How To Treat Anchor Worms On Goldfish?

By Jamie Boyle

As you seen on my other post What Is Anchor Worm? you will need to learn how to treat anchor worms found on your goldfish. Anchor worms are quite common and the good news is that anchor worms are very easy to treat with the right medication treatment.

The first thing you will need to do is buy some anchor worm treatment medication. Some good ones that I’ve used and work effectively to eliminate these external parasites are Anchors Away, Dimilin, ProForm LA, and Potassium Permanganate. All of these parasite medication will kill anchor worms on your fish. The only suggestion I would do is use Potassium Permanganate as the last resort as it’s a very strong chemical and if improper measurements are made for the amount of medication to add to your pond or aquarium can possibly kill all your fish.

I would stick with Anchors Away, Dimilin, or Proform La. These ones will work effectively at getting rid of anchor worms for sure. Just follow proper dosage as recommended and never add more then what is suggested. More is not always better. Follow the instructions and your pond or aquarium will be anchor worm free in no time.

As far as using Potassium Permanganate to treat anchor worms you can do this with a 10-30 minute bath of a solution concentration of 10 millgrams per litre. You will need to observe your fish during treatment for any kinds of stress. You can also remove anchor worms by using tweezers. I’ve done this many time it is best to put your fish to sleep using an anesthetic to eliminate any pain or discomfort to your goldfish or other type of fish. Once your fish is asleep gently remove the anchor worm with your tweezers. Make sure you get the whole parasite including the anchor that is embedded deep into the fish tissue. It is also known as well if you apply some potassium permanganate to the anchor worms itself it can cause the external parasite to release it’s grip or hold of your fish. To do this take a cotton swab and dip it into a solution of potassium permanganate. Then apply the cotton swab to the goldfish parasite and it should release it’s hold and make it easier for removal. If you have no cotton swabs on hand just use your pair of tweezers and dip this into the solution of potassium permanganate once the solution touches the anchor worm it will release its hold allowing the whole parasite to be removed.

As mentioned earlier, using potassium permanganate to treat anchor worms is much more work but it’s effective. For a much easier alternative you should use the other anchor worm medication treatments as mentioned. Less work and just as effective. I hope this helps people learn how to treat anchor worms on goldfish, koi and other types of fish.

You can tell by the above photo and see how anchor worms actually got its name. It is very similar to the anchor found on the boat as seen above. It’s a splitting image!

Have your fish ever had anchor worms before? Till next time Anchors Away!

Sincerely,

Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy

Other Related Posts
What is anchor worms?
How To Treat Anchor Worms On Goldfish