Possible Black Ich

[LobsterOfJustice]

I have a new tang in QT that overall is doing well. I have had him since Sunday and this evening noticed a few very small black "smudges" on his tail fin. His body is dark and his tail is white/clear so this is really the only place I would see something like this. I am going to continue observing to see if the smudges clear up but just trying to get ahead of it and work out my options if I need to act.

In general, I'm not comfortable with freshwater dips or hyposalinity. I'm thinking my first course of action would be formalin dip into a new clean tank... but what next? Can I do some kind of modified TTM with formalin baths between, as it seems like the parasite has an on/off lifecycle similar to that of ich.


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[JustinM]

If you think it's black ich, just prazipro him. That'll take care of flukes and black ich. Try and post some pics though to rule out bacterial infections.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

Possible Black Ich

Prazipro would be ideal since that's something I was going to treat him with anyway, just haven't started yet. Pics aren't likely, he doesn't stop moving and it's hard enough for me to see the smudges in person let along capture with a camera.

I don't know for sure it's black ich, so suggestions of what else it could be are helpful as well.

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[JustinM]

I would start with the prazipro and if it doesn't get better then I would recommend starting antibiotics(metroplex, furan 2, & kanaplex) immediately. Keep an eye on him though because bacterial infections can move fast.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

The fish is overall still doing well. I noticed more black smudges on the tail Wednesday night, so I began PraziPro.

The smudges seem to come and go. Not quickly, but over the course of the day or from day-to-day there are sometimes less, sometimes more, and in different locations on the tail. Never more than a few smudges at a time.

How quickly would I expect the PraziPro to work against black ich (if that is in fact what I'm dealing with)?

 

[JustinM]

I imagine it would work pretty quickly. It goes right to therapeutic levels so the worms should begin dying right away.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

Well that's a bummer as there are definitely still some black smudges on his tail. I'm thinking a formalin dip might be my next step.


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[JustinM]

Did you only dose once, the first round will kill the adults but there would have still been eggs too.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

I dosed once on Wednesday night. From everything I've read the re-dose timeframe is 5-7 days.


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[JustinM]

Yep, I do a water change on day 5 then redose.

If that doesn't improve the situation I would start thinking about the antibiotics.