911 visible parasite on fish

[birdmom]

Hi all, thanks for any help!
Last night I noticed a worm like (parasite?) just inside of my lawnmower blenny's mouth. About 2 weeks ago I noticed that he was not eating as much
& scraping in the sand. I also noticed that the damsels suddenly started to get agressive with him & thought perhaps they had caused some irritation around his mouth or gill area. Friday night I pulled them out & put them in my rock QT tank. With them gone he is finally out of hiding & I was able to see this thing inside of his mouth.
I have gotten some pics but it is nearly impossible to clearly see any detail. I will post them later if anyone wants. I was also going to try the video camera as it would show more than just a snapshot.
Anyone know what this worm like thing might be???
Thanks!

 

[sepulatian]

It sounds like a copepod parasite. It looks like a skinny round worm? Do you see it moving? Can you pluck it off with tweezers?

 

[birdmom]

Hi & thanks for the quick reply. It looks like a thin worm, greenish in color. It is hard to tell if it is actually moving on its own because of the movement caused by his gasping.
My first thought was to catch him & pluck it out.... The bad news is.... the only way I am going to catch him is if I pull out all of my rock. Even if I did it is still going to be difficult.. He is the last fish I have ever wanted to "have" to get out of the tank.
Also keep in mind that pulling out the rock is going to set off my tank. I have a 6 inch sand bed.
So I need opinions... Do I need to tear down the tank, catch the blenny & yank the thing out?? Would I still need to treat for parasites?
Thanks! Birdmom

 

[sepulatian]

The only other way to kill copepods is copper which you can't do in your display tank. Wait for either Lion_Crazz or Beth on this one. I have never delt with worms myself, I just looked it up in one of my books. I don't want to tell you to do something that isn't necessary.

 

[bang guy]

Try catching the Blenny at night.
Hyposalinity should be able to kill the parasite.

 

[birdmom]

Originally Posted by Bang Guy
Try catching the Blenny at night.
Hyposalinity should be able to kill the parasite.
Hi & thanks!
I have decided that I need to catch him & pick it off. I will put it under the scope & see what I am dealing with. I sure wish I could find my adapter for the camera so I could get a pic..
I have already put a divider in the tank & have him cornered in an area where I will only need to move two rocks. I plan to pull him later this evening & should be able to pick it off fairly easily as it appears to be attatched just inside the right corner of the mouth.
I have been observing him & the rest of the tank most of the day. Whatever this thing might be is clearly alive & moves on its own. I do not see anything abnormal on any of the other fish. The blenny seems fine for the most part. Is still eating & active but spits out more than he is taking in.
I am assuming that there are no reef safe meds to rid parasites??
Thanks again & I will post my findings later.

 

[bang guy]

There's no such thing as a reef safe med IMO.
If you have a QT I strongly advise hyposalinity for a few weeks. There may be more than one if it has reproduced.

 

[birdmom]

Originally Posted by Bang Guy
There's no such thing as a reef safe med IMO.
If you have a QT I strongly advise hyposalinity for a few weeks. There may be more than one if it has reproduced.
HELP!! I can't get it off!
I am fairly certain that I at least killed it. I was beginning to think that maybe it was just a piece of torn lip. But when I got a good hold with the tweezers it wiggled like crazy. I am not sure if I should keep trying to get it or not. It seems to be deeply imbedded. I don't want to stress him out further.
I still have him in a container floating in the main tank. Thinking that it might fall off?
Hypo is not really an option in this tank. I would as a last resort but would need a good source to back up that it is a cure. Without an ID on this thing I am not sure that is possible. I would assume that the only way to rid a parasite would be to hypo the rock as well?
Any ideas & input I can get ASAP would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks so much!! Birdmom

 

[bang guy]

Go buy a 10 gallon tank for 9.99 and hypo the fish. Daily water changes will work fine until you get a sponge or biowheel filter going.

