Disaster!! Help needed ASAP

RcToners · 09/07/2010, 08:10 AM

Well my 150 has been up and running for a couple months now. About 2 weeks ago I noticed something attatched to one of my clowns. It turns out it is cirolanid isopods. Since then I have pulled about 9 from the clowns and caught another 8 or 15 via traps and turkey baster. I have read everything there is to read on these little buggers and it looks like there is nothing I can do to get rid of them besides either keep trying with the traps or empty the system. What should I do? Should I throw the clowns in QT and ditch the sand bed, cook the rock ? Should I keep trying with the traps and stressing the fish everytime I pull them out? Could I put the clowns in QT with the corals pull the rock and bleach the rock?

Palting · 09/07/2010, 08:53 AM

Never heard of them until now. Don't know if you've seen this, but seems like an excellent article: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/bp/index.php

RcToners · 09/07/2010, 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Palting

Never heard of them until now. Don't know if you've seen this, but seems like an excellent article: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/bp/index.php

Yes read that one as well

srusso · 09/07/2010, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RcToners

Yes read that one as well

My first time seeing them also, that really sucks man! Hope the best for you! All of the beginners (me included) are thanking you for posting this though.

RcToners · 09/07/2010, 11:19 AM

Yeah its a bummer.

I can spend the time and effort in trying to catch them VIA trap for the next several months and basically hope there are none after that. I can pretty much nuke the tank with interceptor- this is a huge bummer and I am not sure what would survive after, I can pull the fish and the corals then nuke the rock and tank while everything stays in QT- I am almost about to say screw it and toss bleach in the darn tank after pulling what corals I can and the two fish I have with the assumption that bleach will do the job, ofcourse bleach will kill the rock-sand- anything left in the tank

RcToners · 09/07/2010, 11:24 AM

Here is the soon to be NUKED tank.

nuccadoc · 09/07/2010, 11:26 AM

After reading the above-mentioned article it seems that these nasty guys require fish as hosts, so if you remove the fish from the DT they will starve to death, just takes 2-6 months.

I guess it depends on how patient you are. I would pull the corals and fish, put them in a QT tank, nuke the tank, and start over.

Good Luck!

Scott

cdeboard · 09/07/2010, 11:31 AM

And carefully inspect the fish so you arent bringing any over.. even though they are nocturnal I would still closely inspect each fish.

Lynnmw1208 · 09/07/2010, 12:34 PM

Does lowering salinity help with these guys? I don't think I read anywhere in that article about that. hmm I have a book about parasites that is pretty thorough, I'll take a peek for ya to see if they say anything....

The book says to "use the same treatment as you would for worm parasites which is formalin, a combination of formalin/malachite green at 25mg/L, or Trichlorfon at 100mg/100 l is effective. Says that the medications will kill young copepods when they hatch but they will usually not affect the female since it is embedded (unless you remove the embedded ones from your fish). It also says that several treatments over a period of several weeks are required to eradicate all of the parasites in various stages of the life cycle. Antibiotics should be administered as well, as secondary bacterial infections may ensue where lesions occur (on fish)" (The Marine Fish Health and Feeding Handbook by Bob Goemans and Lance Ichinotsubo)

Good luck, I hope you can get these guys under control!

Slafav · 09/07/2010, 12:42 PM

Look at it this way, you can pull the fish and let them starve in a few months and have your system in tacked and not have to worry about the chemical messing with livestock later, or you can nuke the tank and let it re seed and cycle for a few months. I'd vote the first one personally. Assuming they would actually starve in a few month's time.

RcToners · 09/07/2010, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slafav

Look at it this way, you can pull the fish and let them starve in a few months and have your system in tacked and not have to worry about the chemical messing with livestock later, or you can nuke the tank and let it re seed and cycle for a few months. I'd vote the first one personally. Assuming they would actually starve in a few month's time.

This is the bummer with them, might take 2 to 6 months for them to starve so you figure be on the safe side at 6 months, I can pull everything and nuke the tank recycle and be good to go in 45 days or so. Its an all around bummer either way and I appreciate all the feedback so far.

As for lowering salinity they survive in fresh water for a very long time

I thought about pulling the corals and fish and then just running the tank freshwater for a week, ofcourse this will kill the rock, any shrimp I dont get and so on

Ugh its such a bummer

Lynnmw1208 · 09/07/2010, 01:18 PM

awe that sucks about the freshwater thing. Is there seriously nothing that eats these guys? that is crazy! keep us updated on your progress and what is working and I wish the best of luck to you!

09/07/2010, 08:10 AM	#1
RcToners Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Key Largo, FL Posts: 1,008	Disaster!! Help needed ASAP Well my 150 has been up and running for a couple months now. About 2 weeks ago I noticed something attatched to one of my clowns. It turns out it is cirolanid isopods. Since then I have pulled about 9 from the clowns and caught another 8 or 15 via traps and turkey baster. I have read everything there is to read on these little buggers and it looks like there is nothing I can do to get rid of them besides either keep trying with the traps or empty the system. What should I do? Should I throw the clowns in QT and ditch the sand bed, cook the rock ? Should I keep trying with the traps and stressing the fish everytime I pull them out? Could I put the clowns in QT with the corals pull the rock and bleach the rock? __________________ Current Main Tank Info: 375g display + 120g fuge 2 Tunze 6105's with 7106 multi controller - Reeflo Orca 200 Skimmer with Pro Cup - 4 AI Sol Blue Led Modules Perc Clowns, Mystery Wrasse, Kole Tang, Purple Tang, Diamond Watchman, Cleaner Shrimp, Tiger Pistol Shrimp, Wheelers Shrimp Goby, Bullet Goby, Purple Carpet, Red/Green Open Brains, Candy Canes, Hammer Coral, Green Orange Blue Pink & Yellow Ricordea, Orange Tube Coral, Several Multicolor Zoos, Button Polyps, & Several Multicolor Shrooms Last edited by RcToners; 09/07/2010 at 08:37 AM.

