New Print and eBook on Amazon Goldfish Success What it takes to keep goldfish healthy long-term by Robert (Bob) Fenner

Lice - Solve      6/13/18
I used Lice – Solve last night on my happy active fish and this morning 16 of my fish are dead leaving only 5 left alive. I am heartbroken that despite using the correct amount and following instructions to the letter that I have inadvertently killed my beautiful fish with this product.
Jay
<Hello Jay. Lice-Solve is a product for killing off Argulus, Anchor Worms, and other (external) crustacean parasites. It's basically an insecticide, and should have low toxicity to vertebrates such as fish. Consequently the chemical inside Lice-Solve, Emamectin, has been used on fish farms where the food produced ends up on our dinner plates. With that said, insecticides can cause problems for fish if used at the wrong dosage (so double-check that) and can also cause problems to 'sensitive' fish species. If we're talking about pond fish, that's going to mean things like Orfe and Sturgeons, and possibly other species as well. Goldfish and Koi should be fine though. One problem with using any sort of poison is that if other things in the pond die as well, such as insects in the pond, and there's enough 'dying' going on to reduce water quality, then the fish may suffer as oxygen levels drop. It's often recommended that aeration be increased when medicating, which in a pond situation might include using a fountain or air bubbler. In a pond without filtration or aeration, it's entirely possible that even irritation to the gill membranes caused by the medication can be sufficient to stress, or even kill, your fish. I'd certainly reach out to the manufacturers to see if they can offer some insight, but I agree with you that this is a very unfortunate outcome. Hope this helps, Neale.>

Fish lice and American freshwater eel (RMF, anything to add?)      8/28/17
Hello, I have an American freshwater eel that I bought at a Maryland bait shop about 5 years ago.
<Interesting fish, T! Kept a European Eel years ago, and it was quite a beast!>
Although shy, he has been doing well.
<Anguilla species are generally extremely robust but fundamentally nocturnal, which accords well with what you've seen. The biggest obstacle to success is escape, because they do have a very strong migratory instinct.>
Just the other day I brought home a dozen comets to feed him, and only noticed a day later that one of the feeders had fish lice.
<***Sound of Neale bashing his head against the wall***>
(lots of Google searching there) I got out 3, 1 swimming and 2 on the feeder, but found a line of what looked like eggs that I was unsuccessful at removing.
<Oh dear.>
( they swirled away. oops.) I am worried what I can use to treat the tank with that would be safe for my eel.
<Prevention better than cure, here. To recap for the benefit of our readers, there is NO reason at all to use "feeder fish" when feeding virtually any aquarium fish. As our correspondent here has learned, it's a good way to introduce disease. Furthermore, goldfish are rich in Thiaminase and fat, two things that cause health issues in pet fish. Anguilla species hunt by smell, and from personal experience I can tell you they'll eat anything, even strips of fish fillet and squid. No need for live food, except perhaps earthworms and river shrimp while acclimating new specimens to life in captivity.>
Or if goldfish lice can even spread to an eel?
<Probably. Fish lice (Argulus spp.) are certainly known from Anguilla spp., so the balance of probability is that this is a real danger.>
I think copper is supposed to be bad?
<Copper is toxic to virtually all life; it's really a question of how much.
The "art" is dosing enough to kill the pathogen without killing the patient. In this case, copper isn't really your best option. There are really two good solutions here. On fish farms, you'd simply move the fish into strongly brackish or marine conditions. That'd kill the external parasites without much trouble. Anguilla spp are euryhaline, but once
acclimated to brackish or marine conditions, chances are it'd go into its reproduction mode, changing from its current yellow eel phase into the breeding silver eel phase. Keeping such eels in aquaria is very difficult because they will desperately try to escape, even if it means they need to hit you over the head and steal the car keys to do so. Your second option is a suitable insecticide (typically organophosphates) though Fish Lice are, of course, crustaceans. Using these organophosphates is potentially risky because they are highly toxic, so you need to follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer or vet very carefully. As far as I know, copper is not toxic to Argulus at levels safe for your fish, which is why treating Argulus on ornamental fish is such a headache. It's primarily pond people who have to deal with it; for some reason it doesn't often become established in aquaria. Of course if you introduce pond fish (like "feeders") to an aquarium, then all bets are off, and Fish Lice can become
a serious headache. They are difficult to deal with, severely harm the host, and the wounds they create quickly become infected with Aeromonas and Pseudomonas infections.>
And a salt soak would not clear out the rest of the tank.
<Not sure what you mean here. Run the tank as moderately brackish to marine, and yes, Argulus will die. Standard operating practice on salmon farms.>
Research has not given me much as most people have marine eels or spiny eels.
<Oh, wow, there's tonnes of research into Argulus if you check out the academic literature. It is potentially a massive threat to commercial fish farms. Koi keepers also deal with it on a regular basis IF they don't quarantine new livestock, and organophosphate medications are available for treating pond fish -- you'll need to use one of those, unless you have a local vet able to help you. Regardless, organophosphates should work well, but Anguilla are unusual, and organophosphates are acutely toxic, so do carefully observe your eel for signs of distress. I'd have some good quality carbon handy in case something goes wrong -- at the first sign of distress, do a massive (~90%) water change, followed by filtering through carbon (or some similar marine-grade chemical adsorbent) together with increased water current and aeration.>
Can you give me any advice?
<Don't use feeders, EVER.>
Thank you, T
<Most welcome. Cheers, Neale. PS. BobF's our pond guru, so I'm going to ask him to chip in if I've missed anything.><Nada mas Neale. Excellent resp. by you as always. B>

