# Need Help Treating Fish Lice



## jeaninel (Aug 24, 2007)

I have a male pearl Gourami which I purchased on Nov. 16th. He is alone in my 10 gallon QT tank. The other day I noticed 3 little brownish black spots on his nose that I hadn't noticed before. They were maybe .2" and looked like raised freckles. Today they are not there. I haven't seen him flashing and he is eating fine. But I did notice once or twice him shaking his head. I am concerned that it may be fish lice. My questions are:

1) Should I try a salt dip? Even though I don't see the 3 spots in question how can I tell if juvenile lice are on him? If I do a salt dip what concentration of salt/water? I have a clean 5 gallon bucket I use only for fish that I could use.

2) What medication should I use to treat the tank? I've read to use products containing organophosphates or Dimlin. But I think Dimlin is banned in California. What products contain organophosphates?

3) Is there anything else this could be?

I am going to go to the LFS that I bought him from to see what advice they give and what they have available to treat with.

Has anybody had experience treating fish lice? I would greatly appreciate any advice. Thanks.


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## Julie's Julies (Jun 11, 2007)

A salt dip is your best bet when treating fish lice. That said, I'm not sure if the disappearing black spots are lice. How is your fish behaving? Have any more spots appeared? Are his fins clamped? Is he eating? If there are no visible spots, fuzz, ulcers, lice, etc. and he is eating, swimming, and healthy, I'd stay away from any meds. Meds are hard on a fish, and if he doesn't need them, there's no sense in putting more stress on him. But definitely keep him in the quarantine tank a while longer to make sure that whatever it was won't come back. Since the spots were black, could he have had a fungus?


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## jeaninel (Aug 24, 2007)

I did 1 treatment with Fluke Tabs and no more spots have appeared. Whatever it was they were small, oval shaped and slightly raised. It was not fungus. There were 3 of them on his nose then they disappeared. He has been eating and acting normal. He seems fine now.


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## Julie's Julies (Jun 11, 2007)

Sounds like you were able to get rid of the problem! Congrats on a healthy fish. That's always good to hear!


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