911 visible parasite on fish

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by joe15
Yeah it did. It was mostly clear with big eyes and a visible belly. It was roughly half the size of a pencil eraser. (looked kinda like a translucent pill bug) Only thing I found that matched the description was a parasitic isopod.
BTW- my clown's eye is doing better and his face is healing well.
B
You have described a Cirolanid Isopod. This is bad news. They cannot be starved out, you will have to catch it and there may be several. Typically they will attach to a sleeping fish when it gets near the sand bed. When the lights come on they often release and bury themselves in the sand.
This means it's best to try to catch them at night.

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by masivemunkey
I've always read that Isopods are pretty rare in aquariums,
I have yet to see a reef system without Isopods. Most are beneficial, fortunately.

 

[joe15]

So after numerous attempts at catching my foe- I failed- But the resident expert at my LFS gave me some sagely advice. Apparently he had the same problem a number of years ago. His solution was a banded coral shimp to eat our common foe. It worked well and the parasite was never heard from again. Trying the same, will let you know how it goes. Glad there was only the one, as long as it isn't a pregnant female I sould be clear.
BTW good article for what I may have had
Please do not post links to competing websites
thanks all
B

 

[joe15]

Shrimp 1 : parasite 0
The shrimp wasted no time and can currently be viewed eating my pest. Hope this helps anyone else
B

 

[bang guy]

That is awesome! I hope more people read this.

 

[birdmom]

Originally Posted by joe15
Shrimp 1 : parasite 0
The shrimp wasted no time and can currently be viewed eating my pest. Hope this helps anyone else
B
:thinking: :thinking:
WoW! That is interesting....
I guess that a "pest eating" shrimp "Works for You!
In a 12g nano....
I wonder why it failed in my 75g???? :
thinking: :thinking: :thinking:
I also wish to quote one that wrote.....
"That is awesome! I hope more people read this."
I would hope the people finding this thread helpful have very small tanks!
To add a shrimp & watch it seek & consume a parasite upon entry...
:notsure: :notsure: :notsure:
I would advise them to buy a lottery ticket......
Some of the advise on this site is causing blood loss due to all of the
"head scratching"
But I digress........
Blessings.... Birdmom

 

[ophiura]

What is interesting here is that it provides a possible other means to try and remove cirolanids, a notoriously bad diagnosis to get.
It provides something to attempt...yes, maybe only in small tanks. Nothing wrong with that, there are a lot of people with small tanks.
Trapping of course is not likely to be particularly useful overall. The next extreme is quite unpleasant. So if we can identify something that might be a step to try, then it is worth trying. No, it may not work completely. But that does NOT mean that people can't share, discuss, attempt and see what happens. When it comes to pest and disease treatment, it is invaluable, IMO. The ability to do that on a large scale is what makes such boards valuable.

Are there any other updates??