STT to VT

[thesauce]

Forked tail almost looks like that of a flatworm, but I doubt thats what it is. Although I guess it could crawl on him while he slept. Maybe it will have disappeared by tomorrow morning. Looks great Drew!

[thesauce]

Here's a very in-depth article on the ispods mentioned on the previous page. Lots of info here including some extraction techniques.

Cirolanid Isopod Capture Techniques, Feeding Habits and Mortality Testing by Brian Plankis - Reefkeeping.com

[Dentoid]

Great fish Drew! If you plan on excising that isopod, do it with caution!

BTW-->STT to VT

[hma]

Beautiful fish Drew, the HH however not.

[ScubaDrew]

Getting pretty discouraged -

• Break down the tank by removing all rocks substrate and decoration and replacing with new decorations
• Remove all fish for 4 to 6 months to starve all the isopods before adding new fish.

The fish now has two HH's on it.

[GeeWizzItsMe]

Oh no! There isn't any thing to put in the tank that kills them?? don't get discouraged!

[Dentoid]

What! Where did you find that info. I would think that is if you have an infestation. I had a few of those isopods, fortunately they never got on the fish, I found them dead on the skimmer output sponge. Can you catch the fish and give him a freshwater dip!

BTW, are the louses raised or flat? Do they look like they have a segmented body?

[ScubaDrew]

Originally Posted by Dentoid

What! Where did you find that info. I would think that is if you have an infestation. I had a few of those isopods, fortunately they never got on the fish, I found them dead on the skimmer output sponge. Can you catch the fish and give him a freshwater dip!

BTW, are the louses raised or flat? Do they look like they have a segmented body?

To catch this fish the whole tank will need to come apart... If he has 2 of these in less than 2 days I'd say I've got a substantial number of them in the tank. I'll read up on frest water dipping now.

[goldenmean]

First are you sure it is the Cirolanid Isopod?
From your pic I could not see the big black eyes like on the tbs and Plankis article. from the TBS pic caption

There are other little bugs that look similar, but don't have the large black eyes -- those are ok

.

It seems that these ciroland isopods may feed of the fish for a few days then drop off of them. I have read some thread on another forum of people whose fish have had them but the fish have not shown any signs of stress.

It seems that the trap from the Plankis article is very effective in capturing these guys at night.

If I were you this is what I would do.
I would read all of the Brian Plankis article including all the articles that he refrences such as this one Pills, Parasites, and Predators; Isopods in the Reef Aquarium by Ronald L. Shimek, Ph.D. - Reefkeeping.com

I would make a few of the Cirolanid hunter traps to catch as many as you can. I have watched my tank a lot after lights out with a flash light without seeing any of these pods swimming around.
I would observe your fish and if there are no signs of stress I would not bother him. Just observe and see what these isopods do to your fish. If he seemed stressed from the Cirolanids then I would try to capture the fish and manually remove the pods.

If the worst happened and you lost the fish then I would not add any other fish for 2-6 months (according to the Plankis article) that will starve the Cirolanid out of the tank.

Drew dont panic. The worst that can happen is that you go fishless for 6 months. Your reef will be awesome with corals until it is safe to add fish.
From what I have read today there is a lot of people panicing about these parisites but I have not read about them actually killing fish. I just read about hobbiest afraid that that would happen.

Good luck and keep us informed on what happens.

[bluespotjawfish]

Seems that crabs are looking pretty harmless about now! So sorry to hear about your new HHs.

Better get a QT started too if you don't have one going yet.

[ScubaDrew]

Reefs.org: Where Reefkeeping Begins on the Internet - Cirolanid Isopods

There are only three courses of action in this situation; and I truly am not jesting about these responses. The first is to remove all the fish from the tank and wait the two or three months until you are certain that all the isopods have died from starvation. The second solution is to effectively nuke the tank. Remove all live rock and discard it as the isopods may hide in it, and as some of the isopods bury in the sand, you should also remove and discard the sand. You may of course take the third option and do nothing. The most likely outcome in this situation will be that the isopods will kill your fish one by one. You may not even know they are attacking a fish until the fish is dead.

[goldenmean]

Yes. A QT at the ready may save this fish if the cirolanid does become stessfull to the fish. Read up on treatment with interceptor in the Plankis article. You could do this in the qt and not kill all the pods (good and bad) in your display/sump/fuge.

[Dentoid]

OMG Drew, this is heart breaking.

[goldenmean]

Drew that article you are referencing was written in 2000.
More has been discovered about the cirolanid including how to trap them.
From what i have read today I do not believe the three options of the reef.org article are your only options nor are the outcome of those options as severe.

[ScubaDrew]

I didn't realize how difficult this would be in terms of harming these animals.

Tomorrow I plan on removing the fish, treating it, and returning it if I'm successful.

I feel responsible for harming this foxface and don't want to risk hurting anything else.

Thanks for your help everyone, I think this hobby is too much for me.

Drew