OK, in my 125 FOWLR I have a Clown Trigger with parasites all over him. I managed to get a few off with a poker but there is still four or five still on him. I cought one of the parasites after I knocked it off with a turkey baster. It's kind of redish and about the size of a small grain of rice and attaches by a thread of some sort. So it dangles around when the fish is swimming. Any ideas on what this is and the best way to tackle this problem? Also, how could this have entered the tank? I only feed frozen food. I noticed the same parasite a few months ago but it was only one and I managed to knock it off so at the time I just thought it was a piece of fuz or something.
I have a 20 gal I can hospitalize him in but what about the tank.
This has not been a good month as I already lost two fish mysteriously. I might know who the culperate was but thats for another thread.

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Art

My Aquarium

Art,
How about a freshwater dip (with methlyene blue possibly) to rid the fish of the parasites.As to rid the tank first we would have to identify them.Fenners web page has some good info on parasites and disease www.wetwebmedia.com Maybe you could get an ID there.

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In this hobby patience is not a virtue,,,,,its mandatory.
Jim's Marine Links

Thanks Jim for the great link. (bookmarked) Actually I just got back from the LFS with a cleaner wrase. Acclamated him and he is now cleaning the heck out of the Clown Trigger. I prefer to go natural with anything involving my tanks so hopfully this will work. After reading some of the comments by Fenner, I will also lower the SG to 1.018 temporarly for a few weeks. Apparently it's some kind of crustcian<sp> parasite. It definatly has legs and antenna after looking at it under a magnifing glass. Almost looks like head lice. Well if my Moray doesn't eat the cleaner wrasse, hopefully he will keep the parasites off the fish long enough for the population to die without a host.

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Art

My Aquarium

Best case scenerio is that the cleaner wrasse will accept aquarium food after he's done his parasite duty. Many will starve once their host fish are parasite free. You should start now trying to get him to eat so he'll be able to keep the tank disease free for a long time. Good luck.

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Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

That is an excellent site. If you can't figure out what parasite it is and what to do, you can e-mail Bob Fenner personally. I've done this on a couple of occasions, and he always answers back promptly.[img]/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img]

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Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

Bughead, what is Bob Fenner's e-mail address. My clown trigger also has a parasite attached to top fin. It runs down his top fin and then has like a small bubble on the top. It is flesh/brown colored.

Hi fishrule,

Bob Fenner's email address is FennerRobert@hotmail.com. I didn't expect him to answer my questions when I emailed him but he always does. Thanks Bob!

You are right, thanks. I had one for over three years at my old house with a Lion, Grouper, & puffer. He ate all the puffers leftovers and flake.

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Art

My Aquarium

Well, this morning the Trigger is clean and free of any visible parasites. Hopfully none were internal. As far as the cleaner wrasse goes, he was cleaning the eel the morning. So, so far so good.

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Art

My Aquarium

Art,
Any idea what kind of parasites they were?

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In this hobby patience is not a virtue,,,,,its mandatory.
Jim's Marine Links

Art,
Best of luck with your "bugs".Keep us informed.

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In this hobby patience is not a virtue,,,,,its mandatory.
Jim's Marine Links

Unfortunatly no. I have not seen a conclusive pic of the parasites. I'm sure it was a type of crustacean parasite though as they had at least three pairs of legs, antenna, and what appeared to be pinchers. (which is how they held on to the fish) Also they were free swimming or at least free squiggling and could crawl. Almost looked like tiny lice bugs or something. Most pics of parasites are of the worm variety.

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Art

My Aquarium

Sounds like the parasitic crustacean Livoneca sp.--fish louse. Also a copepode infection known as Lernaeascus sp. The infections are common in freshly imported marine fish, especially those from south East Asia. (Diseases in Marine aquarium Fish by Gerald Cassleer).

Sorry I don't have a picture, but you might find more info on the internet.

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Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

off to the archives,,,,

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In this hobby patience is not a virtue,,,,,its mandatory.
Jim's Marine Links