Rummy nose with possible worm in pectoral fin
1. Size: 55 gallon
2. Water: Use API freshwater master test kit
a. pH 7.0-7.2
b. Ammonia 0 ppm
c. Nitrite 0 ppm
d. Nitrate 40 ppm
e. I add the following to the water:
i. Water changes: Seachem Prime and Seachem Equilibrium
ii. CO2 injections – 11 hr/day with light on. Started 5 weeks ago.
iii. Fertilizers: started 8 months ago – Flourish Phosphorus, Flourish Nitrogen, and Flourish Comprehensive Supplement for the Planted Aquarium.
Water Schedule + CO2
Day 1 5mL Phosphorus, 2.5mL Nitrogen
Day 2 5mL Comprehensive
Day 3 5mL Phosphorus, 2.5mL Nitrogen
Day 4 5mL Comprehensive
Day 5 5mL Phosphorus, 2.5mL Nitrogen
Day 6 5mL Comprehensive
Day 7 Water change (every 1 or 2 weeks): 10-15 gallons.
3. Freshwater
4. Aquarium has been set up for 2.5 years.
5. Fish:
Species Number Size Time in aquarium Quarantine
Neon Tetra 4; 1” ; 3 months; Yes
Rummy nose tetra 7 1” 12 months; 5 1" 3 months LFS*
Glolight tetra 2 1” 15 months Yes
Otocinclus 5 1” 9 months LFS*
Emerald Cory 2 3” 6 months Yes
Unknown Cory 1 1.5” 6 months Yes
Platty 2 male 1.5” 6 months Yes
Platty 1 female 2" 3 months Yes
Rosy Barbs 1 male 2” 10 months LFS*
Pearl Gourami1 male 3-4” 24 months LFS*
Penguin pencil fish 9 1” 8 months LFS*
Bamboo shrimp 4 1.5" 2 months LFS*
German blue rams 1 male 1 female 2 months LFS*
Glass catfish 3, 2.5" 4 months ago / 4 2.5" 4 months ago - Yes
MTS tons; varying sizes; breeding since the establishment of the tank
*My LFS builds its reputation on quarantining all fish before bringing them out front to sell. I did not quarantine these fish; they were quarantined by the LFS.
6. Quarantine – see chart above.
7. Current tank water temp: 79 F
8. I have live plants in the tank.
9. Filter: Eheim Classic 2217. Filter media: Eheim Substrat Pro, Eheim Mech, white filter pad, coarse blue filter pad. I clean the filter every 3-6 months – rinse the media with tank water, clear algae and debris from tubing and rinse the filter in tank water. I am not sure what is meant by power capacity – manufacture’s stated capacity or is there a way to measure that at home? Eheim states:
Eheim Plus
2217-37
Tank Size 159 gallons/
600 liters
Pump Output 263 gph
Filter Circulation 208 gph
Filter Volume 1-1/2 gallons
Power Consumption 20 Watts
Filter Dimensions 205 mm x 400 mm
10. Other Equipment:
a. CO2 injection
c. Thermometer
d. Not equipment, but possibly relevant – I have a large piece of driftwood and the substrate is Seachem Flourite.
11. Lighting: Run 36” double Hagen Eco T5-HO sitting 4 inches above the water. The light is on a timer and is on from 10am -9pm (11hrs/day). The tank is 10 feet from a north-facing window and we are at the bottom of a very steep and treed hillside and get very little light. We have a 4 bulb 48” T5-HO right next to the aquarium for our orchids.
12. Water changes:
a. Last changed: 8 days ago, 15 gallons.
b. Frequency of changes: every 1-2 weeks
c. I vacuum the substrate.
