HELP ! Egg parasites?

[a.]

Disaster struck!
My M. alpestris eggs were developing nicely, until recently. I have noticed some slow-down in their developmental rate and suspected some unwanted 'whiteness' inside the well developed eggs. A bout 3 or 4 elongated 5mm white worm-like organisms were seen swimming amongst the eggs. Looking through a magnifying glass, most eggs contained, beside a live embryo, an average of about 3 toothpegg-shape white rigid objects, freely sinking to the bottom of the eggs (NOT attached to embryo). Some embryos are malformed. One hatched larva is malformed, 2 other hatched larvae look normal.
Seem to me as if I am about to loose most, if not all of my clutch!
The water for the eggs is regularly changed. They are kept in different age-grouped tubs.
My guess: parasitic worms from my rain water butt (containing dead crustacia and molusca) or the river water I sometimes use.
Any diagnosis? Any possible treatment?
Thanks
D

 

[federico]

Hi, i cant dominate the english very well but i will try.

I think that they are "Mushroom" (hongos), put in the water some Metyl Blue (azul de metileno).

Are the water oxigenated?¿

 

[a.]

the water is passively oxygenated, no pumping. the water in the tubs are no deeper than 3cm.
what is Methyle Blue? how safe is it?

 

[mark]

I would be surprised if it was an “egg parasite” although I suppose it is possible such a thing exists. It’s not something I’ve heard of before. If I look closely in any one of my aquatic tanks there are lots of 5mm worms swimming around –tank critters are perfectly normal. It’s also common to find entire batches of eggs that develop to a certain stage and then fail. I lost hundreds of T.marmoratus eggs this year to deformed embryos (fortunately they got their act together in the end).

I would be reluctant to treat with aquarium disinfectant. If the eggs are duds they can’t be repaired.

 

[ian]

Methylene blue is used a lot as a fish cure for fungus it can also stop fungus developing on eggs but would'nt use it myself

 

[a.]

Thanks. Any idea what the several pointy white 'rods' tumbling in the eggs beside the embryo might be ?

 

[jennifer]

I don't know what the rods could be. With alpestris eggs being so small, I'm amazed you can see them, even with a magnifying glass. What does the deformed larva look like?

Instead of trying to treat them, I would suggest changing the eggs to fresh water every day. And if you are worried about your rain water, you could filter it or boil it before use. But I agree with Mark that the worm-looking things are probably harmless.

 

[a.]

That's reassuring.
The eggs are small when they are layed but swell up considerably as the embryos grow, I have only ever had Triturus eggs, I know no larger eggs...
The most common larva deformation i have noticed were of swollen stomaches and short bendy tails (upright or sideways). Maybe reduced gills.
I have started boiling my butt water 2 days ago for my usual (almost) daily egg-water change. But with so much microbes in that water the resulting solution comes out cloudy! which I suspect is dead disintegrated organic stuff. That might pause another threat to my eggs and hatchlings. So now I am having to oxygenate the boiled water to get it cleared (it works) prior to use.
Can you think of a way to filter microbes out of the butt water?
Cheers
D

 

[jeff]

If it were me I would just ariate straight tap water for 8 hours or so, and then use it. I don't use rainwater, or any other outside water. Chlorine is very unstable, and most dechloranators take out chloramine, but I have been told that de-gasing water for 8-12 hours will pretty much garuntee that it is safe.

I also have a home made carbon inline filter for my reef tank water, but thats not exactly designed for micro/macro organisms.

For hatchlings, I use water from my axolotl tank. I think using precycled water can be a lifesaver if you have to be gone for a while and something dies in a low volume setup, or brine shrimp that are ammonia machines.

 

[abrahm]

Jeff, chloramines are much more stable than chlorine in solution. While chlorine can easily be removed from water by vigorous aeration for 24 hours or boiling, chloramine will not be removed by either process.

A water conditioner from the pet store should be used to remove the chloramines from the water before addition to the animal's aquarium. It is often good to store and aerate water with the conditioner to assist it in reacting with chloramine, this may be especially useful in dealing with sensitive larvae.

If you are unsure of whether your municipal water source uses chloramine either call them and ask or just use water conditioner. It is better to be safe than sorry.

Straight dechlorinated water is often much safer than rainwater or other sources, depending upon your location due to the prevalence of acid rain or even mercury compounds in rain water.

 

[a.]

Thank you both. What about other minerals in tap water?

 

[jennifer]

I would say that, unless the water is VERY hard, the minerals in tap water are beneficial. If you change water sources, be sure to adjust the eggs gradually.