Gasp!

[FishinInTheDark]

Oh, why me? Why do I have to have a blood sucking isopod :evil: ? Okay, well, it's not on me, it's on my female clownfish. But, if it has to be on a fish, why couldn't it be on the dang tang? I can't get him out of the net, and can't get her into it!

I have a freshwater dip prepared, and hopefully I can catch her before the parasite drops off and hides.

I'm back to standing watch for her to get used to the net, so send me your best hunting wishes. :help:

[Sugar Magnolia]

OH NOOOOOOOOOO! That really sucks Conni! I hope you can get to it before it drops off. And, I sure hope there isn't any more in there. Ack!!!

[FishinInTheDark]

Thanks SM. Cirolanids have always been my worst fear, but I'm not sure that this is that type specifically. I cannot see the trademark big, black eyes on this thing, but it's really little too. I really don't know what I'll do if there are more of these guys. I guess I'll have to cycle the spare 80G tank that's in my basement and run it as a FO for six months or so. At least they don't attack corals, so my display tank can still be on display. For now, I'm going to try to remove the one I see, and cross my fingers for the time being.

Still needing those good vibes. . .

[FishinInTheDark]

Scratch that: it IS one of those black-eyed demon spawn after all. Too bad this is a family-friendly site, because I can't let loose the string of expletives that are going through my head!

Hopefully, this will be useless information to all who read this, but freshwater dips don't seem to bother cirolanids. I ended up having to take her out of water and remove it with a pair of hemostats. I'm glad that I had been prepared for that.

And the clownfish (named "Nemo's Mama" by my daughter) is doing relatively well. She's not even sulking, but looking a little wary of my presence nonetheless. I think I'll go turn down the lights and leave them all alone.

Again, why me?

Oh, and thanks for the good hunting vibes: they obviously helped!

[FishinInTheDark]

And, while I'm in the whining mood: something keeps dragging my corals underneath my rock pile and munching on them. The dang tank is turning against me!!

[Sugar Magnolia]

AHA! My gorilla crab did that to my corals Conni. He stole quite a few frags from me. Evil xanthid crabs!

Yikes...sorry you're going through this....I cannot stand crabs. I had an Eriphea sebana reek havoc on my tank so I've been there. Also had a Xanthid that was quite destructive. Catch that puppy and send it to Sumpville.

[Doctor_Reef]

So sorry to hear about these troubles...Conni!!!!! :( Hang in there...we are pulling for you!!!!

[icereefer]

Hang in there conni.
if I know you you will pull threw this with flying colors.....
thats strange on the fresh water dip that will usually drop those little buggers, on a 5-15 min dip or a longer sessions in saltwater with Formalin.
Jim

[FishinInTheDark]

Thanks for the kind words guys! In a few minutes I'm off to the grocery to grab a 2 liter bottle of soda. Now I have to decide: will it be rootbeer floats for the kids or cuba libras for Mom? Either way, I'm making a trap tonight!

Travis, if you're reading this, that frag that I fragged for you has to be fragged again because something ate through its base! Don't give up on me!

[MikeS]

Bummer Conni.... :?

Cuba Libras for sure.... :thumbsup:

Hope you get the parasite out of there....and I hope he's the only one...
On the mystery coral muncher...sounds like a crab to me....Have you tried looking for him at night? I know you need your sleep, but one of those nights when you are up late drinking cuba libras, pop by the tank once in awhile with a flashlight, and see if you can catch him in the act... :-D

Mike

[FishinInTheDark]

Mike, I got that little sucker (pun intended) with a minor surgery on the fish. I'm considering having it mounted on the wall, for all the stalking I had to do to nab it!

I only realized today that I have a coral muncher. When I pulled the zoo colony from beneath the rocks yesterday, I wasn't exactly sure how long it had been there, and thought maybe it had just fallen during my recent aquascaping when I added new live rock (hence, new crabs and isopods). But, I am absolutely sure that the leather that is almost severed was sitting in its place yesterday, happy and healthy. Funny thing is that I went on night recon last night to check on my (good) pod population, but didn't pay attention to that particular frag. Anyway, you can be sure I'll be leaving nose prints on the glass in the wee hours tonight!

[icereefer]

:uzi: :lol: happy hunting Conni. hope you find your little coral eating bugger.
Jim

[FishinInTheDark]

Thanks Jim!

[Doctor_Reef]

Glad you got him Conni...Hope you catch the coral bandit!!!!!

[blennyluv]

wow, sorry about all the trouble, our tanks can really cause us stress :shock:
so you can get some pretty bad things on lr. that sucks. anyway, hope you catch the bad guy!!

Wow FITD, You just cant seem to get any love this week huh? Hope all goes well and that the current issues are resolved without further issues...

[FishinInTheDark]

Thanks Dani and Ray. I only caught one snail in my bottle trap last night. I think there's a traction issue with getting into the mouth of the bottle, up the slope. I have to work on that today. Now, it's a challenge: me against the critters, and I love to rise against a challenge!

