Venetia Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 I have Cirolanid Isopod infesting my 10 gal tank. This tank was started in August. I went to preemium Aquatics and got 14 lbs of fiji and marshall island liverock. I let the tank cycle out. I added my cleanup crew just before christmas and added my first fish a bi-color blenny Jan. 1st. 2 wks later I added a false pecula clown. At the beginning of Feb I noticed both fish had ich, I added a cleaner wrasse that was given to me. Didn't help, by the 8th they were both dead. I waited a month before adding my new bi-color blenny and false pecula clown which was 2 days ago. The first night after the lights went out I noticed these guys (see photo's) leaping out of the substrate. I was able to catch 3 of them. So is there a way to kill these things? I do have the wrasse, peppermint shrimp, baha crabs and snails in the tank along with some great sponges on the live rock. I have a friend who quarentined the other fish for me, but he just got a fish and can't hold these 2 for me right now. I'm assuming the wrasse is safe as he's been in there a month and is really healthy. I do have a 2 1/2 gallon eclispe that I could turn salt. Can it be done with a very small clown and equally small blenny? If so what's the best way? Can I pull water out of my esablished tank to set it up without transfering those bugs? Please help! Link to comment
Chupacabras Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 That would be an awfully small quarantine tank... Petsmart sells ten gallon tanks for ten dollars, that may be a little better since you'll need to keep the main tank fish free for a couple months. Mind, I've never had to deal with those monsters but my understanding is that two months without a host species in the tank and they'll all die off. Sorry I can't be more help on that but I'm sure your first instinct to get your fish out of there was the correct one. Link to comment
Venetia Posted March 16, 2007 Author Share Posted March 16, 2007 I went and got a ten gallon, added sand and I have a protein skimmer I can put on it. So far I have put in 2 gallons of RO water. Do I need to use RO water for the full 10 gal? How long should I let it cycle once it's full before I put the fish in? Should I move the wrasse also? Although I don't think they have gotten the wrasse at all. I've also heard that the wrasse might munch the baby ones. Any help is appreciated. Link to comment
Prozz Posted March 17, 2007 Share Posted March 17, 2007 For your purposes the water in the quarantine tank does not have to be perfect. I would just concentrate on keeping the ammonia down. If there is someone local to you with an established tank you can try to grab a few pieces of live rock to get a jump start on the bacteria. I’m not sure if Isopods have a free swimming larval or juvenile stage so I would be careful using water from the infected tank. Maybe someone else has the answer to that question. Isopods take more like 6 months to completely starve out according to Shimek. He also suggests it can take longer if they are able to scavenge for food but it is a viable option. You can try to manually catch them but as you have probably already seen they are very fast little swimmers. Some people use sacrificial fish and manually pick them off with forceps but that is pretty cruel IMO. The stinky water method detailed here is supposedly the best way to catch them. The added side effect is you can get a little revenge by introducing them to the porcelain gods. If you like irony, turn them to fish food. The bad side is it will dirty up your water a bit but dilution can fix that. There are also reports of them attaching to peoples hands so wear your gloves. Link to comment
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