Isopod!

[fretfreak13]

My tank is currently cycling. I love taking a flashlight and looking into all the crevices. I have found amphipods, copepods, brittle stars, chitons, mysid shrimp, bivalves and just now...a friggin isopod!

 

Because its cycling it is fishless, but once I add a fish will these stupid things be a problem? or will they die out now because they don't have any blood to suck? Will they breed in my tank, or is this probably the only one! I've read they are rare in the home aquarium.

 

I am 100% sure it is an isopod, I got a real good look at it. Are they/it going to be a problem later?

[Matteo]

isopod huh, google pictures and see if it looks like it and I think you should be fine if they will mostly likely end up as fish food!

[metrokat]

There are lots of kinds of isopods, do you have the E.T. kind with big monster eyes? If yes, then yes they will attack fish.

 

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/isopodcontr.htm

[fretfreak13]

According to a pic I found on google that compared a bunch of them, and the site you send me, it seems like its a Cirolanid Isopod. Do they eat anything besides fish? If I leave the tank fish-less, will it (or they) die off like ICH does?

[metrokat]

oh gosh!

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/bp/index.php

[albertthiel]

According to a pic I found on google that compared a bunch of them, and the site you send me, it seems like its a Cirolanid Isopod. Do they eat anything besides fish? If I leave the tank fish-less, will it (or they) die off like ICH does?

link

 

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/bp/index.php

[chrssprngs]

oh gosh!

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/bp/index.php

Interesting read. 386 isopods captured from his fish less tank. Wow.

[metrokat]

Yeah, creepy

[fretfreak13]

I read that already. If that happens in my tank, I will be so upset...

 

This tank was planned to be invert only with perhaps ONE fish. According to his article, they eat the molts of crustaceans, so I cant even put my inverts in there without the fish to "starve" them. They're friggin' eating my pods too, then! If I freshwater dip my rocks, do you think they'll all run out? I'm sure all my other little critters will too, but can I just pick the ones I want back up and put them in my tank again?

[fretfreak13]

Nobody? ANYBODY??!!?? C'mon! I just saw one as big as my friggin thumbnail! I guess I wont get any help unless I post pictures (hah I know how NR works). I'll see if I can find and grab any tonight. My tank is currently at ammonia level 2.0, will this kill them (plzsayitwill!). I had a shrimp in there to kickstart the cycle, and definitely noticed that none of the isopods payed any attention to it which leads me to believe that these are not scavengers at all, just parasitic.

 

While looking at my tank with a flashlight last night I noticed lots of little dudes swimming in front of the light. Didn't look like pods, but they looked like tiny chitons (I didn't know they swam like that?), but with this isopod infestation I cant be sure. Were they...babies? ='(

[Matteo]

well heres what I would do. start fresh really fresh. take your sand out take your rock out and do this. bleach your sand for a day then rinse rinse rinse rinse rinse. take your rock and acid dip it. I did it with mine when I had pest they never showed up again. the acid you use is murtaric acid you find at your pool store. its a 1-10 ration for every gallon of acid 9-10 gallons of water. add water first though! then acid. (basic chemistry;) and let the rock soak for like4 hours dilute and dump everything out and fill the rocks back up with fresh water and let sit for 8 hours. I did this like 4 times and let them sit over night too. then sun dry and you are good to go. after that just buy a small piece of like rock from the store to seed it or borrow it from a friend. it will take a bit longer of a cycle but you will have 100% pest free rock!

[metrokat]

Another article

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-05/rs/index.php

[fretfreak13]

well heres what I would do. start fresh really fresh. take your sand out take your rock out and do this. bleach your sand for a day then rinse rinse rinse rinse rinse. take your rock and acid dip it. I did it with mine when I had pest they never showed up again. the acid you use is murtaric acid you find at your pool store. its a 1-10 ration for every gallon of acid 9-10 gallons of water. add water first though! then acid. (basic chemistry;) and let the rock soak for like4 hours dilute and dump everything out and fill the rocks back up with fresh water and let sit for 8 hours. I did this like 4 times and let them sit over night too. then sun dry and you are good to go. after that just buy a small piece of like rock from the store to seed it or borrow it from a friend. it will take a bit longer of a cycle but you will have 100% pest free rock!

