Can Anyone Identify This Spot?

[PyroBrit]

Does anyone have an idea what this might be on the tail of the fish?
I've not seen the likes of this before.

from another angle

 

[fidjet2]

white spot- ich- although im probably wrong sorry. Beautiful fish
you might need to add more info -

Tank size:
pH:
ammonia:
nitrite:
nitrate:
tank temp:
tank mates:

 

[fluttermoth]

It's definitely not Ich!

It almost looks like an Argulus fish louse. Catch the fish and see it it'll come off with tweezers.

 

[Clarousel]

It's definitely not Ich!

It almost looks like an Argulus fish louse. Catch the fish and see it it'll come off with tweezers.

Agreed. It's not ich and the white spot looks as though there are tiny legs on it!

 

[PyroBrit]

I Agree its not Ich (White Spot). The fish has just come out of treatment for that in the past couple of days so that has cleared up well.

I shall try the tweezer method first as it does look like legs to me too.

It's the only one I could see in the tank and unfortunately this fish along with 4 others are new to the tank at less than 10 days so may have come in with them. Might have to look at a hospital tank.

Who would have thought that buying a goldfish for my daughter 4 years ago would turn into a multi tank hobby.

 

[LilyRose Tank]

like I know the feeling!

 

[PyroBrit]

Thank you very much fluttermoth. Please accept these virtual beer tokens.

Well my wife and I prepared ourselves for this delecate operation of bug removal with tweezers. We caught the fish in a small net only to find that we could not see the bug on the fish. The net had brushed the bug off during the capture so we released the fish back into the tank whilst keeping the bug in the net.

Here is a picture of the creature:

What you cannot see is that this creature is waving backwards and forwards as if it is trying to find purchase. I also think we are seeing the underside of the creature based on it's movements. Actual size about 3mm.

I shall keep an eye on the tank and fish for anymore as I don't really want to add chemicals unless really necessary.

Once again thanks to all who gave advice on this.

 

[PyroBrit]

Arrived home from work tonight to find another fish with this parasite attached to the tail. It had caused the fin to go red behind the parasite which is how I spotted it.

Very tiny things to see.

These things are a #29### to remove. They can move fast in water so if you don't have a good grip on it you will find it moved to another part of your fish.

If I find anymore I may have to resort to chemicals unless the new tank arrives and it cycles in time.

 

[PyroBrit]

A bit more info.

The fish louse (Argulus) is a flat, disc shaped crustacean which can be as a large as 1cm in diameter. The ones we had were between 2mm and 3mm in size and difficult to see on light coloured fish such as bronze gold fish. As you can see from our pictures above, they are a little easier to spot on dark skinned fish.

The fish louse attaches to the host fish by using two suckers. The legs are just feathery legs and used for swimming. The parasite feeds by inserting it's mouth parts (think tiny straw) into the host to drink the blood. It can also inject digestive enzymes into the host which over time will give the host other health problems.

If you want to see some pretty scary pictures just google for "Argulus fish louse" and click on the images tab in google.

Treatment is "Waterlife Parazin" or "Interpet Anti-Crustacien Parasite (box #12)"

The parasite can live for 15 days when not attached to a host and will freely swim around your pond or aquarium. It is mostly found in ponds but occasionally in aquariums when brought in on new stock. I'm pretty sure that's what happened to us.

The parasite leaves the host to lay it's eggs on a hard surface such as the glass of an aquarium. It takes 3 to 4 weeks for the eggs to hatch if the temperature is warm. The eggs can overwinter in an outdoor pond. Treatment will kill the young and adult parasite but will not touch the eggs.

 

[Clarousel]

Urgh sounds just like fleas/ticks. Hope you're getting the situation under control!

 

[colleen0309]

I have had tanks for over 40 years and never saw these up close! They creep me out as much as it did when I found lice on my kids heads! Sure am glad I have never had to deal with them!!

 

[PyroBrit]

I have had tanks for over 40 years and never saw these up close!

I've only had fish for 4 years and we purchased a handful of Fancy Goldfish from a LFS that we had never used before. 1 died within 24 hours and 1 died of fin rot 4 days later. I'm guessing it was fin rot as one day they were there and the next it had no fins. Add to that our first dose of Whitespot ever which infected all the fish.

These fish went into an established tank and all water tests were fine with no new fish in this tank for at least a year.

So upon clearing the whitespot with treatment and taking a good look at the fish we find this Argulus parasite.

I can only assume that it came with the fish when we bought them and will be looking more carefully at any new fish we purchase in the future.

The LFS in question sell a huge number of fancy goldfish a week and their stock is replenished weekly. I've informed them what has happened in my tank but I don't have any solid evidence that the louse came in with the fish. My wife agrees with me that we will never buy stock from them ever again. It's too risky.

Since finding the two louse and removing them, we have not found any more. Unfortunately the louse cycle of egg to birth to adult sucking on fish can be 100 days or more so I will patiently search our tank for the next few months for signs of infection.