STT to VT

[thesauce]

Yeah Drew, don't get discouraged. Part of having a reef tank is accepting that there are a great deal of factors that we have little to no control over. I've lost my share of corals. Everyone has challenges with these tanks. My advice: keep trying with the foxface and get some corals to cheer yourself up.

[Dentoid]

I agree with TheSauce. It's hard to accept any loss, but it does go along with the territory. It never gets any easier as you go along, but you learn to accept it nontheless.

When I recently lost my BS jawfish, I wanted to scrap everything and then my elegance frag disappeared. I just pull up my boot straps and get back on the horse.

[thesauce]

Here is a link to some more info regarding these little bastards. Isopodcontr

I think you've gotta just do what you can for the foxface. If you feel so inclined, give him a QT tank. Or just return him, then stick with an all coral (photosynthetic as to avoid the need to add any food to the tank) for a few months and effectively starve the isopods. Catching the fish can be tricky, but i've had success with one of those little plastic baskets (I think you can get them at arts and crafts stores), then I attached a string to a small stick propping the basket up on end. I placed food under the basket and waited across the room for the fish to swim underneath. I learned this from Wiley Coyote. They also sell traps.

[ScubaDrew]

Harv, the CEO just came over because I was laughing so hard at your post. He got a kick out of it also.


Thanks for the

Drew

Originally Posted by thesauce

Here is a link to some more info regarding these little bastards. Isopodcontr

I think you've gotta just do what you can for the foxface. If you feel so inclined, give him a QT tank. Or just return him, then stick with an all coral (photosynthetic as to avoid the need to add any food to the tank) for a few months and effectively starve the isopods. Catching the fish can be tricky, but i've had success with one of those little plastic baskets (I think you can get them at arts and crafts stores), then I attached a string to a small stick propping the basket up on end. I placed food under the basket and waited across the room for the fish to swim underneath. I learned this from Wiley Coyote. They also sell traps.

[ScubaDrew]

ISOPOD Trap V2.0 -

- Pin sized sent holes to allow water and scent flow unlike glass bottle
- Foam gasket to ensure isopod tight seal
- Long neck entryway to minimize escapes

Results:

0 Isopods
2 Peperment shrimp

[Dentoid]

Damn peppermints, curse you! How's the Foxface? Is it showing any stress related to the isopod?

[ScubaDrew]

Foxface seems great. He has eaten most of the plant life in the DT so I'm working on what to feed him next. No signs of stress or marks on his body so far.

I'm going to try and find a fish trap so I might catch him if another pod hops on.

[Dentoid]

Maybe this is an isolated incident. When I set up my tank I found 3 dead ones in the first 8 weeks, but that was it. Never any on the fish. Did you get your LS from TBS?

[ScubaDrew]

Nope, I had sand that came with the tank (still in bags) - had to save $ someplace. I heard the TBS sand is great too.

I've seen a total of 3 isopods, two on the first day in the tank at the same time, one on the 4th day in the tank. So I know there are at least two.

I spotted one in the sand on the 5th day.

On day 7 now (i think). I doubt they are gone.

[Dentoid]

I asked because I thought the isopods come out of the sand. I guess it is possible that the number of isopods in any given shipment of rock and/or sand could be related to the time of year it is collected. If you didn't get your sand from TBS, then the pods came off the rock.

[ScubaDrew]

according to the article on reefkeeping.com - these guys will survive in just about anything in rock sand, even attached to macroalgae. They can survive 20 times the recommended Interceptor dose and still feed on the animals that die from the treatment.

I'm in agreement with you Dentoid - they came in on the rock. Hopefully they are not exploding in population, there is a lot of stuff to feed on in there.

[Dentoid]

I know that when I first saw one of these in my tank, even though it was dead, my heart sunk. I thought my tank was done for. It never amounted to anything though. When I put my first 2 fish in I was looking everyday for them to attach to my fish. Never saw any, just dead ones on the skimmer output sponge.

[ScubaDrew]

cheers to that Dentoid! I'm just going to keep at it, all I can do!

[Dentoid]

There ya go, think positive!

[thesauce]

So the latest isopod has detached itself from the foxface? It sounds like things have taken a positive turn. From what I have read, isopods wear a fish down pretty quickly. The fact that your foxface seems well is definately encouraging. Keep us posted.