PARA-CIDE for fish lice?

While doing a water change the other day I noticed that there are bugs in the tank that appear to me to be "Fish Lice". Very small, fast moving, and appear to jump when chased with a turkey baster (finally was able to buy one!). Also, long white wormy things that mostly float around, but don't settle on the glass like planaria do. How would there be fish lice in my tank if that's what they are?? I haven't introduced any plants or fish to the tank, just a new cave for my babies to hide out in.

Some of the little devils seem to have taken up residency ON MY BABIES Both the licey things and the wormy things. Are they harmful? Where did they come from? And how should I get rid of them????

I do weekly water changes cause the tank is fairly new (8 weeks) and it gets hot here in Perth WA. I vaccuum regularly since having planaria appear in the tank (All gone now) and appart from the cave, which was washed before putting it in, haven't added any thing new.

I bought a product called PARA-CIDE from Aqua Master which says, "Each Tablet Contains: TRICHLORFON 20mg - an anticholinesterase compound"
Is this safe to use? And will it work?

id say they are daphnia? look like little fleas? http://images.google.co.nz/images?q=daphnia&hl=en&btnG=Search+Images

your tank should be cycled now but most of us do weekly water changes anyway, it just keeps the water nice for our babies and its like 'opening a window' for them, i do a 30% chance weekly with a hoover over my sand each time.

not sure about your paracide but i would hold off until someone like ed or joan answers. axies skin is alot more delicate than fish and they absorb stuff through it too so we have to be very careful what stuff we use

I will definitely wait for a firm yes or no on the Para-Cide, my babies are very precious to me and the idea of making them sick (or worse heaven forbid) NO THANKS!

And yes, they do look like little fleas! Just like the pics on the link you posted for me. THANKYOU

So glad i found this forum otherwise my head would have exploded from stress the first week I had my axies

if you have other fish they will snap up your daphnia!! theyre nothing to worry about, they make a great food for small axies/and most fish. do your bubbas eat them?

if you really dont want them in there set up another tank near a window and let it become green, daphnia love to eat the little microscopic stuff in there. a net lined with a panty hose or similar will do the trick getting them out. cool little critters, id love some but not much for sale in NZ. they give birth to young like every three days and they only take three days to mature- pretty cool and sustainable too

I think Lotle and Falkor are a little "slow" to catch them, but as they seem to have only just appeared in the last couple of days I can't say I have seen them even try. I don't have any other fish in the tank with my bubbas but if they are harmless (I was worried bout them settling on my axies - feeding off their skin or something GROSS like that) I won't worry about extermination just yet Will just keep an eye out and make sure they don't get out of control.

Pity there is no such thing as waterproof envelopes . . . I would gladly send you some LOL It's kinda weird that each time I panic and think some "evil, world dominating parasites" are out to eat my babies, they turn out to be harmless. Not only that, but other axie owners want my BUGS Ppl wanted my planaria when that appeared too! (Was that you by any chance? Or am I having a spaz attack?)

CHEERS

Daphia feed on suspended algae, and can help prevent your tank from becoming a cloudy green.

The worms could be any number of things. Most of them are pretty harmless.

People tend to 'freak out' over finding bugs in their tank, but this is completely normal, and healthy. Any long-established, healthy tank is full of little critters. It's part of a healthy ecosystem. Think of pond-water.

Even if the worms are hanging out on my axies? Is there a way to tell if the are feeding off my babies?

There are records that implicate introduction of fish lice with wild caught live daphnia. How large are these white jumping things that you are seeing? If they are very small, then my first suspicion is that they are cyclops and if so are typically not harmful to the axolotls.

Typically "worm" populations are related to dissolved organic load in the tank, and will disappear if this is lowered. If the population gets high enough that they begin to stay on the axolotl then they may irritate the axololt and more frequent water changes may reduce these worms.

Ed

They are VERY small, a bit smaller than a 'pinhead'. And I have not introduced any new fish, plants or living things at all. The only new thing to speak of is frozen brine shrimp added to their diet, but that is fed to them in a container separate to their tank.

I will try increasing the frequency of my water changes. Currently I change 15 - 25% once a week, should I also increase the volume of water I change to hopefully reduce the worm population? Or just the frequency?

The size makes it sound like you have cyclops in the tank not fish lice.
I would suggest doing two 15-25% a week water changes for a few weeks and see if that brings the worm population down.
These populations often go through boom and bust periods and often a couple of extra water changes moves them through the boom period.

Ed

CHEERS Ed.

Planaria? Is that these little tiny white things that cling to the glass in my axy's tank? Been worried about them and was going to do a complete water change but am not sure of the safest way. Are they dangerous to my poor lil Delilah? Thanks guys!

Planaria are not dangerous to axolotls, but if they are abundant, they could indicate the need for more frequent removal of waste and PARTIAL water changes. All aquariums have some kinds of "critters" - some are big enough to see, like planaria, some are microscopic.
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/Tank_critters.shtml