True Worm Parasite Fish Diseases

Flukes (Skin and Gills)

Flukes isn’t the name of a single disease, rather the name of a number of parasites.

Commonly called Gill (Dactylogyrus spp.) or Skin Flukes (Gyrodactylus spp.), they’re common in freshwater tropical and marine fish. Unlike other health problems in fish, Flukes can infect a healthy fish.

They’ll attach and drill into the flesh of your fish, leaving holes which can result in secondary infection. If they attach to the gills, they’ll reduce your fish’s ability to take in oxygen.

If they reproduce, then your fish will become listless and die of either a bacteria infection or suffocation.

Physical Signs

• A layer of mucus covering the gills or body
• Gills look like they’ve been chewed
• Reddened skin

Behavioral Signs

• Scratching against objects
• Rapidly moving gills

Pro Tip: Pale fish with drooping fins, rapid respiration and/or hollow bellies indicate more extensive infestation. A true diagnosis can’t be certain without looking at biopsies or scrapings under a microscope.

Potential Causes

Bad environmental conditions such as poor water quality, overcrowding, high ammonia, and stress create conditions that can lead to outbreaks.

Flukes are commonly present in aquariums, however, they’ll remain harmless under favorable conditions.

Avoiding stress is key.

Possible Treatments

You can treat your fish with Praziquantel. This is an anti-worm medication which prevents Flukes and treats infections caused by them.
A huge advantage of is medicine is that it’s harmless to all species, not toxic to plants, and has no negative impact on aquarium filters.

Author – modestfish