Bug on my clown? ID Please.
- Thread starter o2zen
- Start date
TOURKID
New member
its a paracitic isopod.
search for isopod anywhere. they stick to fish, they are bad news. I hope for you it was the only one and it was eaten. if you have another attach to your fish you need to do a fresh water dip to make it fall off. (fresh water dip.. freshwater bring up to same temp as tank and add baking soda till ph matches your tank)
in the case that theyre are more, theres steps you need to take. i THINK you need to leave your tank fish less for a pieriod of time, but im not posative
search for isopod anywhere. they stick to fish, they are bad news. I hope for you it was the only one and it was eaten. if you have another attach to your fish you need to do a fresh water dip to make it fall off. (fresh water dip.. freshwater bring up to same temp as tank and add baking soda till ph matches your tank)
in the case that theyre are more, theres steps you need to take. i THINK you need to leave your tank fish less for a pieriod of time, but im not posative
Descriptive Article:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-05/rs/index.php
Treatment experience:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/bp/index.php
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-05/rs/index.php
Treatment experience:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/bp/index.php
Thanks for posting those Scott - I just read them last week and was trying to remember where so o2zen could get some good info!
These are scary things, as you'll read. I wouldn't assume that anything has eaten it, even if they have, it can eat through whatever's eaten it.
Also, be very careful handling the isopod if you come across it. In that first link (I think) Dr. Ron shares the story of one of the lab assistants needing to remove the isopod from her own hand.
Good luck!
These are scary things, as you'll read. I wouldn't assume that anything has eaten it, even if they have, it can eat through whatever's eaten it.
Also, be very careful handling the isopod if you come across it. In that first link (I think) Dr. Ron shares the story of one of the lab assistants needing to remove the isopod from her own hand.
Good luck!
o2zen
New member
Holy Crap!
Just when you think your tank is coming together perfectly and your happy with it something nasty happens. I just got the Clowns last night and its possible the bug rode in on them.
I did not notice it in the store and with my luck it is still alive, female, and ready to drop her brood.
Just when you think your tank is coming together perfectly and your happy with it something nasty happens. I just got the Clowns last night and its possible the bug rode in on them.
I did not notice it in the store and with my luck it is still alive, female, and ready to drop her brood.
o2zen
New member
Intercepter?
I had 5 Damsels in my tank for cycling and never saw it (them). I have also had my Firefish in the tank for a few weeks before I added the clowns. I spend alot of time watching my tank at night with a red light (I am amazed at the life on the rocks) and have never seen them before.
Could one of these have come in with on my carpet?
I had 5 Damsels in my tank for cycling and never saw it (them). I have also had my Firefish in the tank for a few weeks before I added the clowns. I spend alot of time watching my tank at night with a red light (I am amazed at the life on the rocks) and have never seen them before.
Could one of these have come in with on my carpet?
Flighty
Premium Member
Intercepter is the treatment. It is a dog heartworm med that you can get from a vet and the same med used for red bugs.
I had them in my tank for a few months before seeing them and they did seem to almost always go for the clowns. I even tried baiting them with a damsel to get them out manually and had no success.
here is my story with them on our club website
http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1344
treatment
http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1405
never saw them again after that.
I had them in my tank for a few months before seeing them and they did seem to almost always go for the clowns. I even tried baiting them with a damsel to get them out manually and had no success.
here is my story with them on our club website
http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1344
treatment
http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1405
never saw them again after that.
Glad the interceptor worked for you Flighty! These things make my skin crawl! There are other options for removal too for consideration.
One of the links that Traveler 7 posted had some solutions in it. This man found that the interceptor didn't work as well for him as baiting and trapping the suckers did. He also found that the interceptor had an adverse affect on some of his good pods and worms.
Since he had these little suckers out of the tank I think he did some interceptor experiments on them, like adding it to see how long it would take for it to kill them. Then he also tested on some of the good stuff. It's interesting reading.
He used a trap and "smelly" water to manually remove them. What I don't remember, is what he did with them after he caught them ( besides measure them and experiment on them) since adding them to our sewer systems via toilets or sinks doesn't seem like a good idea.
Good luck!
One of the links that Traveler 7 posted had some solutions in it. This man found that the interceptor didn't work as well for him as baiting and trapping the suckers did. He also found that the interceptor had an adverse affect on some of his good pods and worms.
Since he had these little suckers out of the tank I think he did some interceptor experiments on them, like adding it to see how long it would take for it to kill them. Then he also tested on some of the good stuff. It's interesting reading.
He used a trap and "smelly" water to manually remove them. What I don't remember, is what he did with them after he caught them ( besides measure them and experiment on them) since adding them to our sewer systems via toilets or sinks doesn't seem like a good idea.
