qarantine period if you notice any rapid breathing hanging near the surface sunken belly white stringy poop sudden loss of appetite 

[sweetpoison]

On 6/7/2022 at 6:44 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

I would 100% deworm all new fish. If they are wild caught, they definitely have parasites. Paracleanse or General Cure are excellent options.

How do you know if something is a wild caught,  do they tell you upon purchase?

On 6/7/2022 at 6:44 PM, Colu said:

I usually only deworm wild caught fish but theirs no hard and fast rule I Qarantine and monitor fish for 6-8 weeks I only treat if I see any symptoms during the Qarantine period if you notice any rapid breathing hanging near the surface sunken belly white stringy poop sudden loss of appetite 

I love reading everything you post♥️👏

[Mmiller2001]

On 6/7/2022 at 7:47 PM, sweetpoison said:

How do you know if something is a wild caught,  do they tell you upon purchase?

Usually not, but some retail places will tell you if you ask. I medicate every fish no matter what.

[nabokovfan87]

About halfway through Cory talks about dewormers.  I highly recommend checking it out.
 

 

On 6/7/2022 at 6:47 PM, sweetpoison said:

How do you know if something is a wild caught,  do they tell you upon purchase?

Some species are only available wild caught and depending where you get fish, you're going to have a shared filtration system.  Best practice is to just deworm them using the method co-op describes in the video above.

I have fish I brought in, did the trio and observed.  The fish have only ever been in their own 29G tank.  I didn't follow up with a second treatment (or the second type of dewormer) and I'm going through it again because I'm still not convinced they do have internal parasites. 😞

Edited June 8, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[sweetpoison]

So Nab ~  why are you convinced they have internal parasites?

I just put water in my tank finally after two months setting it up yesterday and I’m going to get my meds and I am going to do the med trio When I get fish💕

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/7/2022 at 7:12 PM, sweetpoison said:

So Nab ~  why are you convinced they have internal parasites?

General behavior, not growing, not eating, lethargy, and just really not energetic.  Some irritation on one of the fish trying to pass waste.  I found this, might help.  I've had them for over a year, and just never got a feeling like this one particular fish is doing well. 

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/fish-parasites

I also have two clown plecos, one of them is potentially having issues as well.  Generally I feed a lot of brine shrimp/spirulina and they are (these two fish in question) slightly bloated.

[Torrey]

On 6/7/2022 at 7:11 PM, Kieflow said:

Hello all, I’ve heard that deworming fish is a common practice during quarantine. I am wondering if that applies to ALL fish, most fish, or just certain types of fish? Are there some species of fish that rarely ever have parasites? I’m sure there are some that more prone to having worms than others.

I recently bought some Siamese algae eaters to combat black beard algae in my 40 breeder. Right now they are in my quarantine tank, and I’m debating on whether to deworm or not. Thanks for any input!

I didn't deworm one time, because I didn't see any evidence after a 30 day quarantine. I ended up with gill flukes....

Typically I use salt in Q/T, and observe. If I see flashing, odd stools, or any other signs (which I almost always did) I would treat then.

When I was buying feeder fish for the turtle (5 year period when I wasn't breeding) I always did full q/t after treating for parasites to get the dewormer out of the fish, before I fed to the turtle.

I do prophylactically treat a new breeders, before I get any fry, to reduce the risks of parents passing parasites on to fry. I try to treat 30 days before breeding to give best chance at success.