ISOPOD - treatment

[figuerres]

I have the nasty buggers on some fish.

I know that on larger ones foreceps can be used to pull them off.

that sometimes a freshwater dip can help get them to let go.

any other things that work?

are there any dips that will help get them off the fish w/o killing the fish ?

fish currently seen with pods are 2 common clowns and one blue tang (hippo tang) about 5 inch long.

I have not yet seen any on my sixline wrass, or on a blue chromis.

also I will be checking my 2 cleaner shimp for signs.

this is a reef tank so I have to be carefull of any in-tank meds.
will have to move fish to QT tank for meds.

and that's not gonna be fun in a 90 gallon reef with a lot of live rock....

and yes new rock brought the pods, I know....

 

[HappySkittles]

i would personally try to pull em off only because i wouldnt wanna stress the fish out with medication or a dip...i dont know of any kind of med for a dip but maybe the fw dip would work

im surprised your cleaner shrimp didnt get em...arent they supposed to clean well i've only seen skunk cleaner shrimp climb on fish and clean em dont know if thats the kind you have

 

[jnc914]

I would remove the isopod with tweezers and watch for secondary infections from where the parasite was attached. Hypo really doesn't do much to kill or to even "loosen" the parasite from the fish.

On a different note, it is often a misconception and is inconclusive in studies that "cleaner" skunk shrimp actually do anything to rid a fish of parasites. They mostly eat dead skin off the fish. However they can also be hosts for such parasites like the isopods you are dealing with now.

 

[figuerres]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13238592#post13238592 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jnc914
I would remove the isopod with tweezers and watch for secondary infections from where the parasite was attached. Hypo really doesn't do much to kill or to even "loosen" the parasite from the fish.

On a different note, it is often a misconception and is inconclusive in studies that "cleaner" skunk shrimp actually do anything to rid a fish of parasites. They mostly eat dead skin off the fish. However they can also be hosts for such parasites like the isopods you are dealing with now.

yeah, I know about the "cleaner" they clean, they do not "debug" a fish.

I am getting all my stuff, got a 29 gallon "biocube" to use while I rid the main tank of any more of them, read the isopod hunter article on them, getting ready to make traps....
also I have orders out for foreceps, meds -- for infection, and I located "finqel" (sp) on fosters and smith to help
it's an anesthetic for fish, to help with the manual removal process.
I will have to make sure not to overdose the fish while I prep.

I should be working on this over the weekend.

I was just hoping a new treatment / med might have been found recently.....

my blue tang has the big one, easy to see, shuld not be to hard to get.

the clowns have small ones that may be harder to pull off w/o squishing them.... (pods that is, not the fish)