Black ich confirmed

Biophage

New member
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 cam 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 2 am if 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.
 
I am not sure if there is a clear consensus on what causes black ich. So it would be impssible to suggest a treatment. Some say its fungal, some say viral and others say bacterial, parasitic and etc. To me black ich is more like a symptom than the disease itself. There might be different pathogens that cause black spots.
 
You can treat black ich with prazipro and that is reef safe. No need for a qt. Just follow directions and aerate the water for added oxygen.
 
I just read about that. It says not to use if u have feather dusters, which I have a ton of those ugly tiny brown ones. Which I'd love to get rid of. But if they all die I'm afraid of a large amonia spike. I'd like to solve one issue without creating another. Do you have any personal exp. With prazipo?
 
It never killed my feather dusters but can. I have used it a few times and never had a problem. I highly doubt it will cause an ammonia spike if it was to kill all of them.
 
yeah that was my understanding as well. maybe its not black ich, my water chemistry is damn near perfect (i doubt 0.5 nitrate is that big of an issue). ill be back to work tmrw, ill ask my co workers with years of experience. see what they say. cuz if its not black ich i have no idea what it is.
 
Treat with Prazipro, just because it will usually show itself with water quality issues.. don't let that keep you from treating.
 
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