 

[birdmom]

Hi! I am not trying to argue with you or anything. Just wanted to say that so that you know I mean no offence. Sometimes written words are taken wrong.
With that said, I already have several 10 gl tanks that I could use. I keep them around to QT the pieces of live rock that I pick up. So that is really not an issue. I also have a 55gl QT tank for any new fish & some 20's to hypo my larger fish or other things they might be needed for.
I also know that to hypo just this one fish will not cure the cause. For every bad thing you see it is certain that there are many more lurking around.
Again, I mean no offense. But I am not a big fan of hypo to begin with. It is over suggested & overused far to often. Not every spot you see is Ick & hypo will not cure the ones that are not. The only way to know for sure it is Ick is to get a scraping & examine it under the microscope. This is the reason so many people continue to say that they again are infected with Ick after weeks of hypo. It was not Ick to begin with & they were treating the wrong infection.
So If I were to pull this fish, I would be better off to take the direct approach & treat it for the parasite. Not?
So on the assumption that there is never just one & knowing that the others exist in the tank just waiting for a host. Isolating just one fish with visible signs would not be the best approach.
Again I wish to say that I hope I am not offending you. What I really could use is some good links or info that address marine parasites & their eradication. I have looked through all of my books & the web. I can only find information pertaining to ID for saltwater & only control of freshwater fish. The good news is that I am close to narrowing down my visual ID. It is also possible that this thing is not actually a bad parasite but is merely taking advantage of a host. Either way it needs to be eliminated.
Thanks & HUGS!
Birdmom

 

[bang guy]

My advice is always based on what I would do in the same situation. I'd never take offense with someone not following what I would do. They always need to do it their way based on available information. There are almost always many ways to accomplish the same goal.
Hugs right back at ya

 

[birdmom]

Originally Posted by Bang Guy
My advice is always based on what I would do in the same situation. I'd never take offense with someone not following what I would do. They always need to do it their way based on available information. There are almost always many ways to accomplish the same goal.
Hugs right back at ya
Hi & thanks for all of your input & not taking offense to my reply.
I would like you to know that your advise was appreciated! It just was not the best fit for my situation. It is hard to evaluate & help one with a problem in this situation. (over the internet & no pics)
To update you on the situation:
I had to release him back into the main tank last night before the "thing" dropped off. He was just too stressed out & as his is 4-5" I did not want to lose him.
He (the blenny) finally came out of hiding long enough for me to see that it was gone this evening. I wish that I would have been able to get + ID on this thing but I am leaning towards a parasitic Isopod. I did find a site with a pic that closely resembled the offender.
I could still use some advise on how to proceed. If you could foward my delimma on to someone that might be able to help I would appreciate it!
I hate to speak badly of company's, but I have to say that every tank that I haved added livestock to last Oct. from a certain company has been trouble...
(Not Saltwaterfish.com)
The livestock recieved from this company have either died or have introduced bad things into the tanks they were put in. Even worse.... They double charged my card & I am still fighting to be reimbursed....
((Again... I wish to state that it was not from this site!! My orders from here have been more than wonderfull & I wish to never order from another site again))
I would rather put in a request for a wanted item here & wait, rather than order from a company that seems to have it all in stock....
Thanks! & I still need more advise if anyone has some!!

 

[joe15]

I just finished cycling my tank and added a clown and a new piece of live rock and ended up with one of these pests as well. It is a 12g nano. The owner of my LFS said to catch the fish with the parasite and dip him in fresh water till it falls off. Problem is I can;t catch hime when the isopod is attached so that I am looking to "Hypo" my tank to kill it and and anyothers that may be there as well.
Question- How low should I bring the salinity to? How long should I keep it there? How do I know if it is working? How do I know if I messed up (b4 everything dies)?
Thanks for all your help on the forums here,
B

 

[birdmom]

