Caught the isopod that killed my fish

[JosephM]

Gotcha. It does look kind of like a cirolanid isopod but I'd need a closer picture to say for sure. I was just asking in case the brand new fish died from other causes and then the (possibly Innocent) isopods moved in to clean up the mess.

Yeah, no. Definitely still alive with that thing on him. I'd honestly prefer them be innocent isopods so I don't have to trap everynight and worry all the time the next time I add a fish.

 

[Kris 2020]

I had one of those once, saw it riding around on my orchid dottyback. Saw him on and off for a week or so, finally caught the fish figuring I would scrape it off, and as soon as I had the fish out of water on a wet paper towel the jerk released. Never saw another, but was worried for awhile. Tank was fairly new so assumed he came on my live rock.

 

[Dark_Knightt]

If you happen to have any dart frogs, they love isopods!

 

[vetteguy53081]

generally attach at night and are sneaky little bloodsuckers. Generally, they focus on scavenging when such food source is available, but will occasionally swim up into the tank water and attack fish fastening onto them and sucking their blood. There are several type of isopods that appear to be more-or-less obligate blood-sucking parasites of fishes, although some may be able to live for extended periods by scavenging on dead food. Within the last couple of years, many of these latter species have been seen in aquaria with alarming frequency. In many cases, these infestations appear to be the result of a pregnant female that enters the aquarium and then drops her brood of 10 to 30 young, all of which are immediately hungry for a nice meal of fish blood.

 

[JosephM]

generally attach at night and are sneaky little bloodsuckers. Generally, they focus on scavenging when such food source is available, but will occasionally swim up into the tank water and attack fish fastening onto them and sucking their blood. There are several type of isopods that appear to be more-or-less obligate blood-sucking parasites of fishes, although some may be able to live for extended periods by scavenging on dead food. Within the last couple of years, many of these latter species have been seen in aquaria with alarming frequency. In many cases, these infestations appear to be the result of a pregnant female that enters the aquarium and then drops her brood of 10 to 30 young, all of which are immediately hungry for a nice meal of fish blood.

Thats interesting, totally hoping that wasn't the case with mine. I'm ready to add some fish!