# Weird growths on a couple of fish



## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

So, I just started noticing something weird on 3 of my fish today. I'm pretty sure there is some sort of worm (nematode) on my Chocolate cichlid, but there is another weird "growth" I'm not sure of.

White worm looking protrusions:



















And these are the weird growths:


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## crazy72 (Apr 22, 2010)

Gary, I really am no expert at all about fish diseases, but I just had a quick look in my "Manual of fish health" and they show there photos of fish lice that look very much like your last 3 pics here. It's called Argulus. Run a google search for "fish lice Argulus" and you'll see more pics and treatment advice. 

I might be all wrong of course.

Good luck with it, whatever it is.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Franck, you're right. The second mysterious bumps sound exactly like fish lice (shield shaped). Thanks for that. Have to figure out what the first white things are. Guess I'll have to get some fluke tabs.


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## crazy72 (Apr 22, 2010)

Yup. Pretty good picture here. They are darker but otherwise very similar.

http://www.tdsfb.org/Argulus-Project.htm


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

If they're fish lice, if memory serves correctly, they actually do detach off and find another spot to feed on!

I remember my goldfish had it once, this wuz years and years back!
I'm not sure if i'm dreaming  or wuz it real, but I remember they do detach and swim off which is quite odd! i remember catching one and throwing it out! it swam off!
(wuz i dreaming or am i correct?)


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Yep, I found some other pictures that look almost identical. I guess it's off to find some fluke tabs tomorrow.

Eternity, I'm not sure if they detach or not. This is the first time I've ever seen these in all my years of fishkeeper....blind luck?


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## Adz1 (Apr 21, 2010)

2wheelsx2 said:


> Yep, I found some other pictures that look almost identical. I guess it's off to find some fluke tabs tomorrow.
> 
> Eternity, I'm not sure if they detach or not. This is the first time I've ever seen these in all my years of fishkeeper....blind luck?


Gary Prazi pro is only 11.35 at JL Aquatics.


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

gary, indeed they are fish lice. Get them out early. Just catch your fish, use a small tweezer and plug them out.

Don't wait till you have an outbreak. They can reproduce quite quickly.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks Charles. I'll give it a try tomorrow. It's too late the thrash around with a fish tonight.


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

2wheelsx2 said:


> Thanks Charles. I'll give it a try tomorrow. It's too late the thrash around with a fish tonight.


I'm no expert, but I guess I wuzn't dreaming! I remember netting my fish and pulled it off with my fingernails!

You seriously dun want them in ur tank... i remember catching one that wuz swimming away, and one that i pried off with my finger nails.. they seriously eat through the skin! I guess i wuznt dreaming after all.. i just remember a horrible sight.. poor goldfish i had!


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Yeah, now my wife is all weirded out by them. Guess I'll have to get my "wet suit" on tomorrow and catch that 10" Chocolate  The plecos I'm not too worried about catching.


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

NET them before you try to remove them! As i said.. i remember them detaching and swimming away! DEFINITELY disguting... but kinda reminded me of a horseshoe crab! good luck good luck!


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## ibenu (Apr 21, 2010)

Pm'd with meds I have...


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks Lisa. Got your PM and replied. I'm doing more research today and going to try both the manual and meds methods today I think. I'll be taking the fish out for inspection and manual removal.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Well, I tried a couple of things, one of which is the manual removal method. Having a fully planted tank really really sucks when it comes to this and having 60+ fish doesn't help (35+ cories). After trying to catch the Chocolate Cichlid for 20 minutes I gave up. I am going to get some Fluke Tabs tonight and a second bigger net to do a 2 pronged attack to see if I can catch some and treat the rest.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Still haven't been able to catch these guys because I forgot to get a bigger net in my hurry to get some medication. I've tried Clout, but so far the lice still appear to be on the Chocolate. But I have not seen it on the other plecos, so maybe that's a good sign. It's been about 30 hours since the treatment. But of course, with so many plecos, I'm not sure I'm always looking at the same one.  The plan is to wait a week, do a big water change and do another treatment.


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## JUICE (Jan 4, 2020)

2wheelsx2 said:


> Still haven't been able to catch these guys because I forgot to get a bigger net in my hurry to get some medication. I've tried Clout, but so far the lice still appear to be on the Chocolate. But I have not seen it on the other plecos, so maybe that's a good sign. It's been about 30 hours since the treatment. But of course, with so many plecos, I'm not sure I'm always looking at the same one.  The plan is to wait a week, do a big water change and do another treatment.


when you do a big water change , grab the fish then , it should be easier with less water ? , thats the only time i attempt to catch fish in a 210


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

JUICE said:


> when you do a big water change , grab the fish then , it should be easier with less water ? , thats the only time i attempt to catch fish in a 210


That's true. Now why didn't I think of that. Ok, that'll be my weekend ordeal. Thanks for the suggestion.


