Anyone know what this bug is?

[softturtle]

Didn't quite know what forum to put this in so I figured the invert section would do. I was asked by a manager at one of the local stores to figure out what this is. They are swimming in all the tanks in the store. I don't know if the bugs are actually on the fish or plants. They are about 3-5 mm long and wide and about 1 mm tall (very compressed). They can swim very quickly forwards and backwards. Now you know all that I know. Anyone?

 

[Oddball]

That's Argulus sp., a fish louse. There are about 150 different species so, I couldn't say which one you have there. Very bad parasite in any aquarium. Need to treat the entire tank with Paragon.

 

[justonemoretank]

Bad news for the store, I'd say... what a cool-looking critter, though! Thanks for such a detailed shot.

 

[gomezladdams]

Not sure,could be wrong but I think I saw a photo of something like that here a few years ago,some kind of parasite.Someone call Oddball!

Edit:must learn to type faster!Lol

 

[softturtle]

That's Argulus sp., a fish louse. There are about 150 different species so, I couldn't say which one you have there. Very bad parasite in any aquarium. Need to treat the entire tank with Paragon.

So it is actually parasitic? Towards the fish? Hmmm, kinda creepy.

 

[Oddball]

Adult argulus inject a sharp proboscis into the flesh of a fish and secrete digestive enzymes that they drink in once the flesh has liquified. Needless to say, this is very irritating to a fish. The argulus doesn't feed on one spot but, moves all about the surface of its host and injects/feeds until its time to breed or the host dies and it must seek out another host. Adults lay eggs on plants, sticks, etc. Newly hatched argulus seek out hosts at 4 days of age and harass/damage the fish for the 100 days that they live on average.

 

[softturtle]

10-4. Thanks for the info.

I hope this paragon isn't expensive. They have about 1500 gallons to treat.

 

[Oddball]

Considering it's a lfs that provides someone with income, they can write off the expense of treating for this parasite. A 1000 tablet bottle of Clout (treats 10,000 gallons) will cost less than $250 delivered. That's a better value than an equal amount of Paragon. In fact, this size bottle can be found on ebay on a regular basis. It'll provide the initial treatment for active lice and followup treatment for any hatchouts later in the week of treatment.

 

[Lupin]

Anchorworms are a bane of my existence. Almost 90% of my goldies came down with these pests and I had to use trichlorfon myself to destroy these pests as well as remove the adults scampering into fin bases and even gills.