Hello all, im new here, and new to the hobby. I work at a well known pet store in my area as an aquarium maintenance tech, thus it was only natural I get into the hobby. Anyway. Today I came home and my clownfish have black ich. Maybe 20 spots of black on each. My royal gramma had some black smudges on his head for 2 days a few weeks ago, they went away, so I kept on keepin on. I unfortunately don't have a qt tank at home, I always use the qt room at work. The shop is closed for thanksgiving so I can't get my fish to into qt until Friday. I am wondering if they will be ok until then, and if there is anything I can do in the meantime to prevent things from getting worse. If it wasn't 1 am I'd call a co worker, but I have been reading posts from here for a while so I figured this is as good a time as any to register. Anyway, thx for any suggestions you all have, cheers.
Black ich confirmed
- Thread starter Biophage
- Start date
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With the smudges reference.. do you happen to have a pic? Clowns can get hypermelanization from contact with a corral. Have they recently taken up residence in frogspawn or other coral?
Here's a good link for black ich, a freshwater dip can provide temporary relief
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/black-ich-turbellarians.259912/
And prazipro is the treatment and can be used in the display, it can kill featherdusters so read up on using before adding
Here's a good link for black ich, a freshwater dip can provide temporary relief
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/black-ich-turbellarians.259912/
And prazipro is the treatment and can be used in the display, it can kill featherdusters so read up on using before adding
+1
"Black ich" is generally sharp, small specks, but clowns especially can get larger (but still small) dark spots from attempting to guest in an unfamiliar cnidarian ... or one that wouldn't be a natural host in the wild. In any case, by the time I'm reading this ... it's already Friday, so relief should be available soon!
BTW, welcome to Reef2Reef!
~Bruce
"Black ich" is generally sharp, small specks, but clowns especially can get larger (but still small) dark spots from attempting to guest in an unfamiliar cnidarian ... or one that wouldn't be a natural host in the wild. In any case, by the time I'm reading this ... it's already Friday, so relief should be available soon!
BTW, welcome to Reef2Reef!
~Bruce
Thx for the replies guys. I have an update. I brought the clowns to work today, talked to my boss and 2 of the more experienced co workers, prolly 50 years of feeding experience combined. They all concurred it is not black ich. They have seen this before in clowns apparently, and the black speckling is usually a sign of scarring from parasites that have chewed on them, died, and fallen off. They said black speckling on clowns is usually one of 2 reasons, black ich, which they didnt think that was it because ich is normally very uniform sized spots that spread quickly, and tho these were tiny spots, they were varying in size and shape. The second cause could be scarring from previous ich or some other type of parasite. So possibly they had mild ich I didn't see, which I doubt, cuz I'm pretty obsessive about my observation, and none of my other fish, including the super susceptible tang didnt get anything, but it is possible. If it was some other type of parasite, there is obviously still an issue, but since it has not gotten any worse in 3 days, they told me not to be super worried. They recommended hex shield feeding for 3 weeks to be safe, and continued observation. I added a uv a week and a half ago, so maybe it did it's job, killed a bunch of nasties in the water, and prevented it from getting worse, and the damage doers fell off after their life cycle, and not enough were left to repopulate the clowns. The timeline for that theory is sound, but it's still a large amount of speculation. But it's all I have to go on at the moment. So I will continue my observation, take the recommended steps and see what happens. Hopefully all goes well. I will post an update in a few days. Again, ty for your replies and the friendly welcome.
Just wanted to add there is another cause black spots that is common in clownfish, that has been mentioned already, that is hyper-melanization.
This thread has a blurb about it
https://www.reef2reef.com/index.php?threads/285708/
And if you search the term, you will find several references to it in clownfish.
It's caused by the clownfish rubbing against a coral, I'd say it is pretty common in clownfish, and there is no treatment needed for it.
Happy reefing!
This thread has a blurb about it
https://www.reef2reef.com/index.php?threads/285708/
And if you search the term, you will find several references to it in clownfish.
It's caused by the clownfish rubbing against a coral, I'd say it is pretty common in clownfish, and there is no treatment needed for it.
Happy reefing!
Right, I'm sorry for not mentioning that in my update. It is possible, but I haven't seen them attempt to host in anything, the reef is in its beginning stages, so only 2 Los and mushrooms atm, and I've never seen them near either. But, it's not like I sit for 8 hours in front of the tank either, so they could have. Thx for the reply
