Limpets- I don't think I've ever even seen a live freshwater limpet.
Pretty cool, IMO.
Fungus-
I have found that moving fish indoors from an outdoor pond nearly
invariably leads to a fungal outbreak, no matter how nice the fish
looked outside or how spotless the indoor tank seemed to be before
adding the fish. I suppose the reasons are obvious enough, but it's
still irksome.
As for treatment, I've found that a warm temperature and some of those
Jungle Fungus Clear fizz tablets usually work pretty well, and that new
"PimaFix" tonic works remarkably well for a simple herbal extract. ( I
used to be skeptical, but now Mela-Fix & Pima-Fix are among the first
things I try in case of any bacterial or fungal infections. I heartily
recommend them in freshwater. They're worthless in saltwater, though )
I haven't actually tried it, but I would guess that a salt bath between
the pond & the tank would help eliminate much of the fungus before it
got into the tank.
There used to be a common product, by Jungle I think, called "Small Fish
Saver" that was made especially for Saprolegnia. I haven't noticed any
around lately, but then again I haven't really looked. Small Fish Saver
was very effective-in-stopping saprolegnia in it's tracks, especially if
you netted the fish and squirted a few drops directly onto the gills and
let it sit about 30 seconds before returning the fish to the water. It's
worth a shot if you can find it.
"Permoxyn," a potassium permangenate preparation by Kordon, is also good
for severe cases. A 2&1/2 minute bath will burn off all the slime and
exposed external parasites, and it also burns the fungus. It's a bit
extreme, of course, but works instantly in extreme situations, and the
fish recover within hours.
The good old salt treatment might eventually work too, if the fish live
long enough. Fighting fungus is something of a race against time. There
are plenty of other antifungal remedies available as well. Heck, even
those over-the-counter feminine Monistat type creams work pretty good if
you want to go to the trouble of applying them. It's next to impossible
to find mercurochrome anymore, but that's another oldie but goodie that
worked fairly well.
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