09/07/2010, 08:53 AM	#2
Palting Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Ohio Posts: 6,912	Never heard of them until now. Don't know if you've seen this, but seems like an excellent article: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/bp/index.php __________________ Anything I post is just an opinion. One of many in this hobby. Believe and follow at your own risk of rapid and complete annihilation of all life in your tank :) Current Tank Info: Incept 3/2010, 150 RR, 50g sump, 20g fuge, 150w 15K MH x3, T5 actinics x8, moonlight LED x6, 1400gph return, Koralia 1400 x4, 300 g skimmer, 4 tangs, 2 mandarins, 2 perc, 6 line, 3 cardinals, 2 firefish, SPS, LPS, zoas, palys, shrooms, clam

09/07/2010, 11:19 AM	#5
RcToners Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Key Largo, FL Posts: 1,008	Yeah its a bummer. I can spend the time and effort in trying to catch them VIA trap for the next several months and basically hope there are none after that. I can pretty much nuke the tank with interceptor- this is a huge bummer and I am not sure what would survive after, I can pull the fish and the corals then nuke the rock and tank while everything stays in QT- I am almost about to say screw it and toss bleach in the darn tank after pulling what corals I can and the two fish I have with the assumption that bleach will do the job, ofcourse bleach will kill the rock-sand- anything left in the tank __________________ Current Main Tank Info: 375g display + 120g fuge 2 Tunze 6105's with 7106 multi controller - Reeflo Orca 200 Skimmer with Pro Cup - 4 AI Sol Blue Led Modules Perc Clowns, Mystery Wrasse, Kole Tang, Purple Tang, Diamond Watchman, Cleaner Shrimp, Tiger Pistol Shrimp, Wheelers Shrimp Goby, Bullet Goby, Purple Carpet, Red/Green Open Brains, Candy Canes, Hammer Coral, Green Orange Blue Pink & Yellow Ricordea, Orange Tube Coral, Several Multicolor Zoos, Button Polyps, & Several Multicolor Shrooms

09/07/2010, 11:24 AM	#6
RcToners Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Key Largo, FL Posts: 1,008	Here is the soon to be NUKED tank. __________________ Current Main Tank Info: 375g display + 120g fuge 2 Tunze 6105's with 7106 multi controller - Reeflo Orca 200 Skimmer with Pro Cup - 4 AI Sol Blue Led Modules Perc Clowns, Mystery Wrasse, Kole Tang, Purple Tang, Diamond Watchman, Cleaner Shrimp, Tiger Pistol Shrimp, Wheelers Shrimp Goby, Bullet Goby, Purple Carpet, Red/Green Open Brains, Candy Canes, Hammer Coral, Green Orange Blue Pink & Yellow Ricordea, Orange Tube Coral, Several Multicolor Zoos, Button Polyps, & Several Multicolor Shrooms

09/07/2010, 11:31 AM	#8
cdeboard Registered Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Grayson, KY Posts: 520	And carefully inspect the fish so you arent bringing any over.. even though they are nocturnal I would still closely inspect each fish. __________________ CVRC Current Tank Info: 90g

09/07/2010, 11:26 AM	#7
nuccadoc Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 482	After reading the above-mentioned article it seems that these nasty guys require fish as hosts, so if you remove the fish from the DT they will starve to death, just takes 2-6 months. I guess it depends on how patient you are. I would pull the corals and fish, put them in a QT tank, nuke the tank, and start over. Good Luck! Scott

09/07/2010, 12:34 PM	#9
Lynnmw1208 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Brunswick, Ohio Posts: 3,306	Does lowering salinity help with these guys? I don't think I read anywhere in that article about that. hmm I have a book about parasites that is pretty thorough, I'll take a peek for ya to see if they say anything.... The book says to "use the same treatment as you would for worm parasites which is formalin, a combination of formalin/malachite green at 25mg/L, or Trichlorfon at 100mg/100 l is effective. Says that the medications will kill young copepods when they hatch but they will usually not affect the female since it is embedded (unless you remove the embedded ones from your fish). It also says that several treatments over a period of several weeks are required to eradicate all of the parasites in various stages of the life cycle. Antibiotics should be administered as well, as secondary bacterial infections may ensue where lesions occur (on fish)" (The Marine Fish Health and Feeding Handbook by Bob Goemans and Lance Ichinotsubo) Good luck, I hope you can get these guys under control!

09/07/2010, 12:42 PM	#10
Slafav Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Corpus Christi, Texas Posts: 43	Look at it this way, you can pull the fish and let them starve in a few months and have your system in tacked and not have to worry about the chemical messing with livestock later, or you can nuke the tank and let it re seed and cycle for a few months. I'd vote the first one personally. Assuming they would actually starve in a few month's time.

09/07/2010, 01:18 PM	#12
Lynnmw1208 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Brunswick, Ohio Posts: 3,306	awe that sucks about the freshwater thing. Is there seriously nothing that eats these guys? that is crazy! keep us updated on your progress and what is working and I wish the best of luck to you!