greech Posted August 22, 2009 Share Posted August 22, 2009 I would appreciate any help anyone can provide. My midas blenny has a white growth on his side. It looks like a stinger sticking out of him and is slightly red under the skin. Did a google search but could not find an excat match. Is this a parasite, isopod (never seen one in my tank)? What can I do...freshwater dip, physical removal? Hopefully you can see the growth on the pic. Thank you! Link to comment
D3monic Posted August 22, 2009 Share Posted August 22, 2009 Not the best shot in the world but my first guess would be isopod. Link to comment
greech Posted August 22, 2009 Author Share Posted August 22, 2009 Thank you for the quick response. I tried to get a better pic several times but I don't have a great camera and he is very active. I have read about FW dips for these. Anyone had any experience with removal/treatment? Link to comment
Mr. Thingdoer Posted August 22, 2009 Share Posted August 22, 2009 Possibly a digenetic fluke. Methelyne blue, or prazi Parasitic isopods are rare Link to comment
greech Posted August 22, 2009 Author Share Posted August 22, 2009 Thanks. I will google those and the procedures for treatment. Just read an article about isopods and if this is what I have then it looks like I'm starting over Link to comment
Mr. Thingdoer Posted August 22, 2009 Share Posted August 22, 2009 Everybody has isopods. There must be a thousand different types of isopods with only a few being parasitic and very uncommon in the hobby. What you have is a fluke, or lymphosist. If its irritating the fish and you see redness, then most likely a fluke Link to comment
greech Posted August 22, 2009 Author Share Posted August 22, 2009 It doesn't seem to be bothering him. Swimming normal and eating well but it may have recently attached. Have you had this experience before? The couple articles I have had time to read suggest a FW dip and then some kind of QT treatment with mediaction (Methelyne blue or potassium promanganate (sp?)). Thank you! Link to comment
greech Posted August 22, 2009 Author Share Posted August 22, 2009 Just went over to check things out and now it is gone. I can't see it sticking out anmore at least. There is a slight blemish there now. Did it bury it self under the skin? I don't see a raised bump. Do the detach themselves? Link to comment
Mr. Thingdoer Posted August 22, 2009 Share Posted August 22, 2009 Cleaner shrimp may have eaten it? I've had experience with lymphocyst and digenetic fluke(but it was black) I had a Midas Blenny die on me the other day. I think it was some kind of internal parasite though. I just got a new one, and I'd like to buy him a personality. He's not as cool as the last one was. Just went over to check things out and now it is gone. I can't see it sticking out anmore at least. There is a slight blemish there now. Did it bury it self under the skin? I don't see a raised bump. Do the detach themselves? Also, watch that spot for a few days. Make sure it heals up without a problem. Link to comment
greech Posted August 23, 2009 Author Share Posted August 23, 2009 Thanks man. I honestly don't know what to think. I've been trying to ID this thing all afternoon but it really is a needle in a haystack. I remember seeing your post of about losing your blenny. Glad you got a new one and hope he gets over his issues. Do they make Prozac for fish ? I really like mine and it was pretty much the reason I bought this tank. The one thing that I have read is that flukes and parasitic pods tend to show up on bottom dwelling fish. I lost a jawfish about a month ago and when I pulled him out he had a bump on his side. My clowns have not had any issues. I'm really worried I have an infestation but I just don't see anything crawling around the tank that looks like what I saw on the blenny today. BTW I don't have a cleaner shrimp only a fire shrimp. Link to comment
Mr. Thingdoer Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 Thanks man. I honestly don't know what to think. I've been trying to ID this thing all afternoon but it really is a needle in a haystack. I remember seeing your post of about losing your blenny. Glad you got a new one and hope he gets over his issues. Do they make Prozac for fish ? I really like mine and it was pretty much the reason I bought this tank. The one thing that I have read is that flukes and parasitic pods tend to show up on bottom dwelling fish. I lost a jawfish about a month ago and when I pulled him out he had a bump on his side. My clowns have not had any issues. I'm really worried I have an infestation but I just don't see anything crawling around the tank that looks like what I saw on the blenny today. BTW I don't have a cleaner shrimp only a fire shrimp. Just keep an eye on him. As long as he's eating, and not scratching or doesn't have any spots, he should recover. Mine had a spot on him, but I doubt that's what caused his demise. It looked like a common lymphocyst. He stopped eating for a day, and went in to hiding. He also started breathing really hard. Link to comment
greech Posted August 23, 2009 Author Share Posted August 23, 2009 So I am really considering throwing together a hospital tank. I can run and get a 5-gallon and a AC HOB filter and use my 2 day old floss and water from my display to get things going. The spot looks about the same as it did at the end of the day yesterday. Am I going overboard with this? The reason I ask is because I don't see any behavior/feeding issues. My other concern is that even if I do this and everything works out for the best, how do I know this will not happen again because maybe my display has an infestation. Guess what I'm asking is whether I should run out and get stuff to treat this individual fish/issue or if I should just plan on starting over with new sand/rock. If thats the case then I will need a bigger QT tank to hold all of my fish until I can get my DT up and running again. I can also use my existing AC filter because the DT will be torn down and cleaned out anyway. Sorry for running on just not sure which way to go. Thanks. Link to comment
Mr. Thingdoer Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 I think you're worrying a bit too much about the infestation. If it was in fact a parasite, then it would need to remain on its host in order to survive. I would pesonaly just observe the fish for a while to make sure he's healing without problems. Give it two more days or so. If you feel the need to hospitalize him, then by all means do so. I'm not sure what kind of treatment you would give him though, since we haven't really identified an ailment. can you post a picture of what the spot looks like now? Also, there is absolutely no reason for you to have to do a tank tear down. That's way overboard. Link to comment
greech Posted August 23, 2009 Author Share Posted August 23, 2009 I know, I have no idea how to identify exactly what I have which is a little frustrating. Here is another pic but probably won't help much. I just have a really old camera. The bump is in the middle of his body. It is basically a blemish with a small white head. The white was much more exposed and outward early yesterday. BTW, thanks for helping me think this through. Link to comment
Mr. Thingdoer Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 I know, I have no idea how to identify exactly what I have which is a little frustrating. Here is another pic but probably won't help much. I just have a really old camera. The bump is in the middle of his body. It is basically a blemish with a small white head. The white was much more exposed and outward early yesterday. BTW, thanks for helping me think this through. How is he doing? Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.