black ich help

[phk36]

Hi , I have a yellow tang with what I think is black ich which is some kind of worm. Does any one know the correct name for black ich ? The spot is above the nose of the fish here is a bad picture

 

[mperales]

Do a search under Paravortex, which is a flatworm and most likely cause but other possibilities are sporozoan or trematodes
Some people recommend a pH balanced fresh water dip but praziquantel might also work ( and might be safer). If you can, put fish in a QT while treating and feed well.

 

[phk36]

Mperales , Thank you. I had this in the past on a yellow tang and lost him. I started to qt all the fish before I put them in but did not add any meds unless I saw something on the fish. I am going to treat the whole tank as I have no coral in at this time. I was on my way to start to keep coral with this set up I have kept fowlr for over eight years . I think in the future I will treat the qt with prazipro and do hypo on all the new fish as copper does not do well with all fish

 

[mperales]

Don't be surprised if a re-infection occurs. Part of it's life stage is in the substrate which is not killed by the praziquantel.
Unless you have a lot of fish affected, I'm not fond of "entire tank treatments"
I'm a big QT/ hospital / treatment tank proponent.
Dose I use is 1 mg Praziquantel per liter as a single dose for 7 days in a QT tank.

Sometimes it is easier to see the spots on the fish when the lights have not come on and the tang is more pale in coloration.

 

[phk36]

I do not want to treat the whole tank but I think its the safe thing to do as if the eggs are in the sand there is a chance they will find some one else. I have a naso, clown tang, powder blue, sail fin , aussie tusk , hippo. I am done with any more loss when I can treat the fish. I also have a problem with my qt set up. Moving on I will prazipro all fish along with hypo

 

[phk36]

I put the prazipro in today and I think I may have put it in at agood time as I see one of the spots on the tang has come off. I will do a water change in a few days an treat again .I will up date the post with hope we can help others if they search this out

 

[mperales]

Life cycle is about 10 days. 6 on the fish (black spots) then "worms" fall off onto substrate and 3 to 4 days in substrate until approximately 150 juveniles rupture through the adult's body wall and come out looking for a new home. So as you see, one or two treatments might not do

 

[phk36]

I will watch and it as it may take three or four treatments but I will take all the time needed thanks

 

[Mrscribbled]

Usually, copper is required to erradicate black ich. Som success with PP but most people find in the end copper is needed.

 

[mperales]

Not to sure I would add copper to a display tank and I'm also not too sure about the effectiveness of copper on Paravortex (Black Ich). Copper will control, but not eradicate Paravortex. Some Turbellaria are showing resistance to copper and formalin. pH balanced fresh water dips seem to be the most effective...and there is no resistance to that.

 

[phk36]

I wanted to bump this. I have my salt back uo to 1.024 and had a 114 watt uv running . I still have seen a black or brown spot here or there but alot less than I had. I also sucked out some sand . I think the uv has helped alot , I am going to keep it on with the hopes of knocking this out over time .