# Fish lice



## Teishokue

I was wondering, would fish lice be possible to attach to any type of fish/inverts? dealing with fish lice atm and possible brooklynella or marine itch... >.> --- currently no fish has died, just havent had time to clean/qt them since finals/exams are running. im assuming / seen the ocellaris infected since 1.5 months.... guess really hardy ocellaris....


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## bettababy

Can you post any clear photos of the infected fish? Can you list the tank stats, including what animals are in the tank and how big each of them is? What inverts are in the tank? What have you attempted thus far for treatment?


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## Teishokue

well the tank stats are 0/0/20-40. dont have an RO. uses tap. 2lbs of live rock 20 gal tank. temp 78. gravel substrate. 
inhabitants are 2 ocellaris, 2 black clown goby, 2 peppermint shrimps, 5 guppies, (yes guppies), 10 bumblebee gobies.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Teishokue

saline 1.026, pH 8.3, 4 red leg hermits and scattered (uncountable) mts
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Teishokue




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## bettababy

Can you tell me what your calcium level is, along with carbonate hardness (Kh)? How long have you had the driftwood in there? Is that real wood? How did you diagnose brooklynella? 

A few things I can offer you at this stage... chances of your clowns having brooklynella is highly unlikely based on what I saw in the video. They appear to be acting like normal clowns, not showing any signs of illness or difficulty in swimming, etc. I saw no signs of that whatsoever. Fish lice? Again, can you post some clear close ups of what it is you think is fish lice? I couldn't see any evidence of that in the video either.

As for your environment and tank overall... I see a grossly overstocked tank with very little in way of biological filtration.... not enough live rock, no live sand or arragonite sand substrate, etc. Is there a skimmer running on this tank? 

Nitrate at 40 in a saltwater tank is getting quite high, can you list your water change schedule (how much and how often)? 

You have a bit of a mess and I would like to help you clean it up and organize it so the fish have a healthy, proper environment. Something you may be mistaking for disease/illness may simply be the results of the improper environment they are living in... which can be fixed.

One warning... do not dump any meds into that tank. To do so would risk killing every animal in there.


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## Teishokue

I prefer no meds what so ever. It has been months since i have seen brooklynell/or marine itch on the fish. But I am sure it was Marine itch since the mucous wasnt affected much. I had performed a freshwater bath for those who were affected by the marine itch. it seemed to help alot as you can see in the video. all fish are eating well and respond very interestingly to my tube brush. the drift wood in which i have used has been in an aquarium for about 3 years. it used to leech out tannins but not anymore or even in a minute ammount since i have not noticed any changes in pH. My tap comes out to be .5 ammonia which sucks here and an 8 as pH. im not sure what my calcium levels are since im not too much into the reef/marine fish. I do not have a sump, refugum, skimmer or any other means of filtration. im not sure how the tank is being supported as there is no ammonia, no nitrites and some nitrates. the bumblebee gobies seems to acclimate good in the tank as they rush for food. likewise the clowns and clown gobies. even the peppermints rush out towards a specific area when they are fed. I currently feed new spectrum pellets to the ocellaris, a mixture of cyclopeeze, crushed algae wafers, crushed omnivore (hikari) pellets, crushed new spectrum pellets (forumla 1), finely chopped blackworms, finely chopped bloodworms, dried blood worms and 6 cc of vitamin b12 complex and a drop of garlic juice and mix. and then the gobies only eat live blackworms and frozen bloodworms. the clown gobies tend to favor the live blackworms and nibble only on my mix. i have not checked the kh since the water comming out of the tap is pretty bad.

i also believe that my clowns are normal. i have not seen the fish lice for a while. but i am sure they are fish lice. my asteria starfishes have perished and there are brown algae growing on the base dead rock. 

my fish in this tank have been living here since jan. 17 2011 (brackish). and the tank has setup durin jan 4. (converted to salt) ocelaris added in feb 25. and then the rest.


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## Teishokue

i am kind of amazed how the ammonia/nitrite levels are 0. I currently use the API masterkit. (freshwater). since it wasnt a saltwater kit it did not have the calcium, copper etc... test. but the api kit are able to be used in fresh and saltwater. im aware im overstocked.