Argulus medication in Fresh Water Ponds of Catla Catla & Labeo Rohita     11/15/16
Dear Robert and Wet Web Media,
<Krishna; hey; one of our dive guides shares your name here in Mauritius>
I am a Chemical Engineer and working in Aquaculture Industry in India. Our Fish farmers raise Major Carps (Catla catla, Labeo rohita etc.,) .
<Ah yes; many important food Cyprinids>
The is too much of Argulus (sea lice) here. We found existing medications cease to work due to raised resistance of Argulus.
<Mmm; I take it you mean organophosphates... acetyl cholinesterase inhibitors>
Would you enlighten us with some new formulas which we can try out?
<What have you tried/used thus far? Common/generic and IUPAC names please>
Thank you, I look forward
<Cheers, and we'll be chatting... Am out dive-adventuring to mo.s end; so no access to chem. abstracts, what have you. Bob Fenner>
Re: Argulus medication in Fresh Water Ponds of Catla Catla & Labeo Rohita     11/16/16
Emamectin Benzoate used to solve the problem some extent. But it became obsolete now in our Aquaculture industry. There are few unknown costly medications used by some dealers, (some say 'Biospot') whose formula is unknown. They stop the outbreak a bit, but again they lice come severe.
<Mmm; have you tried Lufenuron along w/ the Emamectin (1:4)? Is there a possibility of formalin flushing, or bathing stock while sterilizing holding facilities? Bob Fenner>
Re: Argulus medication in Fresh Water Ponds of Catla Catla & Labeo Rohita      11/16/16
Lufenuron, I did not try it myself. I am not sure whether people would have tried Lufenuron here. My best guess is someone would have already tried it here since we have around 1 lakh acres of inland Fish culture here, (dealing with Argulus is pretty aggressive here ) and few of the fancy new compounds (unknown chemical) worked for a while like 1 month, however they cease to work as the Argulus increases its drug resistance. Its a closed secret when a new medicine comes out here. However none of them hold more than 2 months. But I am not really aware of the 1:4 combo Lufenuron with Emamectin.
<There's some recent literature in the sciences re. Do you know Ed Noga down in Florida? He's retired from teaching, but still does consulting re fish disease... and another friend I'd contact is Myron Roth; in Canada>
In my research in the literature, I found these compounds Cyromazine, Trichlorofon and Praziquantel, which might not have been tried at our side.
<Mmm; Trichlorfon and its many brand/generic names I'm quite familiar with.
You can search re on WWM. Prazi has issues w/ water solubility and is expensive in actual large scale aquaculture>
I wish to make new combinations with these and try out, with your suggestions.
Regarding the sterilization of facilities, these are very large ponds (ranging from 10acres-100acres, with avg water depth ~5ft). We use formalin just as nominal water sanitizer, but it is not effective with Argulus.
<Needs to be border high dip/bath concentrations. NOT added to ponds>
My idea here is ......considering a pond of 1 Acre with 5 ft depth (~160,000 gal, with 2500 pc.s Labeo Rohita), I want try out new compounds and combinations to checkout which works the best. I'd be more than grateful if you offer some insights in formulating. Thank you.
<It's been many years since I had first hand experience w/ Argulus, these pesticides... Hence my suggestion to contact people in the field presently.
Bob Fenner>

