ciralonid isopod. The Saga Begins?

[vermonter310]

Well yesterday I removed a rather large ciralonid isopod from my little TR perc. Today a portion of my Bi-coled angel's tail fin is tattered and upon inspection I noticed a much smaller isopod attached. I wasn't able to attempt a capture at that time and upon returning, ready to try and net the angel, I find it's not attached any longer. Great! now I know there are more in the tank. I've only done some limited reading on them but this doesn't look good. If anyone has any ideas on removing them from my system I'd love to hear them.. Not looking forward to ditching expensive rock and starting over.

Thanks..

Mike

[Ewan]

Hi Mike,

I think Dr. Ron might be able to help you find a way to erradicate these cirolanids (sear-o-lan-ids .. heh-heh) Try asking a question in his forum, and see what he has to say. Otherwise, I'll keep my eyes open for any information that may help you.

Sorry to hear about your outbreak. I wonder if the treatment I just used for my red acro mites (dog heartworm medication) would affect them? It only targets crustaceans. I can attest to that.

In the meanwhile, we'll see if there's a known cure. I'll send Dustin Dorton at ORA an email and see what he thinks about extending the treatment of melbemycine oxime for this use.

I'm sure there's a more commonly accepted method taylored to these isopods... But don't write off your rock and fish just yet.

-R.

[vermonter310]

Naaa.... not writing 'em off just yet. In my reading this afternoon several people have used a type of trap. It's a section of PVC baited at the center with a piece of fish and loosely packed filter floss on either side. I have fashioned such a trap and will go fishing tonight!
The dog heartworm med. sounds interesting but I wonder what else it would kill off in my tank. Although, it may come to that. I wonder if it would be possible to re-establish pod (the good ones!) after dosing the tank with that?
I'm still wondering why all of a sudden is this becoming evident. It’s not like the two I've seen are even close to the same size. The one I removed was probably twice to three times the size of the one I saw today?

Thanks for your help

MB

[Hedonist]

Bummer, I do not have much experience here or know what to say but EWWWWWWW!

Keep us posted and good luck!

dg

[SaltyDogg]

Originally posted by vermonter310
Naaa.... not writing 'em off just yet. In my reading this afternoon several people have used a type of trap. It's a section of PVC baited at the center with a piece of fish and loosely packed filter floss on either side. I have fashioned such a trap and will go fishing tonight!
The dog heartworm med. sounds interesting but I wonder what else it would kill off in my tank. Although, it may come to that. I wonder if it would be possible to re-establish pod (the good ones!) after dosing the tank with that?
I'm still wondering why all of a sudden is this becoming evident. It’s not like the two I've seen are even close to the same size. The one I removed was probably twice to three times the size of the one I saw today?

Thanks for your help

MB

Will be interested in how it turns out...

Bryan-

[vermonter310]

Couple of learnings........
#1. Angelfish are hard to catch!
#2. Soda bottle traps work.

Tally so far.......one pod removed from TR Perc. and two removed from bi-color angel.

MB

[natybug]

Oh wow, I might need to hire you to catch my angel for Jason! I really don't want to tear my whole tank apart...

[vermonter310]

Made a quick trap from a two liter soda bottle baited it with frozen mysis and 20 minutes later....presto. I highly recomend it. I did spend several hours over the past couple of days trying with the net. The trap was a whole lot less stress on both of us.

MB

[SaltyDogg]

Thats good to know......you will have to share how exactly you made that fish trap when you can..........I would be interested in having one around just in case I need it.......

Bryan-

[Hedonist]

So what is the plan of action... do you just keep a look out for more of the pests and then catch that fish and pick them off? For some reason I tought the trap you were talking about was supposed to catch the pods :confused:

Has anyone ever tried the 'fish corral'? I have seen it in either Fosters and Smith or Marine Depot catalog, it is a clear container with a side that is open while you bait it and wait for your fish to enter, then you close the 'door' with your fish inside..? I wonder if it works good.... how did you get your fish from the soda bottle Mike, place a net over the opening?

dg

[vermonter310]

I have two traps...one for pods doesn't seem to be working. And one for fish. The fish trap is simply a two-liter soda bottle with the top 1/4 - 1/3 cut off and inverted into the cut portion of the bottom. I had to adjust the hole size a bit as the regular opening in a soda bottle was a little small but that was very easy. I'll post a pic shortly. I cut a slit along the bottom of the trap about half way around (prior to the fish being in there) to get the fish out. It holds it's shape and you can simply press fore or aft of the slit and pour the fish out. I didn't think it was going to work because the fish was swimming in and out at will eating the bait. But when he went in one time I quickly moved toward the tank and that scared him enough for him to try and make a hasty retreat.....Unfortunately for him/her and fortunately for me he couldn't find the hole.
As for options at this point there aren't very many. The three options put forth by Dr. Ron and others seem to be:
1. Move the fish out (food source) and leave the tank without fish for several months some suggest up to 6 months! And even that may not work.
2. Remove all the LR and sand...basically start over.
3. Do nothing, most likely fish will die and would have to do either one or two anyway.
Not encouraging!

MB

[vermonter310]

Rob,

Anymore thougths on doseing with melbemycine oxime?? Anthony from WWM doesn't think it's a wise move. I wonder. can you point me in the direction of more info on this.

Thanks
Mike

[Ewan]

Originally posted by vermonter310
Rob,

Anymore thougths on doseing with melbemycine oxime?? Anthony from WWM doesn't think it's a wise move. I wonder. can you point me in the direction of more info on this.

Thanks
Mike

It's easy to say that it's not a wise move. It is a large unknown, and to my knowledge, it hasn't been used for the erradication of cirolanids. It's a risk, and many would say to steer clear. It's a safe, and wise, piece of advice. If my back was against the wall, I'd try it. I still probably wouldn't recommend it.

However, 'red bugs' have been the scourge of SPS keepers (acroporids, specifically) for quite some time. The advent of captive-propogation and frag trading has allowed these mites to explode. If Dustin hadn't experimented with melbemycin oxime, I'd still be staring at tiny red dots on my fading SPS. He thought outside the box, and really made a difference. IMHO.

Here's some light reading:

Greg Hiller's experience with red Acro mites BEFORE interceptor was found to be a treatment (you can skip this if you like... but I find it establishes a good point as to how experimentation helps us as a whole)
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/june2003/feature.htm

Here's the 'treatment' from Dustin at ORA:

http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=45859

We can talk about some other treatments too if you wish. I'm more than willing to help out in any way possible. Shoot me an email and I'll provide my phone number.

You're not licked yet. Let's see what we can come up with.

-Rob