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## bettababy

API makes 2 different sets of water test kits... one for freshwater and one for saltwater. They are not the same chemicals/chemical mixtures and if you use the freshwater kit as directed for saltwater you will not come up with accurate results as if you used the saltwater kit following directions for saltwater. 

Since you are keeping saltwater conditions those tests should be redone using saltwater test kits. You may see quite a difference in readings.

I hate to say it, but if this tanks continues the way it is, its headed for trouble. With already being overstocked you have no room for growth of these animals. I saw 2 clownfish in the tank, which means one of them is going to be female and get large... ocellaris clown females can reach 6 inches when mature and they grow fast.

You mention you're not much into marine fish/animals therefore don't know your calcium levels... yet 1/2 of the population in your tank is marine animals. Not knowing your calcium means you are putting those animals at great risk for a long list of problems, not to mention the overall environment in the tank. Calcium is vital to their organ function and growth. 

As mentioned, I am happy to help you sort this all out but you first have to be willing to do right by the animals... otherwise I am just wasting my time. First and most important is getting accurate test results for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, and calcium using saltwater test kits.


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## Teishokue

if you havent read the api manual it says they are able to use for both salt and fresh. just the master kit for freshwater does not have the calcium copper test. please read your manuals. as they are instructions and have warnings. 

as for the ocellaris you should look up the fish lore's profile 

Clownfish, Anemone Fish - Amphiprion ocellaris

i believe you are talking about the Amphiprion Percula species.

if you are talking about calcium deficiency i am quite aware that my fish does not of calcium deficiency. if you are talking about nutrition, u are going against the wrong person. im aware that you are trying to do what is best for the fish. and if you havent read the question i proposed . then you are wasting your time -.-


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## bettababy

Teishokue said:


> if you havent read the api manual it says they are able to use for both salt and fresh. just the master kit for freshwater does not have the calcium copper test. please read your manuals. as they are instructions and have warnings.
> *I am looking at the instructions right now and the only one it says is appropriate for salt and freshwater is the nitrite test. There is no mention for the pH, but ammonia and nitrate both state it is "appropriate for a freshwater aquarium to which salt has been added." You are not keeping a freshwater aquarium where salt has been added, you have a saltwater aquarium. There is a huge difference.*
> 
> as for the ocellaris you should look up the fish lore's profile
> *What am I looking for? I am not understanding what you mean by this?? If you're referring to the size I quoted for the female, I am very familiar with the sizes of clownfish. I have been keeping clown fish for over 15 yrs and my husband has kept them longer than that. I have kept every species available to the retail market.*
> 
> Clownfish, Anemone Fish - Amphiprion ocellaris
> 
> i believe you are talking about the Amphiprion Percula species.
> 
> if you are talking about calcium deficiency i am quite aware that my fish does not of calcium deficiency. if you are talking about nutrition, u are going against the wrong person. im aware that you are trying to do what is best for the fish. and if you havent read the question i proposed . then you are wasting your time -.-
> *Calcium levels can wreak havoc on the animals if too high or too low. I'm wondering how you know your calcium is in a healthy range if you have not tested it? Not all of the problems high or low calcium can cause are immediately obvious or visible to us... but that doesn't mean the problem isn't there and if left unattended won't cause irreversible harm.*


Yes, I am trying to do what is right for the animals, is there something else I should be doing? I am one of many people who don't like to see animals mistreated or suffering. 

I did read your question, and I was attempting to help. What you originally posted didn't fit with what I saw in the video, so I asked questions. The only question I have not completely answered thus far is whether fish lice can attach to any type of fish, and the answer is yes. Without medications the only way to be rid of them is to starve them of a host long enough for all eggs to hatch and for the young lice to starve before they can reproduce. Once they are large enough to be visible they can be carefully plucked off the fish, but it can be difficult to do this in small or sensitive fish. The smaller the fish the faster the lice kill it, and the most common cause of death from lice is secondary infection in the locations where the lice have fed on the host fish.


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## Teishokue

anywho, I will post a picture of the isopod when i have time probably this weekend. I am aware that most isopods are scavengers and if they are required to attach to a fish then they will (opportunistic). I was just wondering because of the brackish water fish i have acclimated into the reef salinity.


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## Abby Steel

Without sending the pics of your fish it is hardly possible to give you a useful suggestion.So please send me first pics of infected fish.


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