How to i treat for larvae/flukes/alll the bugs??

[neyfn]

Hi All,

today i found a bunch of larvae and eggs under and inside my submersible pump and they have sufficiently freaked me out. after doing some parasite research, i now realise that some of my fish have been flashing for some time.

is there some treatments that i could do to cover a wide range of bugs/parasites without doing too much testing? most of the treatments seem pretty specific to certain bugs.

aside from this the fish seem to be behaving normally and there are no wounds or lesions that i can see. i have some juveniles which im assuming will be more susceptible to parasites so i would like to get on top of it quickly though have never tested for any of these things before.

FYI i have goldfish and koi in together if that makes any difference.

kind regards

[Hope J]

Do you have pictures of the eggs/larvae? Also, can you test your Ammonia, Nitrates etc so we have a baseline to work with? Any sores on the fish?

[RichToyBox]

If you can see the bugs under and around the pump, they are not parasites, but most likely some bug that needs a water source for the multiplication, and most of those, if the fish can get to them make good fish food.

As for flashing, it can be sign of parasites, but it can also be a sign of other irritants in the water. We like to see test numbers, preferably from drop type test kits like API, for ammonia (which will burn the skin, like it burns your nose if you sniff it), nitrite (which attaches to red blood cells making them into brown blood that does not carry oxygen), pH (very low, very high, or highly variable will cause burns to the skin and gills), and KH (which controls the stability of the pH). It is always easier to fix problems with water quality which will help to fix the fish, than to fix the fish and still have them in a less than ideal environment returning to a need for fixing. After we see the numbers, we can make other suggestions.

[neyfn]

ok thanks so far. makes sense.

i dont have a full test kit yet as all the stores near me are have been out for some time due to covid. but my Ph is about 7.6. know any good retailers online for a kit? im in Western Australia if that makes any difference.

otherwise, i took the pump out for a clean and made a new housing as i found a little guy got sucked up into the filter... was pretty devastated. anyway was able to take some photos of the bugs. i will have a look at the fish when i get more time to pull them out.

i think this is a dragonfly larva?


some little rows of white eggs


some weird eggs down the back. but the wormy looking thing i have all over the pond but they are all dead or just something that doesnt move. sorry its a bit blurry.


no idea what these suckers are, some weird egg thing im assuming? kind of cone shape with tendrils of some sort coming out one end.


couple little grubs. about 3mm each. these are all over the pump and pump enclosure.

[Hope J]

I'm not sure what they are, I live in the States :/

[RichToyBox]

Ponds are full of life forms, most of the ones that you can see are not of any concern. Like dragon fly larvae, and mosquito larvae, there are white flies that are small like mosquitoes and swarm near the surface, and many other larvae that need water. There was one that I could not identify that tended to grow attached to the inside of my piping, causing slowdowns of flow within filter system, seemed to have a hard shell like a crustacean, but if it tried to grow in the pond, the fish ate it.

[neyfn]

Ok thanks for your advice.

I haven’t found any in the pond itself. Maybe because they are all being eaten.
I will do a proper water test when I can and check the fish. I will get back with profess as soon as I am able.

Thanks again.

[neyfn]

What do you think this is? Only thing I found so far.

[RichToyBox]

My guess would be a scrape, but it could be a minor infection from being on the bottom of the pond during the winter. Many times these will heal themselves, given time, like a scratch or burn on yourself. I would just keep an eye on it and see which way it goes. If it gets worse, treat, but if it gets better, you saved yourself and the fish some stress in trying to treat something unnecessarily.

[neyfn]

thanks, youve been a huge help!