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

Careful with clout, very strong medication.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks, Charles. I slightly underdosed and only did it when I was home so I can observe them. This weekend, Daniel is coming over to pick up some stuff and we're going to try and catch and pluck the fish together. Might be easier than me running around from side to side on the 6 foot tank. 

If all else fails and I figure out how to catch them, I'll have to try a PP dip. I'm not going to treat the entire tank with PP as it'll cause a massive die-off of plants and biofilter, which will cause more problems than I have now.


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## target (Apr 21, 2010)

Should be a fun challenge. Question: how many BCA'ers does it take to catch a chocolate cichlid. Stay tuned for the answer.


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

1........


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Actually, 2. One to catch, and the second to tell the first how slow he is at catching them....like I do when I'm at your place, Charles.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Ok, thanks to Daniel, I was able to catch the big Chocolate and get the lice off. One jumped right off as I was putting the fish in the bucket, and I pulled off the second with tweezers.

Here's a pic of the beast. It was still swimming around trying to find a host.


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## Adz1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Gary,
do you think you got them all?
anything you can do as well as pluck them off for treatment?


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

2wheelsx2 said:


> Ok, thanks to Daniel, I was able to catch the big Chocolate and get the lice off. One jumped right off as I was putting the fish in the bucket, and I pulled off the second with tweezers.
> 
> Here's a pic of the beast. It was still swimming around trying to find a host.


HAH!!! I guess I wasnt dreaming, I told you they swim off!! It's pretty disgusting, but how's the fish now?


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

They don't seem to be able to penetrate the plecos' armour. I've seen them on the plecos and in a day they're off. This is the only instance where I have seen them on cichlids. The JD's also don't seem to have them either.

I'm using Clout which has organophosphates which is supposed to be one of the few compounds proven to kill them, but because of the plecos, I'm not using a full dose, so am not sure if that's affecting the effectiveness. I've done one dose so far, and will be applying another dose tomorrow after my weekly water change.

From all I've read, several doses might be necessary to eradicate them all. They don't seem to multiple that fast, as I've only seen 3 or 4 in all the fish I'm able to see.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

eternity302 said:


> HAH!!! I guess I wasnt dreaming, I told you they swim off!! It's pretty disgusting, but how's the fish now?


The Chocolate managed to injure himself a bit during capture, and of course there was a lot of slime coat loss, so is hiding in the back among the plants. I think it should be fine. The lice didn't even seem to bother it.


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

=) that's good to hear! Glad you're taking good care of em!


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## thefishwife (Apr 21, 2010)

So now that you have got ridden of the lice, what do you think the white wormy thing is? and is it gone?

And for the heck of someone googling this thread - how do you get fish lice in a tank?


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## target (Apr 21, 2010)

That was a big fish to catch. Those lice were disgusting, but easy to remove. Glad I could help out.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

thefishwife said:


> So now that you have got ridden of the lice, what do you think the white wormy thing is? and is it gone?
> 
> And for the heck of someone googling this thread - how do you get fish lice in a tank?


Good questions, and I happen to think I have answers to both.

The white wormy things turned out to be secondary infections caused by the lice eating the fish tissue (they insert a tube for feeding and inject a chemical that prevents coagulation and also dissolves the tissue) and it's all cleared up.

As I understand it, all sources tell me fish lice are common in pond fish and rarer in tropical fish, but since all my plecos are wild caught except the BNP's, they obviously came from them (I haven't added any wild caught fish in that tank except plecos). This is a good argument for quarantine, once again, as I could have easily observed it and removed them.

The good thing is that if my tank were all plecos, there is nothing to worry about, as they seem to have trouble attaching to the armour. The bad news is that cichlids have a lot of area to attach to, so I have to keep an eye out.

I dosed Clout again last night at full strength, so hopefully this is the last of it. Either way, I learned a few lessons here:

1. Argulus are gross, but not overly aggressive, and fairly easy to deal with, as long as your tank is not full scaped and planted.
2. Quarantine. The argulus would have been observed and caught in quarantine.
3. Treatment is only with organophosphates like Fluke tabs or Clout. Anything else is a waste of time. But the fastest way is to catch the fish and pull them off with tweezers. No big deal unless your fish weighs 2 pounds and is a foot long.
4. In a 6 foot tank, get a helper. Daniel and I caught it in about 2 minutes. I tried for 20 minutes by myself and caught nothing but water.

I hope this thread helps other people in the future.


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## thefishwife (Apr 21, 2010)

Very interesting Gary!! I think this thread will help alot of ppl if need be.

Had no idea that the lice would have come from your pleco's. Glad you figured the wormy thing out.

Thanks for the reply Gary.


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