13. Foods:
a. New Life Spectrum Small Fish Formula 2x day (before work and before bed)
b. Hikari sinking wafers for the corys and otos, due to excited bettas and tetras I feed after the light has gone off and spread out the food. I have two types of wafers and rotate them daily.
i. Bottom Feeders: spirulina, silkworm and krill. 3-5 small pellets scattered throughout the tank every other night.
ii. Algae Eaters: pure-cultured spirulina. ½ - 1 large pellet broken up into 3-8 pieces and scattered throughout the tank every other night.
14. What unusual signs have you observed in your fish?
Two days ago I first noticed that one of my Rummy nose tetras has what looks to be a small white worm in his pectoral fin. The "worm" is curled almost into a complete circle. I pulled him from the tank and put him in a small critter keeper with the intention of medicating him. After some online research the first night I purchased API General Cure. I set about to treat the fish but the began to worry.
I do not know what is wrong with the fish - I am not confident in my identification of the thing on his pectoral fin as a worm - it could be an infection or fungus. I did a ton of online research and now could really use the help of people on this forum. Today the area where the "worm" was now looks red - could be a different life stage, could be blood/injury/infection as well and it also looks like there might be a clear bubble towards the body on the pectoral fin. If it was a worm, does this mean it broke out of the skin?
The Rummy nose appeared to be behaving normally - actively swimming with the school and eating before I removed him from the tank.
It does (or at least did) look a lot like a worm. If it is a worm does it make sense to treat just the one fish in the small tank? What medication should I use? If I use API General Cure, it is plant/fish safe but I could not find out if it is definitively shrimp safe. When I was looking into weather or not it was shrimp safe I came across information that other fish like otos can be sensitive to certain medications. People recommended removing shrimp and sensitive fish from your aquarium before treating. However if you remove the shrimp or fish from the aquarium, then treat the aquarium and return the fish and shrimp after treatment, do you run the risk of reinfecting the tank? Is it possibly that an external life stage of the parasite could hitch a ride on my shrimp or otos and bring it back into the tank?
15. Treatments tried: I have not treated him yet. I removed the fish from the 55 gallon tank and placed him in a small critter keeper with the intention of doing research and medicating him.
16. My plan is: to see what you guys think it is and recommend.
2. Water: Use API freshwater master test kit
a. pH 7.0-7.2
b. Ammonia 0 ppm
c. Nitrite 0 ppm
d. Nitrate 40 ppm
e. I add the following to the water:
i. Water changes: Seachem Prime and Seachem Equilibrium
ii. CO2 injections – 11 hr/day with light on. Started 5 weeks ago.
iii. Fertilizers: started 8 months ago – Flourish Phosphorus, Flourish Nitrogen, and Flourish Comprehensive Supplement for the Planted Aquarium.
Water Schedule + CO2
Day 1 5mL Phosphorus, 2.5mL Nitrogen
Day 2 5mL Comprehensive
Day 3 5mL Phosphorus, 2.5mL Nitrogen
Day 4 5mL Comprehensive
Day 5 5mL Phosphorus, 2.5mL Nitrogen
Day 6 5mL Comprehensive
Day 7 Water change (every 1 or 2 weeks): 10-15 gallons.
3. Freshwater
4. Aquarium has been set up for 2.5 years.
5. Fish:
Species Number Size Time in aquarium Quarantine
Neon Tetra 4; 1” ; 3 months; Yes
Rummy nose tetra 7 1” 12 months; 5 1" 3 months LFS*
Glolight tetra 2 1” 15 months Yes
Otocinclus 5 1” 9 months LFS*
Emerald Cory 2 3” 6 months Yes
Unknown Cory 1 1.5” 6 months Yes
Platty 2 male 1.5” 6 months Yes
Platty 1 female 2" 3 months Yes
Rosy Barbs 1 male 2” 10 months LFS*
Pearl Gourami1 male 3-4” 24 months LFS*
Penguin pencil fish 9 1” 8 months LFS*
Bamboo shrimp 4 1.5" 2 months LFS*
German blue rams 1 male 1 female 2 months LFS*
Glass catfish 3, 2.5" 4 months ago / 4 2.5" 4 months ago - Yes
MTS tons; varying sizes; breeding since the establishment of the tank
*My LFS builds its reputation on quarantining all fish before bringing them out front to sell. I did not quarantine these fish; they were quarantined by the LFS.
