Trying to find a diagnosis. Oscar With Fish Lice  8/21/07
Hello, I have a tiger Oscar that has been self-mutilating himself. He rubs against things in the tank and has opened his flesh at times. I did not see anything with my naked eye (at first). Then, one day, I sat down by the tank and looked up. He swam into the light and behold, there were microscopic white specks on his head. Then, I looked closer and they actually were moving. They are so very small, too small to compare them to anything. The only reason I saw them, was because he is black and swam into very bright light. They look like bugs crawling around over him. Now that I knew what to look for, I noticed them on the glass of my tank. Lots of them. Only in the light and very microscopic.
I have tried researching "parasites" and nothing seems to fit the description. Fleas would be too big and flukes are described as "worm-like" rather than "bug-like".
I couldn't stand to see my Oscar with open wounds and frayed fins so I bought "parasite eliminator" to cure flukes, anchor worm, and fleas, etc. I am about to give the 2nd dose.
They have not responded to treatment so far. They are still there and there are plenty of them moving around unphased.
What can I try next if this doesn't work? I appreciate any response,
Thanks, Tina
< Try Clout or Fluke-Tabs. The parasites probably came in with some feeder fish.-Chuck>

External Parasites On An Adult Jack Dempsey   7/17/07
Hello Crew, I have a relatively large Jack Dempsey (10") named Phin that lives with an algae eater in a 40 gallon tank. We've had him for just over a year and up to this point his behavior is fairly predictable but lately we have noticed some new patterns that were alarming. We introduce 10 feeder fish each week and it usually takes him just a few days to polish them off. About 2-1/2 weeks ago we introduced the feeders and he has only eaten two of them. In addition, he started to breathe more rapidly and he would dart around the tank and almost crash himself into the gravel. About two days ago I went to say good morning to Phin and noticed that he had about a dime-sized spot behind one of his eyes where it appears he has lost his scales. I also noticed one scale near his tail on the same side that was coming loose. I immediately went to the pet store to ask about possible problems and solutions. The "fish expert" at the store suggested that it may be a skin bacteria or infection and gave me "Maracyn" to treat the tank for five consecutive days. She also gave me frozen beef heart to provide Phin with some nutrition. I did the initial treatment on the tank and fed him some of the beef heart (which he absolutely devoured). A few hours later I returned to the tank to check on Phin and I noticed something new...he now has tiny little greenish things all over him. There are a few on his body and some on each of his fins. They are very small, I would say less than 3mm across, they appear to be round and they don't move around a lot, they seem attached to his body. I referred to the instructional booklet that came with the "Maracyn" and it didn't say that it treated any live, external parasites so I'm not quite sure what to do at this point. What do you think I'm dealing with and how should I treat it? Thank you in advance for your help!
< When you feed your fish feeder goldfish you always have the potential to introduce parasites and diseases to your fish. treat with either Clout or Fluke Tabs. It sounds like you have fish lice.-Chuck>

Fish lice?   4/1/06
Hello. <Hi. Tom with you> About a week ago a purchased 2 Fantail Goldfish and 1 Platy. I have all of these fish in a tank together. <Not a good plan, Savanna. The Goldfish require very different water conditions than the Platy does which may have led to stressing this particular fish.> The other day I started to notice on my Platy white bumps all over it's tail. Then yesterday I noticed 1 huge bump on the back of the fish. Today I found 4 new bumps on the left side of the fish. These bumps are white and about 1-3mm wide. I have no clue what is going on, but I did take the Platy out of my tank and put him in a separate one by himself. Tell me what's going on; is it fish lice? <Your Platy almost certainly has Ich. Fish lice are quite a bit larger than you describe (visible to the naked eye) and are dark (brown or green) in coloration. Frankly, that's not all bad since Ich is much easier to treat. You do want to be prompt with the treatment, however. Lots of information here in WWM on the course of treatment. I'd highly recommend heat and aquarium salt as your Platy will be very tolerant of both. Tom>

Parasite Attack
Hi crew, <Hi Lorenzo, MacL with you today.>
I'm afraid I have a parasitic infestation in my tank. <Not good Lorenzo, not good at all.> These parasites look like little oval semitransparent lice that become white and tear away from fishes when I dip them in fresh water. <Have you seen the picture here, http://www.wetwebmedia.com/isopodfaqs.htm, is it one of these?> I think they are trematodes or Argulus sp. (crustaceans). The problem is that after one or two week that I've done the freshwater bath they come back again over fishes eyes and in my puffer's gills. <I really think you need to get the fish out of that tank and put them in a quarantine system. Let the tank go fallow and keep the fish out for 4 weeks.> I can't treat my display tank because have live rocks in it. And when I'll pass to a grater tank in November I have to use my live rocks that I afraid infested by these parasites. <You'll move whatever is in the rock into the new tank unless you let the parasites die out by letting the tank go fallow.> I'm trying cleaner wrasse to control the spread.
What can I do to heal my fishes and to disinfest my tank? <I would continue with the freshwater dips and consider putting them in a quarantine system with a low level of copper for the parasites. I would let the tank go fallow for at least four weeks before I put any fish back and let the parasites die out with nothing to feed on.> Thanks for your help!!!! <Hope this helps, MacL>
Best regard
Lorenzo