Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

I have recently noticed on the ends of my Goldfish's fins what looks to be parasites. They are about 2-3mm long pinky-brownish and look sort of shaped like a spirm. I treated with parasite guard for a week but they haven't gone away. What might this be? What can I do to treat it and how might they have been introduced into my tank when I haven't added any new fish in a year?

I also have a problem with brown algae that clogs my filter. It started when my tank was new and not stable yet. I tried cleaning everything in the tank and using algae destroyer but the algae came back twice as much. My amonia and nitrite levels are normal now so why is the algae so bad and what can I do to get rid of it?

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Any chance of a pic? I'm afraid i dont know what you mean by spirm. It could be a high form of parasite, do they hang off the fins and have a y shape to them or are they close to the skin and round? usually dosing with salt will get rid of them.
Add 1 level teaspoon per gallon of aquarium salt and then 12 hours later do it again, and 12 hours after that again and see if they come off with that. Do not use salt though if you have scaleless fish such as dojos

The bugs are too small to get a picture of them. I tried yesterday but with no avail. I don't think it's ancor worm since there's no hook on the end of them. It does hang off the fins though. An it's definately not fish lice. It's shaped sort of like a very small tear drop. Round at the end and skinny at the tail. It looks like its eating small holes in the ends of the fins. I looked through my fancy goldfish book and could not find anything that looks similar. Can flukes get that big that you can see them with the bare eye? I thought you had to use a microscope to see them. They looked the closest shaped. It's the worst on my oranda.

I'll try the salt and see if that works. Any thoughts on the algae problem? I just cleaned my filter last week and it's getting clogged again already. I have to change the cartridge at least every week if not more often since it grows like crazy on there. The rocks and plants are totaly brown. My amonia is 0 and nitrite is 0.1 so it's not that.

Thanks

what you are describing does sound like fish lice and yes they are easily seen by the eye. maybe a salt bath of 3 level teaspoons per gallon for a few minutes might get them off.

as for the algae, what are your nitrate readings? also keep your light on for just 8 hours a day to see if this helps and make sure your tank isnt getting any natural sunlight too. Live plants can help eat up the nitrate so leaving less for algae to feed on. If the temp is low then you could get a hillstream loach to eat the brown algae but only if hes big enough not to be eaten.

It sounds like u have fin rot. Don't put to many chemicals in the tank that will stress the fish out even more. The best bet is to try and get rid of the fin rot by doing some water changes like a wk a part because if u do them 5 days in a row it will stress the fish out and u will have to treat fin rot and ick. Let's see whatelse, the algae is common when u have a lot of it the best to is clean it. What type of filter do u have (size/brand)? I've got a Tetra Tech for a 60g tank and my tank is only a 29g. But I've got a lot of goldfish in the tank. Anyways, u can also get a net and get some of the algae out by yourself I've had to do that many times. If you've got anymore questions just ask.
Take Care,
Sheila