Found whats killing my fish ~ i think (Cirolanid Isopod)

tinman

tinman

Well-known member
ok so as most of you know .. i lost all fish in my tank (2 clowns and a royal gramma) went fishless for 5 weeks ..

after that i got three clowns (one jumped) and one died the same mysterious way like the fish before .. everything looks fine hte day before they eat fine and bam they are dead next morning ..


so the last clown in my tank is doing fine yesterday woke up this morning and walked to my tank (firs thing i do evert morning is check on my tank)

Found this.. what the heck is it and HOW DO I MAKE SURE THERE ARENT MORE ....

it looked more like an over sized pod ..

look near the eyes of the clown..

[video=youtube;hqck1numdd8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqck1numdd8&feature=youtu.be[/video]



i have to catch the fish and use tweezers to pull it out (its scary in the morning but i know fish would be dead if i leave it like that, hope i didnt stress out the fish too much)

this is the video of the bug swimming in the Tupperware container

[video=youtube;DchU7JFz6q4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DchU7JFz6q4&feature=youtu.be[/video]

pics of the bug

View attachment 15293

View attachment 15294

no idea what to do :(
 
cirolanids=sorry man. That bayer stuff might work, but it's going to be rough on any arthropod in your tank the same way.
 
Herbie said:
cirolanids=sorry man. That bayer stuff might work, but it's going to be rough on any arthropod in your tank the same way.
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Yup thats the name of it (Cirolanid Isopod), I couldn't wrap my head around it I had them way back in the day when I first started reefing... I would try and dip you're coral in some Revive or Coral RX to try and get rid of them if you are able to dip anything.
 
Please keep this post alive when discussing how you treat and what you see. These seem to be nasty buggers and this thread may be helpful going forward.
 
Tank2379 said:
Yup thats the name of it (Cirolanid Isopod), I couldn't wrap my head around it I had them way back in the day when I first started reefing... I would try and dip you're coral in some Revive or Coral RX to try and get rid of them if you are able to dip anything.
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yea i dropped a drop of revive after i isolated it and it seems like it killed it

assuming i never lost any coral polyp wise i think they dont go after corals ..

im gonna get dry rock and cycle it and then swap all rock and sand .. should take care of them .. but fecking thing takes too long :(
 
Here's a reprint:

Now that I have your attention I would like to introduce you to the absolute worst animal that could ever make its way into your Reef Aquarium. There are over a hundred different species of Cirolanids and almost half are parasitic.

A closely related group of Isopods called Aegids appear nearly identical but are considered generally harmless. For my personal purposes I group them together since I can't tell them apart. Just keep in mind that there is another large group of Isopods to consider.

As I stated, many of the Cirolanids are harmless detrivore/scavengers but many are bloodsucking parasites. How do we tell them apart? Seeing a small roly-poly bug hanging off a fish is probably the best indication that you're in trouble. The parasitic type normally hides in the sand or a hole in the rock waiting for nightfall and a victim to swim by. They swim blindingly fast and have no trouble overtaking a fish and latching on with the two front claws. Once attached they will quickly start sucking blood or simply eating the flesh. They will eventually kill the fish.

These bugs range in size from 1mm to reports of 3 feet!! There have been a few reports of them attacking and injuring divers and MANY reports of aquarists being bitten. One specific type will attack sharks by burrowing into the body and swimming to the heart where they feast for a few weeks until the shark dies.

The reason I raise the panic bar for these critters is that there's really no cure. They reproduce rapidly in a reef tank with so many places to hide and nothing reef safe to eat them. Their physical speed makes them very difficult to catch. A few types can only live on fish blood and a tank deviod of fish will kill them off after 4 - 6 months. However, many can survive as scavengers between fish meals.

http://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/64377/bug-of-the-week-cirolanid-isopods
 
Ugh, I was thinking the same. Put everything in a tub, clean the tank and start over with dry/cooked rock and sand. Treat corals before transferring them back. That would take a lot of time though. You'd be 100% pest free however.

Next time, no live rock/sand for me. All 100% dry. I'll quarantine and treat everything and selectively add the pods/stars/snails/slugs/coraline I want.

And then I'll get lazy and probably screw that up after a frag swap... but initially... pest free.
 
They feed on food we give tank and also on detritus ..

this explains why they are still there even after going fishless for 5 weeks

looks like pulling out all rock and sand and replacing new while i dip all corals is my only option :( psk psk psk
 
caragol said:
Sorry to hear it man. Better to fix it now than to fight it forever or pass it on to others.
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Yup ill be replacing all rock probably this weekend and then setup a qt for the clown and firefish this evening ..


anyone close to chicago downtown has some liverock that i can buy ? all i need is a piece of it may be for QT
 
tinman said:
Yup ill be replacing all rock probably this weekend and then setup a qt for the clown and firefish this evening ..


anyone close to chicago downtown has some liverock that i can buy ? all i need is a piece of it may be for QT
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I suggest buying a nice peice of dead marco rock from New Fish. No hitchhikers and you can wash teh rock in your sink and put right in your tank. No need to cure. Drop in some Dr. Tims to get that cycle going and you're in business the next day.
 
KeishaKornbread said:
I suggest buying a nice peice of dead marco rock from New Fish. No hitchhikers and you can wash teh rock in your sink and put right in your tank. No need to cure. Drop in some Dr. Tims to get that cycle going and you're in business the next day.
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This is for the qt tank walt .. so yea may be ill grab some from new fish ..

beardie has some nice cured live rock he is gonna hook me up with ..

sweet of you beard and thanks :)
 
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