Need help identifying this parasite

[Guest14017]

Okay. Well you have gotten suggestions. You can give them a shot or not. Good luck with the fish.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

It could be one of the long, white, thin copepod species. Just one example I found was Coregonicola orientalis.

 

[hywaydave]

Okay. Well you have gotten suggestions. You can give them a shot or not. Good luck with the fish.

Does the salt kill the ones on the fish too? Will it kill the beneficial bacteria in the tank? Should I remove all the plants from the tank if the salt will kill them, I wouldn't want to contribute to more organic waste in the tank from dying plants.

 

[Guest14017]

The salt MAY kill the parasites. No way to be sure as nobody is even totally sure what they are. Again you'll just have to try it out out and see...

Salt will harm the plants in a high enough concentration, but they can endure lower concentrations of salt. Salt has no effect on the beneficial bacteria.

 

[hywaydave]

The salt MAY kill the parasites. No way to be sure as nobody is even totally sure what they are. Again you'll just have to try it out out and see...

Salt will harm the plants in a high enough concentration, but they can endure lower concentrations of salt. Salt has no effect on the beneficial bacteria.

Do you suggest 2 heaped tablespoons of rock salt per 5 gallons as someone else suggested earlier then? How long should I wait to do a water change after adding salt? Should I dose with salt again after so many days of the parasites don't die?

 

[Essjay]

Add the salt to the new water when you do a water change. It must be completely dissolved before being poured slowly into the tank as undissolved salt can 'burn' a fish.

 

[hywaydave]

Add the salt to the new water when you do a water change. It must be completely dissolved before being poured slowly into the tank as undissolved salt can 'burn' a fish.

So how much salt should I add if it's a 53 gallon tank but changing 10 gallons of water?

 

[Essjay]

The dosage is in the second post of this thread

What to do if your fish gets sick

If your fish ever looks sick or unwell, then the following steps might help. Test the Water and Clean the Tank. Test the water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH and write the results down in numbers. Check it for general hardness (GH) and carbonate hardness (KH) too if you can, but...

www.fishforums.net

The amount varies with the type of fish as some fish are less salt tolerant than others.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Does the salt kill the ones on the fish too?

Probably...don't forget, we don't know exactly what the parasites are.

Will it kill the beneficial bacteria in the tank?

No, not at the dose suggested.

Should I remove all the plants from the tank if the salt will kill them, I wouldn't want to contribute to more organic waste in the tank from dying plants.

No, not at the dose suggested.

So how much salt should I add if it's a 53 gallon tank but changing 10 gallons of water?

Assuming you have no salt in the tank to begin with, you can safely add salt to the main tank.
Whilst it may be a 10 gallon tank, you'll also have substrate in there, so you'll have a little less than 10 gallons to dose.
A 'normal' maintenance' dose would be 1tbsp per 5 gallon...meaning 2tbsp for your tank. This would be the dose I'd recommend at this early stage.
For more serious treatments, this can go up to 1tbsp per 3 gallon...meaning 3 tbsp for your tank.

As @Essjay says, be sure to dissolve the salt thoroughly in some tank water, before you add it to the tank.
The business with adding salt when you do a water change would be just to maintain the dosage, but if the tank's already dosed, you can forget about this for the period you're addressing your parasite problem.

 

[hywaydave]

Thanks, that's why I'm asking. It's a 53 gallon tank but I change out 10 gallons of water per water change. So should I dissolve enough salt in my 10 gallons I'm adding back for 53 gallons of water (10 Tbsp), or just 2 Tbsp salt for the 10 gallons of new water I'm adding back?

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Thanks, that's why I'm asking. It's a 53 gallon tank but I change out 10 gallons of water per water change. So should I dissolve enough salt in my 10 gallons I'm adding back for 53 gallons of water (10 Tbsp), or just 2 Tbsp salt for the 10 gallons of new water I'm adding back?

A 53 gallon tank would need 53 gallons-worth of salt, as your starting point, so yes...when you do your water change, you can dissolve the whole 10 tbsp in the bucket, before you add it to the tank.
Granted, 10 tbsp sounds like a lot, but it isn't when you put it in 53 gallons.

Please note that, as I'm unfamiliar with your particular wild-caught fish and their tolerances, just keep your eyes open and if there's any signs of serious distress, you'd do a water change.

 

[Guest14017]

The fish don't look that healthy as a whole -

Their slime coats don't look good. Their lateral lines don't look right to me. Their fins don't look great, and of course clearly they have parasites. Native sunfish especially pumpkinseed fish are actually beautiful vibrant fish when healthy. This one barely has any color. I don't think these fish are thriving in their environment at all. Hopefully the salt treatment helps.

 

[hywaydave]

The fish don't look that healthy as a whole -

Their slime coats don't look good. Their lateral lines don't look right to me. Their fins don't look great, and of course clearly they have parasites. Native sunfish especially pumpkinseed fish are actually beautiful vibrant fish when healthy. This one barely has any color. I don't think these fish are thriving in their environment at all. Hopefully the salt treatment helps.

They don't get along very well. Not that they fight constantly but each one has taken half the tank and they're constantly trying to show their dominance by putting their gills out towards each other like a Betta does. They still eat very well and get excited for the food guy when I approach the tank. I'm hoping I can cure the tank with salt. Can't really put them back into the wild now.

 

[hywaydave]

I'm battling excessive diatoms in this tank right now too, not off to a great start with this expensive tank setup

 

[Guest14017]

The bluegill is likely to outgrow the pumpkinseed and cause trouble. These fish are known for excess aggression in aquaria, and are best kept in numbers higher than 2 and in tanks larger than 50 gallons to ensure they have enough space.

Your setup CAN work - but won't necessarily. I have never believed in hostile tank setups... as I doubt the fish would be happy in such and when subjected to constant stress, fish can become ill much easier.

You COULD return these sickly looking parasite infested fish back to where you got them, but to get new fish you would ideally need to nuke your tank as nobody knows what those parasites are and they may infect another fish if you put the fish directly in.

Your kids would definitely be okay with an explanation. And you could always go with Firemouths or some other colorful fish for the kids.

But definitely try the salt and see if it helps. The parasites are eventually likely to cause wounds and malnutrition and lead to fish death and disease, which will be upsetting for everyone involved.