a leech on my fish body

[mAriNe_enthusiast]

Guys...

I saw this little thing sticking on my fish's body...

It seems to be irritating the fish...

Does anyone know what it is and how to go about treating the fish?

freshwater dip?

[xp95]

what does it look like??

[mAriNe_enthusiast]

The leech is about 1-2mm...

And it body is translucent...it just attched itself to the fish body.

SOmetimes i also see it on the sand bed...

now my fish inactive liao...

shd i physically remove it but worried it'll further stressed the fish.

[dfstan]

You should remove as soon as you notice it attach to the fish. It can be removed easily with use of pincer. The problem would lie in getting the fish out of the tank but in your case, your fish is inactive so that pretty easy. Better to remove it quick, else it will suck the life out of your fish…

[xp95]

Agree with dfstan. I think it may be a water flea and those are parasitic. if you can remove asap. hopefully not too late for your fish.......

[chrislwp]

I got such "leech" with my damsel before.. after 2 days, it's gone..

[hongqixian]

It's not a water flea.

It's a parasitic isopod(fish louse). A positive nightmare. They sometimes hide in rock/sandbed in the day and suck blood at night, the little vampires. Will jump off your fish too.

Pray that there isn't a breeding female in your rock.

There are a number of ways to trap them, but i can't think of any efficient ones except catching your fish out to pull them off. They can survive for at least a couple of months hidden in the rock without fish to feed on i think.

[mAriNe_enthusiast]

Are they deadly to the fishes?

When the leech dropped off, there is a scar on the fish.

[SpidermanX]

my clown had one before too. I took the clown out and manually remove the attached leech. U would see a small bite/red spot on the body of the clown. But it recovered and the clown is a happy fish now.

And throw the leech into the bin as well.

[ReDDeviLs]

does it look like very small tiny sea slugs? i have alot of them white in colour,but in the filter comparement that fish cant go in.wonder wat are they?they appear to me like shell-less snails too.

[Cleartank]

Looks like this? Then its like what hongqixian had mention, isopod.

Remove like what other mention, removw fish then remove the isopod with pincer!!

[mAriNe_enthusiast]

not easy...my fish hiding among the rock...

But i didn't see the leech...it muz have dropped off...

[hongqixian]

Looks like this? Then its like what hongqixian had mention, isopod.

Remove like what other mention, removw fish then remove the isopod with pincer!!

Yes that's the kind. But the pictured louse is a bit on the large side for the ones sneaking around in the rock. They do come in all sizes though.

Remove with a blunt headed pair of pincers and be careful. You don't want to end up skewering your fish.

Fish hiding in the rock tend to be easier targets for fish lice. It's easier to climb on and suck blood