Lice on new goldfish      12/17/15
Greetings, I bought three new juvenile fancy goldfish (a Ryukin, a fantail and a black moor), each around 2 inches long (not including the tail), three days ago. They are currently in a 20-gallon quarantine tank. The water parameters are ammonia & nitrites = 0 and nitrates = 20. The temp is 72 degrees F and the pH is 7.4. All three fish are lively, eat well, and appear quite healthy. I noticed this morning that one of them had what looked like a fish louse on his tail. So, I picked them off with tweezers and upon looking at the creatures under a microscope, it appears to me that they definitely are fish lice. Our local pet store suggests using PraziPro in order to be certain that all life stages of the lice are killed.
<? Fish lice.... are not worms; fish lice are crustaceans... Prazi won't work>
Some others say that PraziPro is only for internal parasites. I have never dealt with fish lice before. What would you do if there were your fish?
Thanks very much in advance for your answer.
<Ah yes. Please read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/fishlicef.htm
and the linked FAQs files above.
Bob Fenner>
Re: Lice on new goldfish.... still not reading
Thanks so much for the information. This is a wonderful website and many times I've found helpful info here.
<I wish you'd use it.... obviously not>
One more question, if you please. At PetSmart, they have API general cure which contains Praziquantel and Metronidazole. Do you think it would be good to dose them with this to eradicate any possibility of lice remaining in the aquarium
<NO! READ; these will NOT TREAT for parasitic crustaceans>
and to prevent any bacterial infection on the fantail goldfish that had
them on his tail?
<Don't write; READ. BobF>
Re: Lice on new goldfish      12/18/15
Don't yell at me.
<Sorry; just exasperated w/ being presented w/ something from you I've just responded to>
I guess I misjudged you. I care tremendously about my fishes' health and I did read that links you suggested. But some of the products you have in the UK are not available to us here.
<Yes; I understand this>
Many people have had success with the product that I mentioned. Sorry to have bothered you.
<Not a bother.... READ and locate the useful molecules listed on WWM. You may need the help of a veterinarian there.
B>
Re: Lice on new goldfish      12/18/15
OK. But I did not just come back with the same treatment I previously suggested. API's treatment has different ingredients than the one I first mentioned and our vet says that he has had success using them for lice.
<.... no; seeing your stmt.s below... you need/want an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor.... "bug" (arthropod) killer. Flagyl and Prazi will NOT work>
And I have access to the vet I work for. I also have an MS in Zoology,
<Ahh; my undergrad. degree from many moons back (75)>
so I'm sure we can figure out the chemistry together. We shall read your link again and think over it some more. Thanks again.
Rif
<Welcome. Bob Fenner>

Lice-Solve Overdose     1/13/13
Hi, I was sincerely hoping you may be able to advise me. I have a 28 gallon tank (set up 4 weeks ago) which cycled fully after 2 weeks (highly improbable I know but the water tests I have had done every few days - samples taken to LFS for testing have consistently shown 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, low levels of nitrates after the initial ammonia spike in the first week). I have many plants and a log from an established tank which kick-started the whole thing beautifully.
<Ahh!>
I added 2 fantail goldfish after a few days of setting up the tank and things were wonderful for one goldfish, the other quite quickly seemed to get stressed, fins clamped, sitting at the bottom of the tank and only stirring when food was served (flakes, occasional peas, broccoli, and bloodworms).
<I'd skip the last. Please search/read on WWM re these sewer fly larvae>
 Was unable to figure out what was wrong until finally some macro photography revealed fish lice on him. By this time, he was very poorly  and passed away before I could treat him. My other fish still appeared fine so I proceeded to treat the tank with lice-solve
<Enamectin: http://www.fish-treatment.co.uk/lice-solve.html>
 (I could see eggs on the plant leaves). I fear though that I may have slightly overdosed my tank (by a small amount - my scales aren't as accurate as I needed them to be).
<This product has a wide range of efficacy... not easily overdosed>
The fish was fine that evening but in the morning he had his nose down in the plants and wasn't moving much. I quickly changed out 30% of the water and he perked up, hungrily eating his flakes and swam around for about 3 hours as usual. Then he settled nose down in the plants again and has stayed more or less in the same spot ever since. I did a further 30% water change in the afternoon. He has tried swimming but seems too weak to fight the current in the tank. I tried to tempt him into some activity with the bloodworm with no success. My question is: is there anything more I can do to try and help him?
<Possibly the addition of salts, sea and Epsom may be cathartic. Please
read here re: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/GFSaltUseF.htm
and the linked files mentioned where you're not familiar (enough)...>
 If he does die, will I have to clean out the whole tank, buy a new cartridge for the filter and start the cycling process again, or will several large water changes remove the offending chemicals from my tank so I can get a new fish and hopefully have better luck/success?
<T'were it me/mine, I'd opt to bleach the system en toto likely... and start again. See Lernaea on WWM re the rationale. Bob Fenner>
Thanks in advance,
Maz
Re: Lice-Solve Overdose 1/14/13
Thank you for your response! Just thought I would update you on how things went. The fish in question has died (gutted!)
<?!>
, but I have done a water test before cleaning the tank out and the lice-solve had caused a massive Ammonia and Nitrite spike which killed the fish.
<Mmm, doubtful. Much more likely the dead fish caused the massive NH3, NO2 spike>
 All I can say is, anyone thinking of using lice-solve for their tanks, use extreme caution, use literally a couple of grains of the powder, and keep a very close eye on your ammonia/nitrites. I wouldn't recommend the stuff myself. Question: what is a good sensible alternative treatment for fish lice should I ever encounter them again?
Thanks for all your help!
<... posted... Read here: Oh, see below that I sent you to search for on WWM last time... do so. BobF>