6. Quarantine – see chart above.
7. Current tank water temp: 79 F
8. I have live plants in the tank.
9. Filter: Eheim Classic 2217. Filter media: Eheim Substrat Pro, Eheim Mech, white filter pad, coarse blue filter pad. I clean the filter every 3-6 months – rinse the media with tank water, clear algae and debris from tubing and rinse the filter in tank water. I am not sure what is meant by power capacity – manufacture’s stated capacity or is there a way to measure that at home? Eheim states:
Eheim Plus
2217-37
Tank Size 159 gallons/
600 liters
Pump Output 263 gph
Filter Circulation 208 gph
Filter Volume 1-1/2 gallons
Power Consumption 20 Watts
Filter Dimensions 205 mm x 400 mm
10. Other Equipment:
a. CO2 injection
c. Thermometer
d. Not equipment, but possibly relevant – I have a large piece of driftwood and the substrate is Seachem Flourite.
11. Lighting: Run 36” double Hagen Eco T5-HO sitting 4 inches above the water. The light is on a timer and is on from 10am -9pm (11hrs/day). The tank is 10 feet from a north-facing window and we are at the bottom of a very steep and treed hillside and get very little light. We have a 4 bulb 48” T5-HO right next to the aquarium for our orchids.
12. Water changes:
a. Last changed: 8 days ago, 15 gallons.
b. Frequency of changes: every 1-2 weeks
c. I vacuum the substrate.
13. Foods:
a. New Life Spectrum Small Fish Formula 2x day (before work and before bed)
b. Hikari sinking wafers for the corys and otos, due to excited bettas and tetras I feed after the light has gone off and spread out the food. I have two types of wafers and rotate them daily.
i. Bottom Feeders: spirulina, silkworm and krill. 3-5 small pellets scattered throughout the tank every other night.
ii. Algae Eaters: pure-cultured spirulina. ½ - 1 large pellet broken up into 3-8 pieces and scattered throughout the tank every other night.
14. What unusual signs have you observed in your fish?
Two days ago I first noticed that one of my Rummy nose tetras has what looks to be a small white worm in his pectoral fin. The "worm" is curled almost into a complete circle. I pulled him from the tank and put him in a small critter keeper with the intention of medicating him. After some online research the first night I purchased API General Cure. I set about to treat the fish but the began to worry.
I do not know what is wrong with the fish - I am not confident in my identification of the thing on his pectoral fin as a worm - it could be an infection or fungus. I did a ton of online research and now could really use the help of people on this forum. Today the area where the "worm" was now looks red - could be a different life stage, could be blood/injury/infection as well and it also looks like there might be a clear bubble towards the body on the pectoral fin. If it was a worm, does this mean it broke out of the skin?
The Rummy nose appeared to be behaving normally - actively swimming with the school and eating before I removed him from the tank.
It does (or at least did) look a lot like a worm. If it is a worm does it make sense to treat just the one fish in the small tank? What medication should I use? If I use API General Cure, it is plant/fish safe but I could not find out if it is definitively shrimp safe. When I was looking into weather or not it was shrimp safe I came across information that other fish like otos can be sensitive to certain medications. People recommended removing shrimp and sensitive fish from your aquarium before treating. However if you remove the shrimp or fish from the aquarium, then treat the aquarium and return the fish and shrimp after treatment, do you run the risk of reinfecting the tank? Is it possibly that an external life stage of the parasite could hitch a ride on my shrimp or otos and bring it back into the tank?
15. Treatments tried: I have not treated him yet. I removed the fish from the 55 gallon tank and placed him in a small critter keeper with the intention of doing research and medicating him.
16. My plan is: to see what you guys think it is and recommend.
