copepods or parasites

[dramsfan]

I know I asked a bunch of questions and got a bunch of answers. My fish guy swears that I still have parasites. Reguardless of all the treatments. "They are tuff buggers to get rid of". He told me today. If only I knew 4 weeks ago. Now his answer is bleach. "No way they will survive this! In 72 hours they will be gone. Do a 25% water change and declorinate and fish can go right in". Ok AA, lets hear what you have to say. Buy the way I was asked for a clearer description of what these little devils looked like. Well, take a black sheet of paper. Put a tiny little pin hole in it. Do this 50 to 100 times. Look at it against the light. That is what these pesky creatures look like.

HELP!!!

 

[2revup]

pictures would be a great help here but i would say you have a health tank copods id say, you can find out by adding a chromie or something that eats copods, i suggest a cromie because they are hardy amd will most likely withstand any parisites.
as soon as i put my 3 chromies in i had no moer copods in my main

 

[dskidmore]

Alternative:
If there are no fish in the tank, just leave it fishless for two months, but add some sort of flake food and keep up regular maintenance. Pods will thive in this enviroment, but true parasites will die off with no host to finish thier life cycle in.

You might start a sterile QT at the same time. If new fish from the store get parasites in the QT, then it's the store that's the problem, not your tank.

Don't let anyone talk you into poisoning your tank. You'll have to start your nitrogen cycle all over again, so if you put fish right in like he suggests, they'll possibly die of ammonia poisoning.

 

[FishFrik]

Have your fish guy ever tell you what exactly these "parasites" are? How about he give us the name and what harm do they cause first before you do anything else to your tank

 

[dramsfan]

Have your fish guy ever tell you what exactly these "parasites" are? How about he give us the name and what harm do they cause first before you do anything else to your tank

No he has not. To be honest I have not asked him cuz I am new and a dumb ass. But, he will not sell me any fish. Should that tell me something?????? I dont know. I am ready to hang myself from my tank. I have serious money invested and no fish. aaaarrrrgggghhhhhh!!!!!!!

 

[2revup]

as i said there is a quick way of tell by a hardy fish that will eat the copepods... if they dont eat them then maybe you do have a parisite, but from what you are saying really dont think you do parsites are microsopic...
i think you LFS is also stupid, maybe try another.

 

[dskidmore]

Find a new fish store.

Set up a QT. You can either give it a sterile start and prove that your tank isn't the problem, or speed cycle it with bioballs from your big tank. With a sterile start, look into the fishless cycle.

Buy just a couple fish, put them in the QT. If they have any health problems, post a note in the unhealthy fish forum and we'll help diagnose the actual problem.

In the meantime, either drop a few raw shrimp in the tank and watch them rot, or add a bit of fish food every day. You don't want the benificial bacteria you've been growing to starve.

After 6-8 weeks of QT time, and the display tank empty, put the fish in the display. If the fish didn't show any parasite symptoms in QT period, they won't be introducing any to the display tank. If the display tank didn't have any fish in it, any parasites will have died off. You will then have a fresh start with no parasites.

Put any new fish you get in the QT for 6-8 weeks (counter resets if you add more fish to QT) to prove they are parasite free before putting them in the display.

It's not very fun to watch an empty tank or rotting shrimp for a couple months, but it's a whole lot better than watching fish die!

 

[dramsfan]

Find a new fish store.

Set up a QT. You can either give it a sterile start and prove that your tank isn't the problem, or speed cycle it with bioballs from your big tank. With a sterile start, look into the fishless cycle.

Buy just a couple fish, put them in the QT. If they have any health problems, post a note in the unhealthy fish forum and we'll help diagnose the actual problem.

In the meantime, either drop a few raw shrimp in the tank and watch them rot, or add a bit of fish food every day. You don't want the benificial bacteria you've been growing to starve.

After 6-8 weeks of QT time, and the display tank empty, put the fish in the display. If the fish didn't show any parasite symptoms in QT period, they won't be introducing any to the display tank. If the display tank didn't have any fish in it, any parasites will have died off. You will then have a fresh start with no parasites.

Put any new fish you get in the QT for 6-8 weeks (counter resets if you add more fish to QT) to prove they are parasite free before putting them in the display.

It's not very fun to watch an empty tank or rotting shrimp for a couple months, but it's a whole lot better than watching fish die!

You will love this. My fish guy told me the reason I got the parasites was from over feeding. So by his reasoning, putting food in an uninhabited tank would cause parasites. Please, if you think this is wrong reaspond. I am telling you this. He came to my house,inspected my tank. Came to the conclusion I had parasites, and prescribed the solution. Unfortunatly it did not work. If he was in it solely for the money he would sell me fish. However he will not. Believe me, I want to not believe this guy, but it is hard not too. I know lots of people who have purchased fish from this man and have had no problems. What am I supposd to do?????????? I have several thousand dollars invested in this tank and no fish.



NUFF SAID............... blubbering in Beaumont

 

[FishFrik]

He came to my house,inspected my tank. Came to the conclusion I had parasites, and prescribed the solution. Unfortunatly it did not work. If he was in it solely for the money he would sell me fish. However he will not. Believe me, I want to not believe this guy, but it is hard not too.

IMO, he's kind of trying to help but he doesn't really know what he is doing. Just like a LFS that i went to. He wouldn't sell me any fish unless I cycle my tank for 3 months. I pretty much trusted him. Now, everytime i tell him i have problem with my tank like ick, low PH, cyano, etc. he would point me to some kind of medications that cost $20+ for a small bottle (they either don't work or have side effects)... I learned my lesson: "Don't trust LFS even if you think they are not in for the money". They have to earn money to feed their families... so... yes they are in for the money

 

[Raker333]

you got pods relax and keep tank empty except regular feeding and maint like Dskidmore said.

Find a new LFS for sure !!!

 

[dskidmore]

A) He was selling you medicine instead of fish, right?
B) The only way food would introduce parasites is if you're feeding live food. Freeze dried, flake, etc can not carry live parasites. Overfeeding will increase your pod population, but they are not bad for the tank in and of themselves. (Overfeeding can increase your ammonia levels, which can be bad for the tank.) Parasites will die without a host. They infect the host because they need the host to complete thier life cycle. None of the parasites known to the aquarium industry will live without a host for 8 weeks.

What symptoms did your fish have? I'd suspect they died of ammonia poisoning, not parasites. Even if it was parasites, there's a very high likelyhood that they came from the store with those parasites.

 

[ccCapt]

Bleach???? You're kidding I hope. Bleach will kill EVERYTHING in your tank.

If you can see it, chances are it is not a parasite unless it is actually attached to the fish.

 

[melosu58]

I agree that they are not parasites. You would not see them unless they were attached to the fish. I think that they are pods. DO NOT BLEACH.