Little parasites on my fish

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SGT Henry

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jan 11, 2006
Messages
37
Location
Puerto Rico
My fish have little transparent parasites hanging from them...I have a harlequin bass that has like 6 of these things...they are pretty tiny, they look like the tags they put on marlins when they "catch and release" them...I was wondering what I can do about these things...is there any shrimp or goby that will eat these from the fish or something like that....I have treated the fish with Quick Cure in a seperate container for a couple of days but no luck...

thx...
 
This is a shot in the dark but I know skunk cleaner fish "clean" fish. He might be able to help. Again that is just a huge guess on my part.
 
Hopefully someone else will chime in after me on this one -----

I've never done it, but a freshwater dip can cause parasites to swell and then drop off. The parasites cannot regulate their osmotic pressure as well as fish can.

Best of luck,

JG
 
You don't list any info about your setup. Tank size, substrate, filtration, water parameters, length of time set up, livestock, etc,

For now I would Quarantine the fish.

Are any other fish showing signs?

You may want to start a Hyposalinity treatment.

A photo showing the spots may help with identification if you can get a clear picture. Are these spots all over the fish or just around the gills, or a specific area?
 
Hyposalinity (sometimes as low .007 - .015) is a good route but you have to adjust your fish slowly. You can also use cleaner shimp (skunk shrimp) but it may take them time to adjust to the tank and surroundings before they 'get to work' on your fish. I put 2 of them in my tank to help with the Velvet problem I had and before QTing my fish I tried that. It took the shrimp about 3 days to adjust and then they setup shop. My 4 tangs were lined up like people waiting for cheap gas as the shrimp jumped on each one and did it's bes tto clean them.
 
Do not hypo unless you know they have ich. Otherwise you are just wasting your time and not curing the problem.
 
Do not hypo unless you know they have ich. Otherwise you are just wasting your time and not curing the problem.
I'll agree with that to a point, but please get them in QT and get an identification of the parasite. Hypo will work for most parasites, not just Ich

There are references on the web you can find with a google search that may help in that regard.

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

http://www.seasky.org/aquarium/aquarium_diseases.html

http://www.fishdoc.co.uk/disease/parasites.htm

and many more.
 
If you get shrimp be sure to have the LR setup for them to setup shop. Mine didn't do a whole lot cause they couldn't get very high. Once I stacked LR a tad different (Higher) in one area of the tank they went nuts like a car wash.
 
Ok, i;ve never done hyposalinity either but hyposalinity doesn't sound like it would do a lot to parasites. The sG is still relatively high compared to pure freshwater and stuff like hermits .Jeez, some fish like dwarf seahorses have regular changes when levels go down to that (around.007) a couple times a day.

If you ask me I would try identifying exactly what it is like brenden said before doing a real big treatment. Most parasites can be treated with a natural method but there are some nasty parasites out there that are a little more complicated to get rid of.

I would just put them in quarantine for a while until you figure out how to treat them so it won't spread.
 
Post a pic so we can help identify. Like I said earlier do not treat until you know what you are treating. Hypo will not stop any parasite other than ich.
 
OK..the stinking little things come off the fish sometimes and then they go back on....like one day they may have them hanging from them and then they are gone. Right know the harlequin bass dosent have any on him and anyways you wouldnt be able to see them very well on a photo.
 
I always do a fresh water dip for 5 minutes making sure ph and temp are the same and then treat in a hospital tank.
 
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