Parasite?

[supergiantrobot]

I recently purchased two purple firefish. One died after about two-three weeks, looking skinny, fins clamped, and with white, slightly raised "scabs" on its body. The other firefish does not have the scabs, but has what looks like some sort of parasite attached.

The "parasite" is oval, film-like in consistency, translucent white, and seems attached to the fish at one end of the oval while the other end moves whenever the fish swims. In other words, it looks like an amoeba with one end stuck to the fish.

There is one of these things on the right gill, and another at the base of the tail, where the tail meets the body. The fish eats well and does not have clamped fins.

Any ID? None of the other fish have this, and I would like to keep it that way.

 

[Jolieve]

SGR, post some pics of the parasite, if you can.. that should help with ID, otherwise.. it sounds like it could be any number of things.

Good luck,
J.

 

[zonkers]

Just a guess, but maybe a parasitic isopod? Would be ovalish, perhaps too small to see segments, & would probably also be attached by mouthparts, possibly accounting for the 'tail' end seeming loose while the fish swims. Have they changed position on the fish at all? A cleaner shrimp might clean it up, if the fish permits, but some fish like hawkfish & wrasses are known to thrash shrimp around. Might not be a good idea depending on the other fish in your tank. I suggest isolating it in QT to prevent spreading & that way you could probably zap it with copper or something.

 

[supergiantrobot]

I think I am going to try the cleaner shrimp. I don't have a QT tank established and getting the fish out might be impossible.

Is the parasitic isopod contagious? Would a cleaner shrimp rid the tank of them?

 

[zonkers]

IF its an isopod, & its just a guess, really, then yes, a cleaner shrimp is just the guy for the job. Only a few kids of isopods are parasitic, but because its a 'bug', a cleaner would eat it. Other considerations here, though, are that some fish will not necessarily let a cleaner do their job. I don't know if firefish will or not. And also remember some fish like six line wrasse or some hawkfish have reputations for thrashing/abusing/killing ornamental shrimp. Research thoroughly-- what fish have you got, what kind of cleaner would you like, what fish might I add in down the road? Cleaners are great preventive measures against ich & parasites in general. I have a Scarlet Skunk cleaner, Amboinensis Lysmata, & he's got some of the most character in my tank

You could try a freshwater dip with a little formalyn, a classic recipe for shaking external parasites. Do read up on that thoroughly first, though. This does, however, still involve catching the fish

Any critter can conceivably take root in your tank & multiply, if conditions are right, but without knowing what it really is, can't be sure. Can you take a picture of it? If you have a digital camera, try to see what kind of macro shot you can make of it.

Please set up an isolation tank! Your main tank & everyone in it will love you for it I had to get stung by ich before I learned that lesson (an ounce of prevention...), & even then I had to get stung again before I used it right (fool me twice, shame on me! ).

Good luck....

Pete

 

[supergiantrobot]

I've wanted a cleaner for a while, so I added one. I also added a cleaner wrasse. I am going to watch these two and see if they help. Otherwise, I will probably go to the freshwater dip.

Yes, as soon as I get some time and money, I will do a QT tank. Probably a 20L, jumpstarted with water and a foam filter aged from the main tank. I have read the QT articles, so I understand your point.

 

[supergiantrobot]

To follow up, the parasites on the firefish are gone. I suspect that the cleaner wrasse did the trick, just because the cleaner shrimp seems to stay in the opposite side of the tank. None of the parasites remain on the body of the firefish.

On another tangent, do the cleaner shrimp require any special feeding? Or are they sufficient on deteritus and scraps?

 

[Anonymous]

They will be fine on scraps... mine eat just about anything.
~wings~