Possible black ich

[LobsterOfJustice]

Hey all,

I have a tang I picked up last weekend on Sunday. Overall the fish is acting very well and eating plenty. On Tuesday night I noticed some black smudges on his tail - his body is dark and his tail is white so this is the only place I would see something like this. No chance of a pic - fast little guy that doesn't stop moving, it's hard enough to see them in person. The smudges come and go, there are just a few at a time but over the course of the day or from day to day they change location. They really aren't obvious and the fish looks perfectly fine unless you look very closely.

I dosed prazipro on Wednesday night, but haven't really seen an improvement in the smudges as of Saturday morning - how fast should I expect the prazipro to work for black ich? I'm thinking about doing a formalin dip Sunday morning if I don't see some improvement by then. Is there anything else these smudges could be?

 

[Brew12]

Hey all,

I have a tang I picked up last weekend on Sunday. Overall the fish is acting very well and eating plenty. On Tuesday night I noticed some black smudges on his tail - his body is dark and his tail is white so this is the only place I would see something like this. No chance of a pic - fast little guy that doesn't stop moving, it's hard enough to see them in person. The smudges come and go, there are just a few at a time but over the course of the day or from day to day they change location. They really aren't obvious and the fish looks perfectly fine unless you look very closely.

I dosed prazipro on Wednesday night, but haven't really seen an improvement in the smudges as of Saturday morning - how fast should I expect the prazipro to work for black ich? I'm thinking about doing a formalin dip Sunday morning if I don't see some improvement by then. Is there anything else these smudges could be?

If they are smudges it is not likely to be black ich. Those appear more like black dots. I would expect that smudges could be stress spots that may just be more visible in that section.
Thoughts @4FordFamily ?

 

[4FordFamily]

Hey all,

I have a tang I picked up last weekend on Sunday. Overall the fish is acting very well and eating plenty. On Tuesday night I noticed some black smudges on his tail - his body is dark and his tail is white so this is the only place I would see something like this. No chance of a pic - fast little guy that doesn't stop moving, it's hard enough to see them in person. The smudges come and go, there are just a few at a time but over the course of the day or from day to day they change location. They really aren't obvious and the fish looks perfectly fine unless you look very closely.

I dosed prazipro on Wednesday night, but haven't really seen an improvement in the smudges as of Saturday morning - how fast should I expect the prazipro to work for black ich? I'm thinking about doing a formalin dip Sunday morning if I don't see some improvement by then. Is there anything else these smudges could be?

Smudges do sound more like stress than any ailment. What kind of tang is it?

 

[ngoodermuth]

Smudges do sound more like stress than any ailment. What kind of tang is it?

+1, or possibly something bacterial

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

They are definitely not "dots"... Very small smudges... like if you write on a piece of paper with a sharpie and some of it bled through.

As far as bacterial, I have metroplex, kanaplex, and furan 2 ready if needed. They are meds I don't use as much so I'm less comfortable with them and would only use if necessary.

I haven't seen stress manifest as coloration on fins before... and he doesn't seem stressed. Also wouldn't expect that since it didn't show up until a few days into QT.

 

[4FordFamily]

They are definitely not "dots"... Very small smudges... like if you write on a piece of paper with a sharpie and some of it bled through.

As far as bacterial, I have metroplex, kanaplex, and furan 2 ready if needed. They are meds I don't use as much so I'm less comfortable with them and would only use if necessary.

I haven't seen stress manifest as coloration on fins before... and he doesn't seem stressed. Also wouldn't expect that since it didn't show up until a few days into QT.

What kind of tang?

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

I didn't want to bring it up in case it distracted from the issue at hand...

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

This is a picture from Thursday but you can see overall he looks great. You can't see any of the smudges I'm talking about in the photo. Just trying to be extra cautious with this fish...

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

This evening I did a water change and placed a polyfilter into the HOB. Within a few hours there is a much larger black portion on his tail, clearly noticeable for the first time. I'm going to keep an eye on him for the next few hours and then decide tomorrow morning if I want to start antibiotics I guess.

 

[4FordFamily]

This evening I did a water change and placed a polyfilter into the HOB. Within a few hours there is a much larger black portion on his tail, clearly noticeable for the first time. I'm going to keep an eye on him for the next few hours and then decide tomorrow morning if I want to start antibiotics I guess.

Zebrasoma tend to change color dramatically based on stress, but especially at night. Are you noticing these things shortly before or after the lights turn off, or when the lights are off?

 

[ngoodermuth]

I know it's tough, but if you can try to get a clear picture of the tail it might help

 

[melypr1985]

Agreed ^^ If you can manage a picture of the smudges, that would help. I also agree that zebrasoma tangs (and many tangs in general) will change almost dramatically when stressed, or when excited, or surprised even. it can be pretty incredible to watch happen. I have a 1 foot long vlamingi tang at work right now and he will change his color in a very dramatic fashion when he thinks I'm going to feed him.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

I tried earlier to get a picture again... no luck. The large smudge that showed up after the water change has mostly gone away... so I guess I could be just dealing with stress markings. I'm familiar with fish stress markings on the body but I've just never seen it manifest as dark spots on the tail fin...

The marks are present throughout the day but change over the course of the day. They are mostly on the very end of the tail fin.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

Below are some pictures from google images... not my fish, but this is basically what I am seeing on my fish (black on the tip of the tail). The fact that I was able to find other examples of this while searching for gem tang pictures makes me hopeful it's nothing (although this is not seen in the majority of the pictures of this fish).

 

[Brew12]

If the spots are moving over the course of a day or two it definitely isn't black ich. Cute little fish though!

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

If the spots are moving over the course of a day or two it definitely isn't black ich. Cute little fish though!

Thanks. Yes (s)he is quite "cute" haha - lucky for me as that is the only way I got the wife's okay on this purchase lol

 

[4FordFamily]

The reason you would see it on the tail is the light color shows more

 

[Vahanyos]

I think you should monitor for a little while longer. I think you're in over protective daddy mode lol - I don't blame you!

They do just look like stress marks and I'm hoping they go away. New home, I've seen that often in my new additions.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

I think you should monitor for a little while longer. I think you're in over protective daddy mode lol - I don't blame you!

They do just look like stress marks and I'm hoping they go away. New home, I've seen that often in my new additions.

Agreed. The large black splotch freaked me out yesterday but given that it's completely cleared up as of this morning we are basically unchanged in status since last Tuesday. Holding off on additional treatments for now (except I will still do the second round of Prazi, since that's something I was going to do anyway).

I got a once in a lifetime deal on this fish so this is essentially the only chance I will ever get at owning one... so definitely in over protective daddy mode haha.