[FishinInTheDark]

Well, there's another bug on poor Nemo's Mama. She's been acting normally, but the net in the tank sent her into hiding. Maybe I can catch her when she's trying to sleep. Poor thing.

So, I really don't want to have to buy the equipment it would take to get my 80G running again, even as a FO. Do you all think I could get away with a powerhead and an Emperor 400 with biowheel for about six months? I think I could come up with that equipment fairly cheaply if I shop at the larger etailers. I would basically run it bare bottom with only PVC elbows. There would be two clowns, a purple tang, a lyretail anthias, and a royal gramma, so the bioload wouldn't be completely out there.

There's no telling how I'm going to catch that royal gramma without completely tearing the tank apart. He's the only one who won't eat from my hand. Anyone have any tips?

[MikeS]

you should be ok doing that Conni....

let me rummage through my old stuff, I bet I have some stuff you could use...anything in particular you need?

Mike

[MikeS]

also if you need any help I could maybe swing down there....

[FishinInTheDark]

I don't think I need physical help, really. (Probably way past due for the mental help! :w00t: ) When I sold my last 55G freshwater tank, it was a "kit and caboodle" deal, and I threw in all my extra junk. Now, I'm finding myself short by an HOB filter and a powerhead. If you feel like rumaging, I'd love to buy any of your unused stuff. I would be greatly, greatly thankful! Otherwise, I think marinedepot can set me up pretty cheaply.

Thanks a lot Mike! I don't care what everybody else says, you're a pretty good guy! :razz:

[NaH2O]

Oh man Conni! Try to get your hands on a fish trap - it might help with the fish that fear the net :D.

Here is a quote from the RC thread I was telling you about. The thread: Is this what I think it is? (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=640774) I mentioned to you about removing the crabs. I was wrong as to why - its the molts the cirolanids will eat....I imagine if the crabs die, they (the cirolanids) could scavenge that, too. But, according to this post, the molts can be a problem with the scavenger type. If it were my tank, I'd undoubtedly get the rare problematic kind...its just the way my luck is. Also, in the link is another link to an article by Dr. Ron.


If you get a breeding population in your tank then you'll have your work cut out to get rid of them. The best way is to leave the tank fishless for 3-6 months and that should get rid of most of the common cirolanid species. However, some rarer species of cirolanid isopods are also scavengers and are quite good at surviving with no fish in the tank. How do I know this? I battled the scavenger type in my tank for 6 months.

If you are lucky enough to get the scavenger species then you'll also have to stop feeding all meaty foods and also remove all crabs from your system so the cirolanids won't eat the molts.

To see if you have any more hanging out in your tank take a red lensed flashlight and observe 1-2 hours after lights out and again before lights on (and any sunlight enters the room) in the morning. I set my photoperiod to end at 9pm and look at 10 and 11pm and again around 5am. You'll need to observe daily for 3-6 months and see none before you can relatively safely say your tank is free of the isopods. Mine always appeared on the sandbed or on the glass within 2-4 inches of the sandbed in a lower flow area, but a general sweep of the tank is recommended.

B.


You could always speed up the process of removing the nasty buggers....after your tank is fish free for a month or so, stick your arm in there and see how many attach to it. Do it weekly, until no more attach to your arm. Better yet, have MikeS stick his arm in there :shock:. Uh oh - ducking for cover now :D

Hope this helps! Let us know how it goes

[FishinInTheDark]

Thanks for the help Nikki!

Mike, I take it back: your physical help is needed after all. It looks like I need bait!

[blennyluv]

you guys are too funny. what is a cirolanid anyway? guess i will have to do some research. but sometimes ignorance is bliss.

[Sugar Magnolia]

I figured you'd find more than one cirolanid. :( I know what you mean about trying to remove the gramma. Mine is so skittish and darts into the rockwork whenever I approach the tank. Good uck to you getting him out - wish I had some advice for you. :(

[gman0526]

All i can do is wish you good luck with this, seems like you're bound to a FO tank for awhile.

[FishinInTheDark]

Thanks again for the good wishes. I knew I was hoping against hope that there would only be one. Hopefully, there aren't a whole lot of them. When I was looking with the flashlight after dark, I found zillions of mysis and other good pods. I never saw any other cirolanids on fish, sand, or glass. I also never caught any in my crab trap, so I'm thinking these may be the truly predaceous type.

Still haven't found a crab. I banished my emerald crab to the 'fuge. I don't have hardly any algae, so he may have been getting hungry. I still don't really think he would drag those fairly large frags under the rocks though. He's little, and doesn't really go underneath the rocks ever. He hangs out one top, where the algae grows. Anyway, I'm still watching. . .

I did find a red-footed whelk last night! It was out of reach, so I didn't pull it out, but I'm guessing I better not add any more nass for a while.

Like I said: gotta love a challenge!

