Flukes or Anchor Worms or Copepods or...?

Badbrad8500 · 02/21/2016, 01:51 PM

Could someone please tell me what the heck these things are? I've just noticed them crawling all over the glass. You'll notice a couple have long thread-like tails, some don't.

I recently treated the tank (two doses) with PraziPro for flukes and I've just removed all the fish for ich treatment.

I'm not sure if these are flukes coming back, or anchor worms, or hopefully they're just harmless copepods? I've never seen copepods with long tails such as these however.

Badbrad8500 · 02/22/2016, 08:58 PM

Bumpski for knowledge.

Hollifields · 02/23/2016, 12:32 AM

Last week I treated my new fish with Prazipro and the white poop looked nothing like that! Wish I could tell you it looks like some kind of a pod but it don't. Looks more like baby fish! Are they crawling on the glass or swimming?
What fish did you remove?

Badbrad8500 · 02/23/2016, 08:35 AM

Hey Hollifields,

There's probably about a dozen big ones and a hundred little ones crawling all over the glass. The big ones are about a millimeter long and have that stringy tail whipping in the current.

I removed 2 chromis, 2 clowns, 3 Banggai cardinals, a yellow tang, a filefish, and a flasher wrasse. Doing the TT method for ich (wiped out 80% of my fish population). They're all in a QT awaiting next transfer : )

jbvdhp · 02/23/2016, 09:33 AM

If they're on your glass I'm betting they're pods

ThRoewer · 02/23/2016, 05:52 PM

They could be little nudibranches or some species of planaria. They don't look like pods.

Badbrad8500 · 02/24/2016, 02:11 PM

I'll see if I can take a better picture of them. I'll look for matching nudibranches or planaria too : )

BigUnit83 · 04/30/2017, 06:49 PM

Bumping this thread. Thought I had ich out of my DT and then it appeared again. It took my powder blue in a couple days. My flame angel and one of my ocellaris were victims within the next couple of days.

Strange part about the ocellaris and FA is that I did not see any spots, at all, before they died. Could there be another parasite in my tank attacking my fish? I am having similar worm-like things on my glass just like the OP.

I need to figure out if these are dangerous or not. I've got all my fish out to my QT except for one damsel. Still trying to trap him.

BigUnit83 · 04/30/2017, 06:53 PM

These guys seem to be focused around the area on the glass that has some build up of algae/cyano

Badbrad8500 · 04/30/2017, 07:01 PM

I self identified them as isopods, not sure if that's totally accurate. Isopods like these shouldn't be on your fish though. I'd suspect you have flukes. Sometimes you can't see flukes when they're on their host.

Badbrad8500 · 04/30/2017, 07:02 PM

Prazipro would kill the flukes if they were the issue.

BigUnit83 · 05/05/2017, 02:31 PM

Yeah I was paranoid that my fish were dying, but I did not see any spots. In my hospital tank, I wanted to observe before I chose a medication...

Again, no spots, but they were starting to lose some of their fins, and I saw small white lines across their body. Decided to use PraziPro. We will see how it goes. Only got 2 of my original fish left (Springer Damsel and Ocellaris) and I want them to make it!

02/21/2016, 01:51 PM	#1
Badbrad8500 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 93	Flukes or Anchor Worms or Copepods or...? Could someone please tell me what the heck these things are? I've just noticed them crawling all over the glass. You'll notice a couple have long thread-like tails, some don't. I recently treated the tank (two doses) with PraziPro for flukes and I've just removed all the fish for ich treatment. I'm not sure if these are flukes coming back, or anchor worms, or hopefully they're just harmless copepods? I've never seen copepods with long tails such as these however.

02/23/2016, 09:33 AM	#5
jbvdhp Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: San Diego Posts: 1,131	If they're on your glass I'm betting they're pods __________________ This hobby = no more money Current Tank Info: 8' 240 gallons of headache

02/23/2016, 05:52 PM	#6
ThRoewer Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Fremont, CA Posts: 9,555	They could be little nudibranches or some species of planaria. They don't look like pods. __________________ Pairs: 4 percula, 3 P. kauderni, 3 D. excisus, 1 ea of P. diacanthus, S. splendidus, C. altivelis O. rosenblatti, D. janssi, S. yasha & a Gramma loreto trio 3 P. diacanthus. 2 C. starcki Current Tank Info: 200 gal 4 tank system (40x28x24 + 40B + 40B sump tank + 20g refugium) + 30x18x18 mixed reef + 20g East Pacific biotop + 20g FW +...

02/22/2016, 08:58 PM	#2
Badbrad8500 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 93	Bumpski for knowledge.

02/23/2016, 12:32 AM	#3
Hollifields HOG Owners Group Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Kennesaw, Georgia Posts: 93	Last week I treated my new fish with Prazipro and the white poop looked nothing like that! Wish I could tell you it looks like some kind of a pod but it don't. Looks more like baby fish! Are they crawling on the glass or swimming? What fish did you remove?

02/23/2016, 08:35 AM	#4
Badbrad8500 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 93	Hey Hollifields, There's probably about a dozen big ones and a hundred little ones crawling all over the glass. The big ones are about a millimeter long and have that stringy tail whipping in the current. I removed 2 chromis, 2 clowns, 3 Banggai cardinals, a yellow tang, a filefish, and a flasher wrasse. Doing the TT method for ich (wiped out 80% of my fish population). They're all in a QT awaiting next transfer : )

02/24/2016, 02:11 PM	#7
Badbrad8500 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 93	I'll see if I can take a better picture of them. I'll look for matching nudibranches or planaria too : )

04/30/2017, 06:49 PM	#8
BigUnit83 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2016 Posts: 8	Bumping this thread. Thought I had ich out of my DT and then it appeared again. It took my powder blue in a couple days. My flame angel and one of my ocellaris were victims within the next couple of days. Strange part about the ocellaris and FA is that I did not see any spots, at all, before they died. Could there be another parasite in my tank attacking my fish? I am having similar worm-like things on my glass just like the OP. I need to figure out if these are dangerous or not. I've got all my fish out to my QT except for one damsel. Still trying to trap him.

04/30/2017, 06:53 PM	#9
BigUnit83 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2016 Posts: 8	These guys seem to be focused around the area on the glass that has some build up of algae/cyano

04/30/2017, 07:01 PM	#10
Badbrad8500 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 93	I self identified them as isopods, not sure if that's totally accurate. Isopods like these shouldn't be on your fish though. I'd suspect you have flukes. Sometimes you can't see flukes when they're on their host.

04/30/2017, 07:02 PM	#11
Badbrad8500 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 93	Prazipro would kill the flukes if they were the issue.

05/05/2017, 02:31 PM	#12
BigUnit83 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2016 Posts: 8	Yeah I was paranoid that my fish were dying, but I did not see any spots. In my hospital tank, I wanted to observe before I chose a medication... Again, no spots, but they were starting to lose some of their fins, and I saw small white lines across their body. Decided to use PraziPro. We will see how it goes. Only got 2 of my original fish left (Springer Damsel and Ocellaris) and I want them to make it!