Skin flukes and gills in tropical fish

While parasites of various types are often responsible for fish rubbing against objects in the tank, sometimes to the point of causing raw skin, it can be difficult to identify which parasite it is unless you have a good vision of him.

In the case of skin flounder, which is a parasitic flatworm, they are unlikely to show up as long as you can remove them manually like you can with leeches or fish lice. One of the common denominators that they have with other parasitic infections is that they can cause reddening of the skin, but also rubbing against stones and wood. However, skin fluke also causes a loss of color, and because treatment is common for other types of parasites, it’s best to opt for a general medication, such as Droncit or formalin baths, when you’re not sure what to do. whether it is a skin stave or not. Remove severely affected fish to a hospital tank.

Standard treatments of adding 1 tbsp. of aquarium salt to a daily water change in the home aquarium, and raising the tank temperature by four degrees also applies. This is used for most parasites, including the gill fluke, which has more obvious and visual symptoms.

The gill fluke is a worm that specifically attacks the gill membranes, causing them to turn red and acquire a slime coating that makes breathing difficult. The fish will hang on the surface of the water, gasp and lose weight rapidly. The same tank treatments can be used as for skin fluke, but with gill fluke, moving it to a hospital tank and adding short formalin, salt, or ammonium hydroxide baths to the regimen will help kill what’s in the tanks. fish, and then you can treat your surroundings.