Gold Fish With White Worms

Question
Chris,
  I have lost about three gold fish they got weak and died.
I noticed a white worm like thing coming out the side of one fish. Then there are some coming out the side of another.
I bought some medication called Parasite Clear Tank Buddies. I have done the tank twice with water changes. I know nothing about these things. I took one off and it acted like it was dead. What should I respect with this please help me

Answer
Hi Pam;

Oh my. That sounds like it could be a pretty serious infection of internal parasites. Fish can become infected with intestinal worms just like dogs and cats. I've just never heard of them coming out the sides.

A medicine called Praziquantel may work for your fish. Below are some web pages with it listed. (This is not an endorsement of any particular seller, just giving you something to work with) You may be able to find it at your local fish or pet store. The pages talk a lot about koi, but goldfish and koi are cousins so the treatments are the same, only on a smaller scale;

http://www.pondcrisis.com/a_praziquantel.html
http://www.koienterprise.com/subcat264.html
http://www.pondrx.com/store/customer/product.php?productid=32&cat=1
http://www.koizyme.com/Doc's_worming_article.htm

I hope your fish get better soon......

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins