External Parasite On Neon Goby

[dixaisy930]

I noticed tonight that it looks like my neon goby has about ten 1/4 inch, hair width strands on various areas on his body (some on his fins, some on his actual body). The look like tiny little worms. Is there anything else this could be besides parasitic worms? And no point in photos...I think these worms are too little to be seen on any photograph I could take.

Tank stats are nitrate-5 nitrite-0 amm-0 phos-0 salinity 1.023 temp 72F. It's a 29 gallon tank, and the most recent addition were some snails (ceriths, nerites, and astrea) three days ago. So far I haven't noticed these little worms on any of the other fish. How should I go about treating this little guy? My main worry is that he is next to impossible to catch if (when) I would need to dip him or put him in a hospital tank. He is eating normal, very much a pig. His color doesn't seem as vibrant as it usually is, however.

 

[dixaisy930]

I hate to be a bumper, but I'd like some outsiders input to make sure I'll be treating the right thing.

Thanks

 

[Lynden]

Honestly, if he's still eating I would just leave him. Do you have any Cleaner Shrimp?

 

[dixaisy930]

Ok, I'll leave him alone as long as he's eating normally.

I do have a cleaner shrimp. The coral beauty goes over for her daily groom, but none of the other fish bother. I suppose the neon would go over if he needed the shrimp's services?

Thanks.

 

[Lynden]

My Wrasse is the "doctor" for my tank. However, even the doctor can get sick; one day I woke up in the morning to find him infested with ich, which is a very, very bad situation for me, since that Wrasse is very likely the only thing standing between my fish and their untimely deaths from ich. When I got home from school, the Wrasse was in perfect condition. To this day, I'm not sure why this happened; but there is really only a few logical answers, one of them being that the shrimp cleaned him.

The moral of the story is that cleaner species do benefit the tank, and even if you don't see the deed, the health of your fish population is likely to be optimized.

-Lynden

 

[sianeds]

Very true Lynden. My cleaner shrimp looks after my fish very well. My regal tang used to go for a clean every day

 

[dixaisy930]

Today the goby is looking better. I believe I only see one or two of those things on him now.

Thanks for making me wait before any treatment.

Good thing I got that shrimp when I did. I've only had him for a couple of weeks.