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View Full Version : Parasitic worms. What do they look like?


Wrench
03/17/2010, 06:30 PM
In the past six to eight months I have lost a few fish that I had had for several years. Symptoms prior to their death were similar to what you would expect to see with internal parasites. They have a healthy appetite but lose weight. Near the end they become lethargic and finally stop eating and die within a couple of days. Only one fish is affected at a time.

Fast forward to this week. I noticed that a couple of my sea stars looked funny. They were losing legs and appeared to be "melting" away. The body of my brittle star actually dissolved to the point where I could see right through it. I took a close look tonight and saw hundreds of tiny (< 1mm) worms inside the body cavity and between the segments of the stars' exoskeleton. They looked smooth, tapered at each end and were light orange in color.

Could these be the same critters that took out my fish?

How on earth do I treat them, Prazipro maybe?

Wrench
03/18/2010, 06:27 AM
bump