I never did get around to sending any specimens to a lab, but I will. I just
used my own microscope and pored through a whole bunch of books on the
subject, finally finding one obscure reference in a very old book printed back
when people still commonly kept natives. No physical description of the
parasite in that example is given, so I don't know if that's the culprit.
Cyclochaeta is the name of it, or-in-least it was way back then, and the
symptoms described are a good match for what my poor little rainbows
suffered.
I've never before heard of this Cyclochaeta, and that's odd in itself, since I
have a LOT of books on the subject of fish diseases. Oh, well; the newer books
have long had the irksome habit of leaving out good stuff from times past,
eh?
Anyway, I figured you guys would like to know about this irritating little
beastie in case you have the same symptoms in your fish someday. This
knowledge came too late to save my Rainbows, but my Flagfins are okay. Luckily
my Bluenoses were never exposed; I'm sure they wouldn't have had a chance.
By the way, the Warmouth milt has had zero effect on the bluenoses in regard
to making them spawn, although they are in full spawning condition and
courting constantly. ( Quite a sight! Who needs Bettas with this action going
on? ) I guess I'm gonna have to find a Longear.
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