ssublime1 Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 I bought a firefish about 2 weeks ago not noticing it had a little friend attached to it's side behind the right pectoral fin. It looks like 2 worms in a corkscrew shape coming out of it. I did a little research and learned it was probably a female copepod with eggs. 3 or 4 days ago I caught the fish and tweezed the two strands off. Well this morning I noticed a surprise, there are 2 more strands coming out of it! Does anyone know how to get rid of this parasite? I noticed the pod when the fish was still in the bag so I gave a it a FW dip. Obviously that did a whole lot of nothing so any suggestions?? Link to comment
Regal Tang Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 if its a paracitic isopod, or just an isopod....just put it in a bowl with low salinity for like 1 minute...the fellows will just fall off! good luck! btw there are some forums i just read yesterday...so do a forum seach and you will find more info! -Brian Link to comment
Eric Lundgren Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 Isn't this just the type of thing a cleaner shrimp would like to pick off? Eric Link to comment
Six Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 why buy a $30 cleaner shrimp for a treatment that costs nothing to do? Link to comment
ssublime1 Posted January 9, 2006 Author Share Posted January 9, 2006 Thank you for the replies. I have already tried the F/W bath before he went into the tank. I left the fish in until he started to lose equilibrium and then took him out but it did not work. I also have a cleaner shrimp but he hasn't helped either. I'm thinking about returning the fish for another one. Link to comment
J86 Posted January 11, 2006 Share Posted January 11, 2006 the FW bath didn't wrk..... man it sure stumps me, because it wrks like 98% of the time... Link to comment
Six Posted January 11, 2006 Share Posted January 11, 2006 how long did you dip the fish? they lose equilibrium quickly and that isnt the best judge. usually they will tolerate a 5 min dip. i would at least clock 3 minutes. no skimping. or, if it's a large isopod, use tweezers and wet hands to hold the fish. Link to comment
ssublime1 Posted January 11, 2006 Author Share Posted January 11, 2006 I timed the bath at around 4 minutes. I'll try another one tonight if I can catch the fish. I already tried using tweezers to get it off, it looks like it's burrowed a bit into the skin right behind the pectoral fin. Is there any kind of topical solution I could try? Link to comment
Six Posted January 11, 2006 Share Posted January 11, 2006 a fw dip is about as topical as you can go. lol. try serching www.wetwebmedia.com or reefkeeping magazine at www.reefkeeping.com and look into Ron's articles. those may have some solutions. regardless, tell us what has worked when you succeed! GL Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.