Originally Posted by joe15
I just finished cycling my tank and added a clown and a new piece of live rock and ended up with one of these pests as well. It is a 12g nano. The owner of my LFS said to catch the fish with the parasite and dip him in fresh water till it falls off. Problem is I can;t catch hime when the isopod is attached so that I am looking to "Hypo" my tank to kill it and and anyothers that may be there as well.
Question- How low should I bring the salinity to? How long should I keep it there? How do I know if it is working? How do I know if I messed up (b4 everything dies)?
Thanks for all your help on the forums here,
B
Why are you unable to catch Him?? (I assume you mean the clown?)
If I can catch a blenny in a 75 gal tank full of live rock without draining the tank.... I am thinking you can catch a fish in a 12.
What I did was, put in a plastic divider I made from the top of a large rubbermaid container. ( I have used the same one for a long time with positive results) Isolated the fish in question to the side of the tank I have arranged the rock for just this situation.. herd the fish to that corner, let the rest out, pull the rock, & capture the fish with one of those cheap throw-away containers from the grocery isle.. It took me less than 30 seconds to catch a blenny! A clown should be childs play in 12 gal.
You could drain the tank to 1/4 full if you are using a net...
That said.... If you have the same thing that I did... Hypo will not work... Freshwater dip will not work.... The only way to cure 1 fish is to get the parasite off.. The only way to cure a tank is to keep it empty it of everything but the rock,sand & water for a minimum of 6mo.
I personally am not making a move until I know what I am dealing with...
Today I set up a trap (instructions gained from another site) & will examine every piece of debrit found at the bottom until I am able to identify a parasite..
((unless of course I see another affected fish to examine))
Good luck to you & let me know if I can help you in any way..
Hugs
PS>>> Please never Hypo if you do not know how... Or just because you read it was the thing to do.... Just my 2 cents......

 

[joe15]

thanks for the help with this one.
I am having no problems catching the fish in question, but the parasite likes to darts off and goes hiding everytime I try. (way to smart a bug I think) If I have the day off today and will be spending it waiting for the sucker to reattach so That I can finally be rid of it. Last night he did some major damage to my clowns eye. (This time it's WAR!) Thanks for the advice on the hypo, not going to be messing with that.
PS. Any meds that might work?
Thanks again
B

 

[bang guy]

Did the bug have large black eyes?

 

[birdmom]

Originally Posted by joe15
thanks for the help with this one.
I am having no problems catching the fish in question, but the parasite likes to darts off and goes hiding everytime I try. (way to smart a bug I think) If I have the day off today and will be spending it waiting for the sucker to reattach so That I can finally be rid of it. Last night he did some major damage to my clowns eye. (This time it's WAR!) Thanks for the advice on the hypo, not going to be messing with that.
PS. Any meds that might work?
Thanks again
B
Hi, Not sure that you have the same thing or not. Whatever was on my blenny was Stuck..It seemed really deeply imbedded & when I would pull on it I was afraid I was going to pull off the blennys lip. When I did get a good grip it made a crunching sound (or maybe I just felt it)LOL When it wiggled I started to shake so bad that I had to drop both the fish & tweezers before I stabbed the blenny. Doing that seemed to kill it as it never moved again & then fell off.
There are meds that can be used on just the fish. Nothing that can be used in the tank itself. The only way to rid it from the tank is to keep it empty of everything (Inverts & snails as well) but the rock & sand for a minimum of 6mo. I did read an article that stated although it is rare that a parasite will attack & host inverts it is not unheard of. So in my opinion, an empty tank that is not getting fed will starve out the parasite. The only other quick way to be sure is to toss the rock & sand, treat the fish in a QT & start the main tank over.
Let me know what you find, I am curious...
Later, Birdmom

 

[joe15]

Originally Posted by Bang Guy
Did the bug have large black eyes?
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

 

[birdmom]

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
Wow! Glad to hear that you caught it...
I do not really know what else to tell you...but in my opinion, just like mice & cockroaches... for every one that you see there are 10 more that you don't.
If you got everything in your tank from your LFS I would ask them to take back the sand, rock & hold or credit the clown for you. clean out your tank really well & start over.... I am also not sure that I would trust a LFS that passed this on to my tank... But that is just me.....
After past lessons learned.... I will not put a piece of rock into my main tank without letting it sit in a QT until I am certain it is clear of nasty things....
Take care & Hugs!
(Just my opinion & nothing else) Birdmom

 

[masivemunkey]

I've always read that Isopods are pretty rare in aquariums, but if you get them you should quarantine your fish, dispose of your sand and rocks, and let your aquarium run without anything in it for 2-3 months to make sure the isopods are gone. Those isopods are pretty nasty critters, but I'm not sure I would blame the LFS since it would be almost impossible to detect something like this in live sand or rock. Hopefully they will take everything back.