can anyone in nelson help me? unknown parasite.

[beckyboo]

just wondering if there was anyone in nelson that has a bit of knowledge in fish diseases and parasites?

we have had for awhile some sort of parasite in one of our tanks that seems to be killing off all our fish. it is visible to the naked eye but not big enough to take a photo of. would much appreciate if someone was able to maybe come and view and help us with our investigations.

TIA

[alanmin4304]

What are the signs that you see?

[beckyboo]

i havnt been able to find any info on what this is. they are a very small white thing and they are living on the top of the water. they jump around alot. almost like a flea. the top region fish are most affected by them. im guessing that they latch onto the fish and slowly burrow under the scales and the fish end up with raw holes all over thier bodies. and then the fish dies

[phoenix44]

google planaria in the aquarium and tell me that's them.

planaria is usually caused by overfeeding, and are totally harmless to fish. I suspect the cause of death is unrelated.

[alanmin4304]

I also think they are unrelated to the deaths but are mites or thrips.

[beckyboo]

Collembola or springtails is the closest thing that i have found to these little critter.

[livingart]

they maybe a result of water quality or decaying matter

just a thought

[Zev]

What sort of fish do you have beckyboo?

[beckyboo]

um in the tank that has these little critters there is danios, tetras, angels, a couple of gouramis, swordtails, platies, bn, horsefaced loaches, khulie loaches, corys, 2 kribs and 1 lonely female eletric yellow. the only fish we have had temper problems with are the angels as we have a breeding pair and they can get a little nasty when laying but i seriously dont think they are the ones to cause these wounds on the fish that keep dying.

[Aquila]

Could it be fish lice? I thought that all fish lice where quite big though...

http://www.angelfire.com/blues/fish_pro ... HLICE.html

[beckyboo]

thanks for that Aquila. that looks like the exact thing that is attacking my fish. im guessing they came in on some cobalt blue gouramis as they were they frirst fish to die and we hadnt had them for very long. also i have seen others have had issues with the cobalt blues. what would you recommend treating with?? i dont have alot of time to sit there and pick them off with tweezers due to having a young child.

[Zev]

http://www.tdsfb.org/argulus.htm

I do not think these would be able to hop around on the surface as you describe, I have the little yellow jumpy things in my tanks and they do not appear to harm the fish.

I asked what fish you had as I was suspecting something like lateral line erosion, which usually affects cichlids.

[beckyboo]

we do have the little jumpy things but after working out they dont harm the fish we had to find out what exactly it was that was killing the fish.

[Aquila]

I am not sure whether the little things jumping at the surface are even related to your parasite problem. Fish lice and/or copepods are just the first thing that came into my mind when you mentioned little critters burrowing under the fish's skin. Maybe even anchor worms if they are the right shape. It would help if you had access to a microscope to compare the 2 or if you succeeded to grab a photo of an infected fish.

Do the fish scrape against objects at all?

Jennifer would probably be the best person to ask about treatment, but I will suggest saltwater baths, malachite green or PP.

[Jennifer]

I can't really comment too much on treatment since we haven't really narrowed down what this is. If you are certain they are clinging to the fish then they could be parasitic although this is not always true! There are free living organisms that when hungry enough will feast on anything they can find.

Anyway, if they are clinging to the fish, you can try adding salt to the tank (1g/L) and that might solve all your problems. Alternatively, you can use a fish specific dip. My preferred ectoparasite dip is Seachem ParaGuard (http://www.seachem.com/Products/product ... Guard.html).

You can alternatively increase the dosage of salt (up to 15g/2L) for 2-5 minute baths and that can dislodge just about anything. Take care, salt can stress fish so be ready to rescue it if it shows any sign of stress. If these don't work, drugs can be used, but let's take it one step at a time. I would increase the water changes in any case.