All fish owners

[IRescue452]

I have always told people who buy new fish to quarentine for at least a month before adding new fish in with the old. I have had my new goldfish for 2 1/2 weeks now. I thought about adding him in with Depot, my current fish, for a while but decided I'd better not even though he had been healthy and exibited no signs of sickness. Today as I was cleaning his tank I noticed that he had a few anchor worms attached to him. I decide that he was not going to recover so I euthanized him with clove oil and threw out the fish net, quarentine tank, and the rocks and plant in the tank. I don't know how the worms deveoped. The quarentine tank had gone through several water changes and full cleanings since I got the fish. I'm just glad I didn't lose my other fish. Quarentining fish may seem like something that is unnecessary if the new fish look healthy but it is important if you don't want to lose a whole tankful.

[chocolatepuppy]

I learned the hard way that fish always need quarentened and for more than a week or two. I've had fish that seem perfectly healthy and then died after two weeks. Then I was glad I didn't put them with my healthy fish. I lost four tetras I had for awhile after adding fish I thought were healthy. Sorry about your goldfish.

[FizzGiggs_Mommy]

Originally posted by IRescue452
a few anchor worms attached to him. I decide that he was not going to recover so I euthanized him with clove oil

why did you deside to euthanize him so fast? Why didnt you try to medicate the fish fist?

[IRescue452]

He was a small fish not very old and the five anchor worms he had made lumps that pretty much covered his entire little body. Pulling them off by hand takes a skilled person because opening the wounds probably would have had him bleeding to death anyway. He came from a sickly tank to begin with and if these guys were in there as well as the fish lice and ich then his immune system probably wouldn't be able to handle much more. If he had come from a healthier background and I was confident that he had a good immune system I might have tried some medication, but there is not much you can do about existing anchor worms and the ulcers they leave, medication won't fix the wounds or kill off any eggs.

[King Spartacus]

Whish is what I should have done... instead I added the new fish after 30 minutes (as they said they'd already quarantined the fish at the garden centre, to check if they were ill before sale)... just posted under pet health...