Best way to rid Isopods?

[Seahawk60B]

What's the best way to rid tank of Isopods? Have a friend who recommended copper treatment. Also, to try Kick-ich. Have no coral in tank just LR. Have a couple of snails, hermits, and 5 fish. LR has amphipods, bristle worm, spaghetti worms, sponges and who knows what else. I have removed 5 Isopods with a net in the dark with a flashlight. Found another one this morning. You guys have recommended QT the tank for awhile. I gues the question is do I want to use chemicals to rid the parasites.

 

[Nano Chris]

Isopods are not bad, there good for the system, and fish eat them, no reason to have to remove them unless they are a pest:
http://melevsreef.com/id/pods.html

 

[Paintbug]

first you need to ID the isopod. if it is a bad one for sure, then worry about getting it out. while a copper treatment would work, not only will it kill the isopods but every other invert in tank as well. thats snails crabs, worms, even most corals. plus you wont be able to ever keep any inverts in that tank without doing some major cleaning with an acid. thats not something i want to do for sure.

 

[fareforce]

If they have big black eyes and look like the one below they are the bad ones. Best way to remove them.. Pull all fish out of the take for 2-3 month. This will starve then and kill them off.

 

[Seahawk60B]

Thanks fareforce. I should have been more specific. It is exactly what you have pictured. I have taken out four, killed one and found one yesterday morning. Seems my best luck has been searching and using the net and now I added a turkey baster to my arsenal. I think I will avoid the copper treatment. Tank is only 3 months running and that's about the same for my experience. I would rather play it safe and be patient.

 

[Paintbug]

opps

 

[Paintbug]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9663016#post9663016 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Seahawk60B
Thanks fareforce. I should have been more specific. It is exactly what you have pictured. I have taken out four, killed one and found one yesterday morning. Seems my best luck has been searching and using the net and now I added a turkey baster to my arsenal. I think I will avoid the copper treatment. Tank is only 3 months running and that's about the same for my experience. I would rather play it safe and be patient.

did you find these guys on your fish? if not theres a good chance they are harmless Sphaeromatid isopods. they are often mistaken for Cirolanids and Aegids which are predatory isopods. heres an article that covers them all. http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-05/rs/index.php

 

[Seahawk60B]

Yeah, twice. First on a striped damsel, and then on the clarkii. Have removed 5 so far from the tank. Found and trying to capture one more. Also, they are Cirolanids.

 

[Paintbug]

yeah if they are on the fish they are Cirolanids.

 

[A.T.T.R]

interceptor?
its safe for intank use ( even reef tanks to an extent.) and i think it will kill iso and copepods.

not sure tho

 

[Paintbug]

interceptor will kill just about every invert in the tank! good, bad, and the expensive.

 

[A.T.T.R]

hehe opps mixed it up with somthing else .. LMAO hopefully no one listened to me that time

 

[Scuba_Steve]

If you dont want to remove fish get a glass that has never touched soap. Lean it up against your rocks, and put a piece of krill or silverside inside. Im pretty sure the isopods will go after it at night. Then just remove it, and repeat till they are all gone. I would do this with fish out of the tank if possible so they dont get attacked as well.