If anyone can ID what this is and how I might treat it I would really appreciate it. The area is about .5 cm by .5cm and it has what looks to be a parasite with a white tail emerging from the back of it. The area looks to have changed a little to a more fibrotic look, I obviously can't stick my hand in to give it a "rub." I just noticed it today and the trigger is eating fine/acting fine so far. I want to cure this before it gets worse. Thanks for your help..
hmm, it might be an isopod it's sort of hard to tell from the pic. I'd try to manually remove it vs. treating with anything. Is the fish a new introduction if so they probably aren't infesting your tank yet.
hth and keep us posted
Welcome to a.c.
oh and here is a little something from wikipedia to assist you
**Benzocaine can also be used as a fish anesthetic. Due to its low solubility in water, stock solution can be made with ethanol (95%). 25g of benzocaine per 200ml ethanol will make a solution strong enough to knock saltwater fish out in 2-4 minutes. They will regain equilibrium after 10-15 minutes. Use 5ml stock solution per 1L of saltwater. Some benzocaine will precipitate out of solution when added to the saltwater, so it is recommended to add the volume of stock solution you will be using to a separate container and mix it with some saltwater before adding it to the tank.**
Don't even think about doing this in your main tank. If you can remove it with out the meds please do so. A fresh water dip will also kill the parasite make sure you adjust the ph of the f.w. to the ph of your tank. I added the med part as triggers can be shall we say fiesty?
Welcome to ac and I hope this helps
Max
For some reason the e-mail notification did not work so I just saw your message. The next day the Niger looked great, the white spot has dissapeared and the fibrotic area looks to be completely healed. He has been in my tank for a while now (about three months) and has been healthy from the get go, so I am hoping that his immune system fought off this parasire on its' own.
Do these parasites have a tendency to seem like they were healed and then miraculousy reappear and desimate your tank? I don't know that there is anything I could do to treat my main display tank anyway so lets hope the answer is no.
Hello,
Hocky I'm not say this is going to happen but, there is a chance that it fell off to finish it's life cycle,"to reproduce." I'd be very attentive with my fish for the next few weeks and make sure that it doesn't make a come back. I don't know what other fish you have etc but, I'd get a qt tank set up and ready to go just in case you need an emergency centre. It's a good idea to have one on hand anyway for new introductions etc.
I hope that I'm just being over cautious
Warm regards
Max
