Parasites in fish?????????????????

Question

I have had several different types of fish die a slow death over the years. One thing in common that I started to notice is that they all had red stringy or spikey/throny things sticking out of their butts. I have very robust healthy fish. But once one or more of these red stringy things start to stick out of their butts, they slowly get really skinny and eventually die. has anyone heard of this and know what it is? I am assuming it is a parasite by the way it kills the fish. It also does not kill every fish. Please help. I would love to never have any fish die!

Answer 1

i believe they are just decaying becuz there time has come. but on the other hand, edit ur question bout this and show us an image of ur dying fish. they could b very dangerous so wash ur tank every week!!

Answer 2

This is Camallanus, which is a beast of a worm, almost impossible to kill.  It has become entirely resistant to any of the common fish medications, so you'll have to get something like fenbendazole or levamisole from a vet or livestock supply store, as these are two of the most effective drugs.  Camallanus tends to stay in the fish for months until stress on the fish allows the worms to multiply and reach parasitic numbers, at which point they will protrude from the a**s and eventually kill the fish.  I would refer to this log for dosing regimens, as it seems to have worked well for him: http://www.guppylog.com/story/2006/4/29/...

Camallanus: http://www.rhusmann.de/aqua/bilder/camal...

http://www.gaem.it/pubblico/articoli/mal...

Answer 3

It can be does horse hair parasites that enter animals (fish also) and start feeding on them until there is almost nothing to eat in them.