Black Ich? Blue Tang

[Ain't No Tang]

Hello, a few weeks ago I added a 2.5 inch blue tang to my reef tank. He has developed some type of black spots on his body that I noticed yesterday. Looking for help to ID the cause of the black spots. I believe it is black Ich but I could be wrong.

 

[HotRocks]

I don't think that is black ich. Have you done a FW dip? It looks like maybe some flukes and a few spots look like ich.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/freshwater-dip.248898/

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

^^+1 on this and welcome to R2R!!!

 

[Ain't No Tang]

Thanks guys. I tried catching him last night but I wasn't able to. I'm having someone come over today to help me remove him from the display tank and move him to a quarantine system for treatment. I showed the pics to someone from my lfs and they said it looked like black Ich and I bought some stuff to medicate my display tank with just as a preventative measure.

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

Be careful with what you dose to your reef, what did you get?

Thanks guys. I tried catching him last night but I wasn't able to. I'm having someone come over today to help me remove him from the display tank and move him to a quarantine system for treatment. I showed the pics to someone from my lfs and they said it looked like black Ich and I bought some stuff to medicate my display tank with just as a preventative measure.

 

[Ain't No Tang]

Be careful with what you dose to your reef, what did you get?

Polyp Lab Reef Safe Medic and Dr. G's Deworming caviar.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Yikes!, that does not look good. Glad to see you are getting to work on it. If all else fails catching him, go the ‘low tide’ route... it’s almost fool-proof. Best wishes!

 

[Ain't No Tang]

The weirdest part about this whole situation is that I only visibly saw the spots after owning him for about a month. I hope the little guy pulls through but he does look pretty bad. He's been scratching himself against the rocks and he has a wound under his left eye that I suspect he may have gotten from rubbing against the rocks.

 

[Ain't No Tang]

Yikes!, that does not look good. Glad to see you are getting to work on it. If all else fails catching him, go the ‘low tide’ route... it’s almost fool-proof. Best wishes!

Is that draining the water lever lower or something? This little guy is small so he can get in the most impossible nooks and crannies. I hope we can catch him today.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Yes, in short, if you drain all but about 6” of water you will find—even with lost of rock work— hecwill have fewer and fewer places to flee. If fact, as the water lowers, you can us things like bucket lids or just about anything to cut off avenues of escape, sectioning off parts of the tank until his habitat becomes smaller and smaller; then you bet him, and refill the tank.

 

[Ain't No Tang]

Yes, in short, if you drain all but about 6” of water you will find—even with lost of rock work— hecwill have fewer and fewer places to flee. If fact, as the water lowers, you can us things like bucket lids or just about anything to cut off avenues of escape, sectioning off parts of the tank until his habitat becomes smaller and smaller; then you bet him, and refill the tank.

I felt like Mr. Miyagi catching a fly with a pair of chopsticks when I caught that fish tonight. Moral of the story is, if you drink a margarita, you can achieve all of your goals in life and catch that fish from the display tank. Thank God I got him and he can get medicated away from the display tank. Thanks everyone for the tips.