Is this dreaded Black Ich/turbellarian worm

[Thane]

Hi all, I have come across my tang showing black spots all over the body. I spoke to lfs whom said could be stress or stings but I’m not sure. I understand if it’s Black Ich my tank will already be infected. My tang is in qt but today one of my clowns now has a very similar spot. Any help appreciated

 

[Signalhead]

Black Ich (turbellarians)

Black Ich (turbellarians) What You Need To Know: * Parasitic flatworm infestation; tangs are most often afflicted. * Primary symptom is small black dots on the fish. (Not to be confused with Clownfish Hyper-Melanization.) * Best chemical treatments for this disease are Praziquantel and...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Thane]

So am I right in thinking the only way forward is to qt and treat all fish plus leave the main tank fallow for a period of time? If that’s correct I’m struggling to find out how long. Some say 6-8 weeks but others several months as the worms can feed from the sand before finding a fish to host?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Give the fish a Freshwater dip, followed by a formailin bath and continue treatment (and do this in a quarantine tank). Praziquantel has been used with some success to treat affected fish in quarantine tanks mainly tangs who are susceptible to black ich.

 

[tangyreefer]

Don’t dip anything as it will most likely lead to deaths unless you are experienced in dips. It’s easy to treat with praziquantel and does not give much stress to the fish but you need to treat three times to make sure you kill larvae and eggs. I had the outbreak in qt so it was an easy treatment. This disease only affects Tangs。You could just keep your tank Tang free for a while. You need to research how long the worms can live without a host.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Don’t dip anything as it will most likely lead to deaths unless you are experienced in dips. It’s easy to treat with praziquantel and does not give much stress to the fish but you need to treat three times to make sure you kill larvae and eggs. I had the outbreak in qt so it was an easy treatment. This disease only affects Tangs。You could just keep your tank Tang free for a while. You need to research how long the worms can live without a host.

They can live 60 days without host and FW dip very effective as is PraziPro. Yes mainly found on tangs but also on clownfish.

 

[Thane]

Don’t dip anything as it will most likely lead to deaths unless you are experienced in dips. It’s easy to treat with praziquantel and does not give much stress to the fish but you need to treat three times to make sure you kill larvae and eggs. I had the outbreak in qt so it was an easy treatment. This disease only affects Tangs。You could just keep your tank Tang free for a while. You need to research how long the worms can live without a host.

Ok thank you, I’ve looked at dips and like you say I’m not ready for that yet. I also heard only tangs can catch it from another source so I only qt the tang but I’m finding today a clown and 2 gobys are showing the same pepper spots? And also another clown has some kind of a white spot today. I’m I looking at another type of parasite?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Ok thank you, I’ve looked at dips and like you say I’m not ready for that yet. I also heard only tangs can catch it from another source so I only qt the tang but I’m finding today a clown and 2 gobys are showing the same pepper spots? And also another clown has some kind of a white spot today. I’m I looking at another type of parasite?

Probably the same. As I just mentioned in last post , both tangs and clowns are susceptable to Black ich
Place your tank also on hyposalinity (lower salinity - 1.023) as the ich have a hard time thriving in low salinity)

 

[Thane]

Ok thank you for the info so far guys. I’m also noticing the number of spots on the tang have come off.. I assume this is the eggs hatching? Is there anything I can do whilst I wait for the prazipro to come in the post?

 

[Thane]

See pic

 

[Thane]

 

[tangyreefer]

I am not sure if I can post links but here goes. Just bear in mind dips work for the fish only and it’s for experienced aquarists only (not me) and a last ditch effort in my eyes. What kind of tank do you have ? Reef fowlr?
Maybe a qt is in order as it seems like you may have a few diseases going round your system. Watch observe and research to avoid treating the wrong diseases. Low salinity would hit white spot and black spot together if you have both so a valid treatment option but it has to be done right or it won’t work.

Marine 'Black Spot' Disease

Marine ‘Black Spot’ Disease (Paravortex, Piscinquilinus) Introduction A less common parasite within our home aquarium is the marine ‘black spot’ parasite. Although there could be many parasites which display black spot symptoms upon our aquarium inhabitants, the follow article will discuss...

www.thesaltybox.com

How to Hyposalinity

I am starting a Thread on Hyposalinity and how I did it to hopefully help someone out and for the best way to be thrashed out between us all. Please feel free to criticize and pick holes as this way we can together find the best way. I am no expert and this is just the way I did it, so enjoy and...

www.ultimatereef.net