guppy parasite??

ilikefishy

Hi everyone, I have a 10 gallon tank with just 2 guppies, a neon tetra and a young platy (nothing aggressive). The other day I noticed something clinging to the side of one of the guppies and immediately thought... omg, what the hell is that. I've never seen anything like this before in any of my prior tanks and couldn't find anything online that fit the description. The guppy looked like its intestines had exploded out of its side right behind its side fin. I tried to get a good picture of it and I'll upload that so u guys can have a look. Oddly enough, the next day there was only a small mark left on the guppy and the entire time I observed it (both day 1 and day 2) the fish was eating and acting normal, breathing normal... etc. Anyway, really hoping to figure out what this was and what to do about it. It kind of scared me a little bit. I always get nervous about putting my hands in the water in case anything could end up in my body lol...
day1.jpg

day2.jpg

ilikefishy

just for clarification - the first picture is when i first noticed it (day 1) and the second picture is the following afternoon (day 2)

marshallsea

That is wild! I have no idea. Have you seen the movie Aliens ?

ilikefishy

lol like i said... i'm scared to put my hand in the tank now :P

marshallsea

Probably an infection or parasite. H ave you considered a salt dip or dips?

ilikefishy

hmmm i haven't tried anything yet... im so confused because i definitely would have expected whatever happened to kill it. i mean it looks like the side of the fish exploded lol but despite that, it seems to be completely normal. if it's a parasite, would i need to put something in the water to get rid of any progeny? i don't want to see it keep happening. i'm also kind of wondering where it came from... i've been using quality fish food and haven't added any plants or anything in a long time. what ratio of salt:water is good to use for a salt dip on a guppy?

marshallsea

As im new I dont have alot of answers for your questions. But my fish had ich and were miserable. During treatment a few times i did a dip and they felt much better for a while. It cant hurt. I put 2-3 teaspoons of table salt in a bowl of tank water. Netted the fish and leaving them in the net set them in the bowl for 10-15 mins and put them back. Parasites and infections dont do well in salt. Fish seem to love it.

marshallsea

Go to guppyplace.tripod.com/ailments and /parasites. They have a lot of info on guppies and talk about how to treat your tank with salt. Salt may kill live plants and snails or shrimp.

ilikefishy

thanks!! i will check it out

marshallsea

Ive been on guppyplace website and it maybe an anchorworm. When you get to the site, you will have a better idea what it is.