Who Gives A Fish Forums

Just got some floating water plants from the same friend who gave me those guppies with tapeworm - which, thankfully, I've managed to treat successfully. Now I'm curious, where did they pick up the tapeworm in the first place? Should I be treating the plants too?

Tapeworms are everywhere, honestly. They're just sort of present in the environment.

Plants aren't usually grown with fish, but if you get them from a LFS or a friend with fish in the same tank, it's possible to transfer unwanted hitchhikers. Most of the time, these issues originate from breeders or come from contact with infected fish during transportation.

You can inadvertently bring in eggs, larvae, spores, bacteria, fungus, or viruses of various kinds with the plants. Snails, in particular, are notorious for carrying a multitude of potential issues like pods, hydras, bacteria, and fungus.

In their natural environment, these organisms are part of the ecosystem. However, in a closed environment like an aquarium, they can be a game-changer - for better or worse.

Tapeworms in fish usually originate from infected live foods containing tapeworm eggs or larvae. Aquarium fish from tropical Asia often get fed live foods grown in environments contaminated with animal waste or sewage. This leads to the fish ingesting eggs and eventually developing tapeworms. Roundworms are actually more prevalent than tapeworms.

Rinsing plants under tap water before adding them to the tank reduces the risk of introducing diseases or parasites. Alternatively, you can opt for tissue-cultured plants, which are essentially disease- and parasite-free.

Although plants don't typically transmit intestinal worms, there's a slight possibility that worm eggs might be transferred through the water. However, this is extremely unlikely. The most common way your fish contract tapeworms is through other infected fish added to your aquarium or by collecting live foods from waterways contaminated with animal waste, sewage, or water birds.

It's worth noting that tapeworms and other non-nematode worms aren't always a disaster. They can be present in fish for a long time without showing any issues. Stress can trigger an outbreak, but treatment with praziquantel usually resolves the problem quickly. I've given up trying to pinpoint the source; when I suspect an issue, I treat and move forward.

Thanks everyone for the input, I really appreciate it. I ended up giving those plants a bit of a makeover - trimmed the roots, which were getting pretty long and gnarly, and did a peroxide soak for good measure. It makes sense that live food is the main culprit when it comes to spreading tapeworms, and since my friend's place is near a stream, I'm guessing that's probably where the issue started. Anyway, I've had the plants in a separate bowl for a bit, and everything looks clean, so I'm going to go ahead and add them to the tank. I'm not too worried about it at this point. To be honest, I'm not even sure why I'm so invested in keeping those guppies healthy - I don't really want a huge school of them anyway.

It's probably the guppies that brought the worms into the picture, but either way, worming the tank with both the fish and plants in it will take care of the whole life cycle of the worms and their eggs. This means that after the treatment, both your plants and fish should be good to go.

I think it's great that you care so much about your guppies' health - they're lovely little creatures, even when they start to take over. I'm sure you've found yourself in a situation where you're dealing with far too many of them, but they're still pretty adorable in their own right.