Goldfish had lice?

Question

Ok, I have yet another problem with my goldfish I purchased from Superpetz. I've had the fish since Sunday, and now I've come to the conclusion that the lice came from Superpetz. I only had 3 living things in the tank altogether, and they all came from the store on the same day. Went in today with lice in a bag with water, and the girl tells me "oh, it's lice, just pull it off".. as if it wasn't a big deal. I guess my question is, are lice a big deal? I thought they eat the fish from the inside out. My goldfish has blood streaked tail fins and an abraision from where the lice was feeding off of him. How frustrating!!

Ok, for the person who said "Aren't goldfish like 50 cents anyway?".. I am referring to a large Red Capped Oranda goldfish... runs around $16 where I live.

Answer 1

This type of parasitic infection is no big deal. The parasites attach itself from the outside and 'tap' into the vein of the host. Typically, the tail is the easiest place since is the thinnest. Just use a small tweezer to pull it out. The fish tail will heal back. However don't be alarm if you see a scare there on the tail. You just need to make sure to perform the 'surgery' quick as it will stress out the fish. Fish tends to be more prone to pathogens when it is stressed and may end up 'catching' other diseases that are more difficult to treat.
Water born parasites have less tolerant to copper level in the water than fish. You can add some in the tank to help combat reocurrence of similar issue. These mediations are readily availabe from any pet store. Do not use new pennies as it no longer uses copper. The old ones are getting to be too valuable to be tossed into a fish tank now.

Answer 2

Large external parasites
Fish lice (often on goldfish) fall into this category and appear as clear lumps on the body of the fish or on it's fins. They look like odd aquatic insects. Also, anchor worm (again mostly goldfish) looks like a white worm anchored to the body of the fish. It is my experience that the parasite does not detach even when dead, though many books state otherwise.

Treatment: Treat with copper and metronidazole and/or trichlorfon. With large fish you may want to remove the parasite from infected fish with tweezers. Do this only if you are an experienced fish keeper and are sure not to harm the fish more than it is now.
http://fish.dirtylittle.com/diseases.html

Answer 3

There are a couple products out there that will kill the external parasites. They work best if you pull the filter out when you treat the tank.

Answer 4

Do you add salt in your tank? As far as I know most parasites don't like salt (for fish tank). I put one table spoon for every 10galls of water in mine. So,far so good for me. Good luck.

Answer 5

Aren't goldfish like 50 cents anyway?