Good luck!
o2zen
New member
I set up a trap and some stinky water last night and turned my lights off 4 hours early and as of this morning nothing in the trap. I am wondering if this is what I had (hoping not) and also thinking if it fell off and one of the other fish ate it that the damn thing is now living inside one of my fish eatting it from the inside out.
Grrr...
Grrr...
Flighty
Premium Member
I used the same dosage as for treating red bugs and did it all in tank. It really was not stressfull for anything but inverts like crabs and shrimp. It was a blow to the pod population, but they all came back except for the bad ones. Do a search though. Any info I had would be outdated now.
If you're going to treat with interceptor leave your rocks in, if they're hiding in your rocks you don't want to give them a "get out of jail free card" by putting them somewhere safe. You shouldn't need to qt fish either, but removing the inverts that Flighty mentioned would probably be helpful 
Good luck!
Good luck!
o2zen
New member
How about the sand? Do they live in the sand?
I threw together a 20tall tonight with a canister filter system and tossed my LR in by itself. Its cold so the water freshly mixed was about 60 degrees and when my rocks hit the water the isopods came flooding out. I grabbed all that I could with the turkey baster before they started crawling back into the LR. My Gorilla crab came running out as well so I grabbed him as well. I am waiting on my cucumbers to emerge next so they can be saved.
I picked up a big red lamp, well a few of them since I was not sure which would work best and there is no lighting on my QT tank right now so in a few hours I will go take a look at my display and then at the QT tank.
More info later.
I threw together a 20tall tonight with a canister filter system and tossed my LR in by itself. Its cold so the water freshly mixed was about 60 degrees and when my rocks hit the water the isopods came flooding out. I grabbed all that I could with the turkey baster before they started crawling back into the LR. My Gorilla crab came running out as well so I grabbed him as well. I am waiting on my cucumbers to emerge next so they can be saved.
I picked up a big red lamp, well a few of them since I was not sure which would work best and there is no lighting on my QT tank right now so in a few hours I will go take a look at my display and then at the QT tank.
More info later.
There's a lot of other pods that live in the rocks too that are good for your tank.
I can't remember what the article said about where the isopods live (rock, sand, or both). But I think most people use interceptor so they can treat the whole display, except the inverts mentioned, so they kill the isopods regardless of where they're hiding. Definately don't want to miss any and have to go through this again
I can't remember what the article said about where the isopods live (rock, sand, or both). But I think most people use interceptor so they can treat the whole display, except the inverts mentioned, so they kill the isopods regardless of where they're hiding. Definately don't want to miss any and have to go through this again
o2zen
New member
I picked up the drugs but had no way to measure it out so I turned my lights on for an extended period of time. I pulled the LR out of the tank and put them in my new QT tank. I dosed the QT tank and let the LR sit in there for 24 hours. Tons of dead floating things I probably want in my tank which sucks.
I put my LR back into my display tank figuring that the untreated water in the display tank would dilute any of the remaining drug on/in my LR and guess what?
I woke up with all my Hermits upside down in the tank. Now I read somewhere that someone else dosed his whole tank and the Hermits all flipped but came back after awhile.
So my question is this â€"œ if they die, how long until I add more seeing how the first batch all flipped on just the diluted amounts of the drug coming off the rocks? How many water changes and days apart do I want to wait? Should I add anything to my tank to neutralize the drug left in the tank? I am worried about my cleaner shrimp as well but they were fine this morning. Do I need to pull the dead Hermits out of the tank or should I leave them for the next back to scavenge?
I put my LR back into my display tank figuring that the untreated water in the display tank would dilute any of the remaining drug on/in my LR and guess what?
I woke up with all my Hermits upside down in the tank. Now I read somewhere that someone else dosed his whole tank and the Hermits all flipped but came back after awhile.
So my question is this â€"œ if they die, how long until I add more seeing how the first batch all flipped on just the diluted amounts of the drug coming off the rocks? How many water changes and days apart do I want to wait? Should I add anything to my tank to neutralize the drug left in the tank? I am worried about my cleaner shrimp as well but they were fine this morning. Do I need to pull the dead Hermits out of the tank or should I leave them for the next back to scavenge?
If they're really dead, I would take them out. No need adding more stress to your tank.
Are you running carbon? That usually helps remove things from the water.
I would guess that water changes are in order, but I wouldn't know how much and how often to tell you - sorry. Hopefully someone else will.
Good luck!
Are you running carbon? That usually helps remove things from the water.
I would guess that water changes are in order, but I wouldn't know how much and how often to tell you - sorry. Hopefully someone else will.
Good luck!
