Reef Central Online Community - View Single Post - Parasitic blood-sucking worm on purple firefish

solos2 · 12/27/2009, 08:19 PM

Hi there,

I've just discovered that I've got some parasitic worm on my purple firefish a few days ago, I've taken photos and trying to find a way to cure it. As you can see from the photos, it's sucking blood out of the fish and it's located behind the fins and near the gills.

I've been doing some research on the web and so far the only remedy to this parasite is to manually remove the parasite with a pair of tweezers.

It's close to impossible to get the fish out of my reef tank since they're too agile, I'm wondering if there's any way to get rid of the parasite besides manual removal of the parasite. Apparently any copper-based medicine can't be used in my tank either since I've invertebrates in there.

I've three cleaner shrimps and a six line wrasse in the tank as well, but they're not able to help the poor firefish.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

p.s. The photos were taken 3 days ago, when I check my fish last night, I noticed the egg sac (curly string) has grown significantly, and the eggs are quote noticeable now, I think they're maturing and am I running out of time?

12/27/2009, 08:19 PM	#1
solos2 Moved On Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Hong Kong Posts: 214	Parasitic blood-sucking worm on purple firefish Hi there, I've just discovered that I've got some parasitic worm on my purple firefish a few days ago, I've taken photos and trying to find a way to cure it. As you can see from the photos, it's sucking blood out of the fish and it's located behind the fins and near the gills. I've been doing some research on the web and so far the only remedy to this parasite is to manually remove the parasite with a pair of tweezers. It's close to impossible to get the fish out of my reef tank since they're too agile, I'm wondering if there's any way to get rid of the parasite besides manual removal of the parasite. Apparently any copper-based medicine can't be used in my tank either since I've invertebrates in there. I've three cleaner shrimps and a six line wrasse in the tank as well, but they're not able to help the poor firefish. Any help would be greatly appreciated. p.s. The photos were taken 3 days ago, when I check my fish last night, I noticed the egg sac (curly string) has grown significantly, and the eggs are quote noticeable now, I think they're maturing and am I running out of time?