[blennyluv]

as far as the gramma, i had to take my entire tank apart to catch mine, even with only enough rock for the brittles to hide under he was a bugger to catch!!

[MikeS]

Better yet, have MikeS stick his arm in there :shock:. Uh oh - ducking for cover now :D

Mike, I take it back: your physical help is needed after all. It looks like I need bait!

I refuse to be treated like a piece of meat...I have my dignity, sorry to dissapoint you, ladies... :wink: :lol:

Conni, I have a few large HOB filters laying around basically intact...an Emporer and a Whisper...you are more than welcome to use either of these for your tank...my work schedule will determine if I can deliver these in person or not (and NO I'm not sticking my bare arm in your tank to test for parasites... :lol: )...if I cant' get down there this weekend I'll find another way to get the filters to you...sweet guy, aint I? :wink: :lol:

Mike

[FishinInTheDark]

Mike,

Feel free to stick them into the mail. I'll shoot back a check to you immediately. Thank you so much!!!

I found a crab last night. My husband and I worked together trying to catch it. After a while of planning and plotting, I'm pretty sure that we scared the bejesus out of it. I bet it stayed in hiding for a good fifteen minutes AFTER we gave up! That'll teach it! I don't know what kind of crab it was. Personally, it also looked too small to drag around the rocks, but I'll find it anyway. I'm feeling quite militaristic about crab hitchhikers lately.

Now, you're all up to date on my tank. . .

[Doctor_Reef]

Sounds like there are going to be some more hunting outings in the wee hours of the night!!!! ;)

[MikeS]

Mike,

Feel free to stick them into the mail. I'll shoot back a check to you immediately. Thank you so much!!!.

No problem....you don't need to send me a check, just use it as long as you need it...no biggie, it's just collecting dust in a box anyway. :-D I'll make sure it is watertight, it may need a new impeller ( the whisper ) and I'll ship it off....oh BTW, which one do you want? The Penguin or the Whisper?

I found a crab last night. My husband and I worked together trying to catch it. After a while of planning and plotting, I'm pretty sure that we scared the bejesus out of it. I bet it stayed in hiding for a good fifteen minutes AFTER we gave up! That'll teach it! I don't know what kind of crab it was. Personally, it also looked too small to drag around the rocks, but I'll find it anyway. I'm feeling quite militaristic about crab hitchhikers lately.

Now, you're all up to date on my tank. . .

Since you are in a militaristic mood...trying to capture them is a huge pain...if you can figure out where it is hiding, get him with some boiling RO/DI and a turkey baster...it's easy, basically harmless on the rock, and I won't lie, you'll get an amount of satisfaction watching the little coral eating monster do the "funky chicken" when that boiling water hits him... :badgrin:

Mike

[FishinInTheDark]

Mike, I thought of your Boiled Crab Story after we had lost the little bugger. (He is short a claw, but that didn't stop him from picking a hole in my big, beautiful toadstool last night.) He had been in a hole when I first found him, but crawled out pretty quickly. If only I had remembered your story about cooking them beforehand. Tonight, I will have the boiling water ready before I even turn on the flashlight!

I don't care which filter you send. I guess whichever has the greatest flow rate, or whichever is easiest to pack up. Flip a coin for me! I'll PM you my address. Again, thank you, thank you, thank you!

[FishinInTheDark]

For the rest of you, I think I've come up with a way to catch the royal gramma: He always sleeps in a golfball-sized hole that goes straight through a medium rock. I think when he's asleep, I'll place a net on both sides and let him catch himself.

[FishinInTheDark]

Woo Hoo Baby! :chuggin: I got the crab that eluded me last night. The Mike's Boiled Crab recipe worked perfectly. He curled up in a ball and then shed his legs right inside his hole, thereby robbing me of the satisfaction of seeing the chicken dance, but I did my own version after pulling him out of the tank. :whistle:

There's no chance of IDing a legless crab, and I'll have to sit back and watch my corals for more destruction to make sure this was the true perp, but at least I finally outsmarted something with a brain the size of the head of a pin! :banana:

[Doctor_Reef]

Congrats Conni.... :thumbsup:

[MikeS]

felt good, didn't it? :badgrin:

Mike

[funkybozu]

you guys are a riot !! lol
cant believe i missed this thread.
good one conni!

BTW when you use boiling water what kind of turkey blaster do you use?
or is it a niddle thing?

[Sugar Magnolia]

Congrats Conni!

[FishinInTheDark]

Thanks for the congrats guys! Hopefully, there's one hurdle behind me.

Funky, I used my regular Dollar Store turkey baster. I filled it up as much as I could with the boiling water and then just squeezed it into the hole.

[funkybozu]

didnt the plastic melt?
i tryed it ones but i nearly bruned myself lol

[FishinInTheDark]

It didn't melt, but I almost doused the cat with boiling water when I tipped it instead of pulling it straight out of the pan. Missed him by an inch or so. He's always underfoot, and almost got taught a lesson!

[funkybozu]

lol poor thing