 

I'd llike to avoid doing this at all costs! I paid 11 dollars a pound for my VERY live rock and would like it stya stay that way! I have so many good hitch hikers that I don't want to kill. I'd rather leave the tank fishless for months to starve them, but I can't get a solid answer if that will work, or for how long. =(

[albertthiel]

I'd llike to avoid doing this at all costs! I paid 11 dollars a pound for my VERY live rock and would like it stya stay that way! I have so many good hitch hikers that I don't want to kill. I'd rather leave the tank fishless for months to starve them, but I can't get a solid answer if that will work, or for how long. =(

 

Metrokat sent you a link on how to get rid of those

 

That is what I would suggest you do ... and agreed don't put any fish in the tank especially since you say it is still cycling

[Tbone675]

pics buddy pics.

[fretfreak13]

Metrokat sent you a link on how to get rid of those

 

That is what I would suggest you do ... and agreed don't put any fish in the tank especially since you say it is still cycling

 

I know that about going fishless while cycling. I don't want to burn their gills with ammonia and have all their blood drained by these horrible things. I'm talking about going fishless for the next six months or so. Some articles I've read say they'll starve without a host in two months, and some say longer than six.

 

From everything that I've read, there are three categories of isopods: full scavengers, partial scavengers/partial parasites, and full parasites. I put a piece of shrimp in the tank to kick start my cycle and the isopods did not touch it, leading me to believe that they are completely parasitic. In the article kat linked me to, the author made a trap out and baited it with the smell of shrimp and they went for it, so doesn't that mean that his are at least partial scavengers? Mine didn't go after shrimp at all.

 

I suppose I'll try the trap tonight anyways, but I have to figure out how to make one that will fit in my tank, cause a water bottle wont. The author of the article's tank is much larger. I have since removed the piece in my tank that started my cycle. Maybe I just missed my isopods going after the shrimp and they aren't full parasites? I don't know...all I know is that I'm very upset about all of this.

[fretfreak13]

Well, here goes. I wound up using the vials from my unused red sea test kit and, the tip of a turkey baster thingy, and two rubber bands. The second vial you see is the batch of the "stinky water" I'm making, so I wont really be able to try this until tomorrow night. I'll see if I can catch any on my glass or something to show you tonight, though.

 

 



 



 



 

 

**EDIT: Its 1:45 and I went hunting. Sadly, no isopods to catch this time, but I did find lots of amphipods, another bivalve, a peanut worm (cool!), an enormous bristleworm, and three beautiful strawberry anemones! Just more reasons for me not wanting to nuke the rock and end this problem quickly. I will try my search again in an hour to see if I can come up with any isopods to "show off".

[fretfreak13]

Well, I have attempted to trap these damn things for the past three days and haven't seen a single sign of them. None of them have shown up in my trap, and I haven't seen any while searching through my LR like I used to. All I can hope is that perhaps the high ammonia level killed them, but I find that to be unlikely since I have all kinds of other life.

 

I promise I was not trolling with this, but until I see any more again I'm just going to proceed with this tank as normal. When my cycle is finished, I will buy a CUC. Sometime in October I will add a fish and watch him/her closely to keep an eye out for these parasites. I have copper and a QT ready if I see any funny business.

 

If I notice anything, I'll be sure to post here with pics and to say I told you so. Oh, and cry. Thanks for sticking with me and for the suggestions, guys.

[albertthiel]

Well, I have attempted to trap these damn things for the past three days and haven't seen a single sign of them. None of them have shown up in my trap, and I haven't seen any while searching through my LR like I used to. All I can hope is that perhaps the high ammonia level killed them, but I find that to be unlikely since I have all kinds of other life.

 

I promise I was not trolling with this, but until I see any more again I'm just going to proceed with this tank as normal. When my cycle is finished, I will buy a CUC. Sometime in October I will add a fish and watch him/her closely to keep an eye out for these parasites. I have copper and a QT ready if I see any funny business.

 

If I notice anything, I'll be sure to post here with pics and to say I told you so. Oh, and cry. Thanks for sticking with me and for the suggestions, guys.

 

Thanks and if they are still there I am sure you will see them at some point.

 

Is the food you put in the trap still there, and what did you put in it?

 

Maybe you need to try something else that they are attracted to ...