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View Full Version : External parasite????


JoeDiscus85
Fri Feb 08, 2008, 01:16 AM
Alright heres my situation this time.. You all were so extremely helpfull last time,In fact my discus is doing 100% better im stoked about that. I have these little free swimming creatures, They are very small about the size of the tip of a ball point pen. They are light brown,They dont always seem to be present on the fish just once in a while... When i clean my rocks there are alot of these creatures any clues?? Thanks for any help


Joe
Merrilyn
Sun Feb 10, 2008, 08:42 AM
Any chance of a photo Joe?

Have you been feeding live daphnia to your fish lately ?

Can't think of anything else it might be.
JoeDiscus85
Sun Feb 10, 2008, 12:37 PM
There would be no way to get a picture they are soooo tiny.. Ive fed freed dried daphnia in the past... I think they might be cestodes? Its the weirdest thing because they are free swimming, I wonder if they came in a batch of some plants i bought.... I think they are some sort of tiny blood sucker because when they latch on the discus will try to shake them off,He does pretty well at it. Any thought anyone??

Joe
fishgeek
Sun Feb 10, 2008, 02:08 PM
sounds more like an aqautic inveterbrate than a cestode
smaller invert's like copepodshttp://images.google.com/images?tab=si&sa=N&hl=en&lr=&client=safari&q=copepods&btnG=Search maybe?
tzwms
Sun Feb 10, 2008, 07:38 PM
Do your little guys look like the copepod on the right top on the second page of the Google search? I have something that looks similar to these in a few of my tanks. Seem harmless enough.
If you want to get rid of them, get yourself some Dwarf Botia, Yasuhikotakia sidthimunki; they are small interesting fish that also seem to do a pretty good job of keeping the snail population under control.

HTH
:)
ILLUSN
Sun Feb 10, 2008, 10:27 PM
Those little buggers are excelent food for fry at around the 1 week mark, i get them every now and then, never last long in the fry tank :)
JoeDiscus85
Tue Feb 12, 2008, 11:24 AM
I dont think thats them.... Maybe it is. My magnified but they had one copepod the size of rice,whatever i have is no where near that big, Very small and free swimming. I will try to find a dwarf botia maybe worth the try huh? Thanks again guys


Joe
JoeDiscus85
Sat Apr 05, 2008, 10:29 AM
Just a little update, I bought 2 cory cats and 1 java loach, Havent seen one of these free swimming little guys since then. Just wanted to thank you guys for the info that got me in the right direction.


Joe
Hollowman
Sat Apr 05, 2008, 12:53 PM
Joe,

Maybe a PP treatment might have been wise, just because you cannot see them anymore, does not mean that they are not lurking/increasing where you cannot see them.

PP (potassium permanganate) will rid the tank of any nasty organisms, external parasites or organic compounds. Easy to use, cheap, effective. I always have a stock solution on hand just in case.

hth

Hollowman