Pod host on my mandrain fish tail

[curahee]

As above, how to remove the pod? Try to catch the fish but fail. Are there any ways to remove it or will it juz unhost itself?

[kanegan]

As above, how to remove the pod? Try to catch the fish but fail. Are there any ways to remove it or will it juz unhost itself?

Sound like a parasite if it is clinging to your fish. I would catch the fish and pick the bugger off....

[curahee]

Sound like a parasite if it is clinging to your fish. I would catch the fish and pick the bugger off....

Yeah try it but the fish keep hiding in LR, their reaction super fast. Anyway i tot mandrain fish is a pod killer, nv expect a pod will host on its body. I wonder if i nv remove it the fish will die or not...

[peacemaker]

If you're able to get the fish out, try dipping it in fresh water. The pod will almost immediately release its grip on the fish. Thought it'll be better than prying it off the fish. Did it to my clownfish before without ill effects.

[iskay]

Sound like a parasite if it is clinging to your fish. I would catch the fish and pick the bugger off....

Second that. Physical removal seems to be the best option and you should remove it fast! Before it's full and detaches and possibly reproduces!

[yikai]

parasitic isopods are deadly if you have them. faster remove as many as you can find before they reproduce. they mainly feed at night and detach in the day. but some cling on thourhgout. prolonged exposure to parasitic ispods in large numbers can and will kill your fish over time.

[[V]tEc]

do not try dipping ur mandarin in fresh water....u will kill ur mandarin....

[LaW]

ways to catch mandrain:

1) off all ur lights together immediately about an hour before lights off. then about 2 or 3 hours later (surrounding best to be in total darkness), then spot where is he and net him out. mine usually lies around the sandbed when they sleep.

2) by using live feeder, brine shrimp etc, in a transparent container. wait for it to enter and then use a net to cover the exit after that.

ways to get rid the pod:

1) freshwater dip, might be risky like what Vtec suggested.

2) use a tweezer and pull the bug out in the open. it hurts the fish but its another alternative.

all the best.

[straydum]

i suggest manual removal too. did that on one of my clowns before, after which it acted as though nothing happened

[yikai]

dont dip mandarins in freshwater. you will kill it. they have no scales and you will screw up their mucus layer like this.

[arcanehacker]

dont dip mandarins in freshwater. you will kill it. they have no scales and you will screw up their mucus layer like this.

Yup.. agreed. They sorta belong to another group of fishes which do not have scales (eg box fish, eels).. Though they have a mucus layer to protect themselves, they are also more sensitive to medications and most probably salinity change.

[yikai]

mandarins are especially sensitive to freshwater dips because of the mucus. not so much because they are scaleless. tangs are scaleless but respond okay to freshwater dips. however, all scaleless fishes are very sensitive to copper, especially mandarins because again, of their mucus.

mandarins slime like crazy in copper and freshwater and this extra mucus will choke the fish. the thick mucus layer is very good for the mandarin as it keeps most smaller parasites like ich away. you almost never see mandarins with ich. only larger isopods can work their way onto mandarins. good luck! manual removal is the only solution IMO here.

[Terryz_]

After plucking the pod out, there will be a wound there... Monitor it and see that it will not get infected...

[kanegan]

Yeah try it but the fish keep hiding in LR, their reaction super fast. Anyway i tot mandrain fish is a pod killer, nv expect a pod will host on its body. I wonder if i nv remove it the fish will die or not...

Just try to wait for the fish to sleep. But you really need to catch it.

As for physical removal, I used a pair of pincers to do it.

I tried pulling lightly but the bugger refused to let go so I went plan B.

Using the pincer, I squeezed the pod's body repeatedly until I can gently take it off the fish.

Remember the idea is not to kill it immediately but to stress it into loosen the grip.

Note: No wound when I did this.

[yikai]

i have had 2 parasitic isopods on my jawfish before. dam sick when you freshwater dip. especially when the pod is IN THE MOUTH of the jawfish. you will see the pod crawl out of the mouth like some sick alien movie... they dont tolerate freshwater dips and they go nuts.

[peacemaker]

dont dip mandarins in freshwater. you will kill it. they have no scales and you will screw up their mucus layer like this.

My bad... I've tried peeling the pod off my clownfish, but it seems a little torturous (the poor thing was flipping around frantically), so the freshwater dip worked for me within seconds. Perhaps it could work on hardier fishes, but not for the mandarin.

[arcanehacker]

Just try to wait for the fish to sleep. But you really need to catch it.

Actually waiting for them to sleep is a good idea.. they occasionally sleep out in the open.. they will look like dead pale fishes and best is they take a quite a while to wake up.. Best time to net them..

[yikai]

My bad... I've tried peeling the pod off my clownfish, but it seems a little torturous (the poor thing was flipping around frantically), so the freshwater dip worked for me within seconds. Perhaps it could work on hardier fishes, but not for the mandarin.

yup no problem bro. clownfishes respond very well to FW dips. but not mandarins cheers!!

[yikai]

please note that the isopod will not stick to the fish for ever and wait for you to slowly trap the fish. once it has had its fill of blood it will detach. or worse, it will detach when the fish swims into areas that may be too bright for it. so i suggest you catch it out ASAP and not wait for the mandarin to go to sleep or what not.

get a glass bottle, put live brine shrimps, and let the mandarin go in. or find other methods of trapping. mandarins are not that difficult to catch. easy to trap.

[curahee]

Thanks everyone for sharing ur precious experience, very helpful info.