Body flukes are extremely dangerous parasites that generally attack tropical freshwater fish, but there are also some saltwater varieties. These worm-like parasites average about 1mm in size and survive by eating skin particles off the fish and by sucking their blood. The body flukes attaches to the fish by using its 2 large and 16 smaller hooks.
While body flukes can attack at any time, they typically cause more damage in aquarium that have poor water quality or if any of the chemicals levels, such as the pH, nitrate, or phosphate levels become off balanced. These parasites are extremely dangerous to your fish and can spread rapidly throughout the aquarium if not treated immediately.
Dangers to Your Fish
As the body fluke attaches to the fish with its hooks and eats away at its skin, small lesions are left on the body of the fish. This can lead to infection and put your fish at greater risk for numerous diseases. As the parasite sucks more blood, your fish will become very lethargic and it will eventually have trouble getting enough oxygen to breath properly. If not treated, the effects of body flukes can cause your fish to die from lack of oxygen, disease, or a bacterial infection.
Symptoms of Body Flukes
There are numerous signs to look for to determine if body flukes have attacked your fish. First, the typically vibrant color of your fish will start to fade and it may clap its fins to the side. You may also notice a layer of mucus on the skin, a reddening of the skin, or small bit missing from its gills. As time progresses, your fish will seem very lethargic.
It will isolate itself from the other fish, spend most of its time either remaining stationary at the bottom of the aquarium or trying to gasp for oxygen on top of the water. You can also use a clean Q-tip and scrap a little skin of the side of the fish. Placing this on a glass slide under the microscope, you will easily be able to see the body flukes.
Since body flukes can spread very quickly, it is best to treat the entire aquarium; however, you can also choose to quarantine the effected fish in a separate aquarium. There are several treatments on the market that are specifically used to treat body flukes. Unfortunately, these treatments are only effective at killing adult flukes and not the eggs. This means that for best results, you should reapply the treatment within five to seven days.
The best way to prevent an infestation of body flukes is to keep your aquarium clean at all times and to regularly check the water’s chemical levels. Many fish keepers also apply body fluke treatment any time they enter new fish into the tank. This is a preventative measure than can easily prevent an outbreak of body flukes and keep your fish healthy. The most important thing is to constantly check your fish for any changes and to take action immediately.
How Are Gill Flukes Different from Body Flukes
Gill flukes and body flukes are very similar, but with one very noticeable difference, body flukes attack the entire body of the fish, whereas gill flukes focus solely on the gills of the fish. These dangerous parasites are very tiny, measuring only about 1 mm in length, and are not visible by the human eye. However, over time, you will be able to detect that gill flukes have attacked your fish, by noticing damage done to your fish’s gills.
As a parasite, the gill fluke will need a host in order to survive. It will attach itself to the gill area of your fish with its tiny hooks, which can be painful for the fish. Many experts compare this discomfort to how dogs feel when infected by fleas. The parasite will feed off the fish, by consuming its blood and skin particles from its gills.
How to Detect Gill Flukes
In addition to missing pieces of its gills, fish affected by gill flukes will display other noticeable symptoms, including discoloration in the gills, lethargy, reddening or swelling of the gills, rapid breathing, gasping for air, and loss of appetite. Once these symptoms appear in your fish, it is important to start treatment immediately.
Eliminating Gill Flukes from Your Tank
While you can quarantine the affected fish in a separate holding tank, it is also important that you treat the entire tank. Both the regular tank and the quarantine tank should be treated using any type of product that is specifically geared toward killing gill and or body flukes.
It is important to understand that these treatments will only kill the adult flukes in your tank. The eggs of gill flukes are very resistant and will not be killed off with this type of treatment. In order to remove the flukes from your tank permanently, you will need to repeat this treatment in about five days.
Preventing Gill Flukes
While gill flukes can occur under any circumstance, you can greatly reduce the risk of these parasites with a few precautionary measures. The most important thing is to keep the water in your tank clean at all times. A pump and filtering system can greatly help with this process. You should also check the water temperature and chemical levels in your tank on a regular basis and make adjustments as necessary. However, be sure to make these adjustments slowly, so you do not cause the fish stress.
Many people also treat their tank for gill flukes any time they add new fish to the aquarium. This will not just remove any flukes the new fish you just purchased, but it will also prevent the other fish in your tank from getting flukes.
Immediate treatment is key to eliminating gill flukes from your tank. These parasites spread very rapidly, so the longer you wait to begin treatment; the more difficult they will be to eliminate. However, the best course of action is to take all the precautionary measures you can in order to reduce the risk of gill flukes in the first place.
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