Not sure if it's a parasite or not

[fishyman19]

I recently had to pull my Vlamingii tang because he was getting too big and a little too aggressive. I noticed him chasing around a few of my fish, mainly the little guys. Citron goby, bi-color blenny and my scopas tang. All 3 are showing signs of ich now. Hopping to get rid of it with some garlic. But my main question is that 2 fish my citron goby and my dwarf golden moray seem to have black spots or something black coming out of their gills. What could this be? Both are eating fine and don't seem lethargic or breathing heavy. But this wasn't there yesterday. Anyone know what it could be or what I can do?

Thanks for the help

 

[Humblefish]

Black spots make me think possibly black ich. It's "ich" in name only; it's actually an infestation of turbellarian flatworms. Below is a pic I found from another thread on here:

Best treatment option is Prazipro (reef safe).

 

[fishyman19]

It's only a single black spot on each gill on my eel and on my goby though. The eel is healthy as a horse and nice and fat. No sign of ich on him at all. Could it be anything else? I'm not ruling out the black ich, just curious.

 

[saltyphish]

I know nothing about black ick, but can assure you garlic will not cure your fish.

 

[fishyman19]

I know just garlic won't, but it will help with regular feelings and such.

 

[Humblefish]

It's only a single black spot on each gill on my eel and on my goby though. The eel is healthy as a horse and nice and fat. No sign of ich on him at all. Could it be anything else? I'm not ruling out the black ich, just curious.

If it's just a single black dot, I would wait to see whether or not it spreads. Black ich will typically spread all over the fish. Take a pic if you can.

 

[fishyman19]

Don't know how visible this is, and this isn't my eel, but if you look about an inch behind the head you can see a black spot. I checked several pictures online last night on these guys and it looks like it may just be a fashion statement. I'll keep my eye on it for sure, but I think he is just getting some different color.

 

[fishyman19]

Here's a better look at a different type of Golden Moray as well with the same black spot behind the gills.

 

[Humblefish]

I think you're right. It's probably just a change in coloration. I don't see anything in either one of those pics that would make me suspect a disease.

Someone in the Predatory Fish Discussion forum would probably know for sure: https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/predatory-fish-discussion/