Help with fighting the toughest stain of ick I've seen

[JasPR]

Is THIS what you are seeing? JR

[ReneeB]

Thanks again everyone!!!

I can find other long narrow things that look like flukes. But they are not as defined as that, even at X1000. I read on aquaticcommunity.com that the symptoms of flukes are similar to ick. My fish are going to hate me, but I got out a magnify glass to see if I could see eye movement. I can't find anything that looks like eyes on the white spots. They are just white spots, some are circle, some are like rice. I did notice on one there where some white dots between the gills and the "arm" fin. I did not notice anything else on the there bodies, it is concentrated to the tail.

I looked up that virus too, these physical spots don't look like that, carp pox and such reminds me of cold sores that people get, these don't look like that, they are more like lil grains of rice. When those bumps form, you can see at least one white grain in them, one site said it could be a reaction to coldwater ick.

I'm treating with salt and quick cure (still raising salt levels). If it is flukes will this get it? Or should I be using potassium perm? I got a good look at the white spots, I don't think it is the virus cus I can see through the bumps, besides for the white grain. On the ghost one with the black fin, after the bump popped it was yellowish. On the blue shusui there tails are almost clear, so the bumps are fairly clear too when they pop.

Here are some pics at X1000 of other things that looked like flukes. I can take more tail pictures if that would help. I can't really find anything with a half moon shape, and even though I rushed to look, I could not see anything moving.

Thanks again!!!!!

[JasPR]

Renee, the photos of individual parasites are helpful for identifying parasites species and then choosing the right agent to eradicate them. But what they lack is a perspective of size. Ich is a rather large parasite. Other small rounded and semi rounded protozoa are typically smaller. These would be chilodonella and some voews of costia under higher powers.

Again, the pictures are not very clear but the things you have on there look suspeciously like skin flukes ( look for those 'hooks' on the thin body) and chiliodonella.

If this is the case, we need to change our plan of attack. JR

[ReneeB]

What is my best chance to catch them moving? Looking over the slide at x1000? or not using the cover slide or something?

I can find a few of those long narrow things, but none with hooks. I'm going to do another scrape to hope and catch them moving.

[JasPR]

Well , first the sample needs to be fresh. Secondly, you need to add that drop of water as I suggested. Third, you need to work fairly quickly as time, slide cover pressure and most of all- the light warm and kill these individuals pretty quickly.

The best way to do this is to start with low power ( you should be able to see the entire field like an aerial photo. Then go to a higher power, refocus and start at the upper left corner and slowly move to the right. Like reading a sentence in a book, when you get to the end of the slide, drop your view down to the 'next line' and now move right to left ( as if you were now reading the next sentence in the book backwards. Once you get to the of the cover slip, repeat, by dropping down and 'reading' left to right again. This way you will scan the entire slide missing very little.
the only way this will NOt work is if your lighting is too high and the light actually passes right thru the thin walled parasite, making it almost invisible. JR

[ReneeB]

Thanks!

I tried three times, but could not see anything moving. I did find some stuff that looked like Chilodinella. those long things where not as popular today, and the ones I found did not have hooks that I could see.

Am I looking at chilodinella? does it make since with the tail pics?

[JasPR]

bring the light up a bit on the next one and we'll see better! JR

[ReneeB]

any better? I took another pic of the fluke looking thing, I can't make out any hooks thou.

[gcuss]

Here's my fluke...

Enjoy ??

Grant

[ReneeB]

Thanks! I'm not so thinking flukes now after seeing what they look like. All the long narrow things I was finding seemed to be the same at both ends.

Today one of the blues have really broken out, grains of white rice all over the tail. I'll start the quick cure tomorrow am. I added the 3rd round of 1 tsp per gallon, waited about an hour and tested the level, it came up at 6ppt - 1.004 sp. gravity. Should I do a water change to bring it back down to 3ppt? I was carefully in counting and used a round teaspoon to measure.