Fish Lice, Best Course Of Action

[sawickib]

Ok so these stupid things are back, and im very worried and im not sure how long they have been here. However i was wondering how long it usually takes for fish to die from this.
 
My delhezi bichir has a lot on him and im really worried, ive dosed the tank with dimilin yesterday and will be treating again tomorrow, or should i wait two more days? 
 
Its also my understanding that mostly goldfish get these pests, so how am i getting it? I mean anything is possible with parasites but its really annoying, i dont have the luxury of a hospital tank or the ability to empty and clean the tank, and im afraid of removing the fish to removed the lice, because it will stress them out more and may cause further infections.
 
So should this dimilin kill all of them off leave me not to worry, i know it wont kill the eggs, but i will be treating 3 times this month and most likely once in 1 or months after.

 

[star4]

Sorry I cant help much. If Dimilin only kills the adult lice you are going to need to re-treat to kill off newly hatched lice. Now here lies your problem because depending on the species of louse they can have different hatching rates depending on water temperature.. good link here.
http/edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fa184
 
What does the dosage say on the packaging? I think you may have to use it for longer than a month.

 

[sawickib]

So im under the impression i have one of the species that is not studied well because the other 3 were said to be common to goldfish and carp species.
 
One tsp. of dimilin treats 500 gallons.
 
Should i wait two more days so that its 5 days between each treatment to maximize the affect of the medicine?
 
It says i can only dose 3 times a month at the maximum at 3-5 day intervals.
 
Im hoping this works because its supposed to stop the lice from molting until they die from not being able to.

 

[star4]

They are more common in goldfish & koi due to them being outside - I was told (unconfirmed truth mind) that lice can travel on the feet of birds and hence end up in a pond. However how they get into your tank unless on plants I am not sure there are a few theories about eggs being able to survive in food - how true this is I do not know.
 
As for dosing does it say about a repeat dose after the month? From the little I have read to get rid of hatched lice you need to dose for 2 months, so if the dimilin allows I would do every 5 days (3 doses) leave a whole week with a really large water change then repeat again for another 3 doses at 5 days apart, this with the water temperature (I am guessing 24 - 28C somewhere between) should catch those hatching in the timescale. If your temperature was lower, I would (if the medication allows) then a third course.
 
Hope this helps

 

[sawickib]

Its in that temp range yes, alright sounds like a good idea, to dose like that.
 
As far as where it comes from idk, it could have came in on any of my new fish, since ive been getting a lot in lately and it could have came from anyone of them i suppose.
 
Alright thanks star, ill update this later if everythings alright

 

[star4]

Ah yes most likely on the new fish already then. Fingers crossed you get rid of them all