Removing an anchor worm?

Question

i recently bought a catfish for my aquarium and today i noticed that he had a pink sore with a little threadlike thing that split off at the ends coming out of it. i'm pretty sure it's an anchor worm. i was reading about it and saw that you're supposed to pull them out with tweezers. i've never done anything like that before so how would i go about this? should i use stress coat? how long should i leave him out of the water? should i put something on the wound i pulled it out of?

Answer 1

I would try to find some methylene blue, potassium permanganate, or even hydrogen peroxide to disinfect the wound after removal.  Get ready before you start this, as trying to play it by ear is a recipe for disaster.  Get tweezers ready next to a bucket of tank water with an extra filter and heater already running.  Try to pin it with your hands, and quickly remove the parasite.  Use PRE-soaked cue tips with any of the above disinfectants, and dab the area.  After this, put the fish into the quarantine bucket, and THEN add something like Stress Coat, Melafix, Pimafix, [more] methylene blue, a teaspoon of salt (contrary to popular belief, iodized table salt IS safe) per 5 gallons, etc. will help to resist infection.