Cirolanid Isopods

[jezzeaepi]

have had Cirolanid Isopods on the LR I picked up for some time. I have had the rock for about 6 months, and Ive tried a combination of starving the critters and trapping them. Every three weeks or so I put in a trap to try to catch as many as I could, then starve them again for 3 - 5 weeks then put in a trap and catch whatevers still alive, etc etc. This plan seemed like it was foolproof about 5 motnhs ago.. lol. But no matter how long I seemed to wait in between traps Id always catch one a few weeks(or months sometimes) later. About 6 weeks ago I put in a trap and pulled out 10 or so after a month in a half of no trap. Two weeks later I was about ready to just bleach all the rocks so I put in one final trap to see if there were still isopods... and nothing. I have done 4 traps since and have caught nothing. Is 5 weeks with no isopods enough time? In a perfect world Id just wait another two months and keep checking, but time is limited and my display tank has been desperatly needing live rock for the passed 6 months. I have atleast 20 or 30 coral that have been on the edge of dieing due to poor biological filtration in my display, so getting these rocks in sooner then later is a high priority. So I guess the question is, Am I safe after 5 weeks?

[Crimthann]

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/bp/index.php

[jezzeaepi]

Aye that article has been my bible. Towards the end it says :
At the time of writing this article I have gone 25 days without seeing or trapping any Cirolanids in six stinky water capture attempts. I had previously gone as long as three weeks before finding them again. So is this the end of the infestation?:

I have eben trying to contact Brian to get his personal opionion but he has not responded to my PM. Was hoping someone else could chime in.

[jezzeaepi]

No one else out there with a succesful cirolanid eradication story?

[jezzeaepi]

What happened to all the experts on this board? No one knows anything about their life cycle?

[jezzeaepi]

Wow thats a pretty sad state of affairs for this board then. Guess Ill ahve to rescind my paid RC support.

[Chad Vossen]

it has only been a few days, people with experience with these pest are few and far between. in this hobby, i would expect patience from everyone.

hope someone responds to your thread soon, who can advise you.

[Untamed12]

I feel that I have successfully eradicated ciranolids from my tank using the traps from that same article.

I was unaware that I had them until I awoke one morning to find one attached the fin of my yellow tang. I built a few of the traps and tried following his instructions.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/100_0287.jpg

After some success, I decided that the ciranolids could NOT easily escape the traps once they entered, and I began to leave the traps in place overnight baited with shrimp...removing them in the morning. I caught about 40 or so over a few weeks.

I stopped trapping after not catching any for a week and haven't seen one since. All the fish in my tank showed no ill signs during the entire thing.

When I first saw it, I was extremely concerned because I thought they would multiply and wipe out all my fish. Now...I think it's no big deal. A small pop bottle trap works perfectly, and traps ONLY ciranolids. If you have them, start trapping. If you can't catch any more, your done!

If I ever see another one, I'll just start trapping again. No problem.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/100_0297b.jpg

[jezzeaepi]

Wow untamed nice work! You give me hope. Its been about 8 weeks I think since I last trapped a cirolanid. I heard back from the Great Cirolanid Hunter today. He recomended 2-3 months of no isopods to be completly sure of their eradication. Since Im closing in on two months, and am still not catching any I think I might be in the clear. Cant wait to stabilize my main tank.. Its been a long 6 months!

[JNye]

I had isopods up the wazoo...never any on a fish and I never cared about them in my tank, I figured whatever they were eating, good, keep eating. At night there were thousands about everywhere. I started using a filter sock. Just to help clear the water. Within 3 weeks I had no isopods visible at night. I don't know if the cirolanid's are the same, but my theory is that since isopods are free swimming they go through the sump with frequency. My amphipod population was unafected by the filter sock as they tend to stay near the sand bed and rocks. This is my experience with isopods.