White gill parasites

[Drock169]

My Copperband has been breathing heavily for the last month or so. He's still eating which is a plus, but I noticed some white things on his gills. I did a freshwater dip, probably 4 minutes and then observed for a week. White long oval things were still on the gills. So i thought maybe they were flukes, I ran a Prazipro treatment for the next week. 2 weeks later (today) I notice hes still breathing heavily, the white stuff is there. Gave him a 6 minute FW dip. I'm beginning to think maybe its a copepod parasite but I really dont think they would survive a FW dip either. Its kind of random that my CBB of 2 years suddenly got this. Its a reef tank so unfortunately copper treatment is out.

Any input is welcomed

 

[Gwynhidwy]

Any chance of a pic? If not, check out some photos online and see if anything looks similar. Unfortunately, most anything will require a hospital tank for treatment.

This site has some good photos and basic descriptions:
http://www.chucksaddiction.com/disease.html

After the dips, is there anything in the container? Look carefully, they might be mostly clear.

 

[Drock169]

great link, didnt see anything on there that looked like the stuff on my CBB. still breathing heavy, but actively eating and not losing weight. Not sure what could survive freshwater dips though, or maybe they are dead and just hanging on. Hes not going up to the cleaner wrasse or shrimps.

 

[Gwynhidwy]

Many parasites will survive a 10 minute freshwater dip. Anything involving labored breathing is cause for concern and probably needs to be treated sooner rather than later. Also, cleaner shrimp are of limited use for external parasites and generally clean the fish of dead skin more than anything else.

My suggestion for a possible culprit is anchor worms from the Lernaeidae family. This is actually a crustacean that looks like a worm. More common in freshwater fish, but its the only thing I can think of that matches your description.