Black Ich... maybe?

[souk]

Can somebody offer their opinion if this is black ich or not. From what I read it sounds like it but not all the symptoms follow. I got a yellow tang and 2 snails on Friday, and unfortunately I don't have a quarantine setup, I'm going to look at this hopefully in the new year. Tuesday night I noticed little black specs on my yellow tang and not on any other fish. I started reading and it looked like it was/is black ich. Wednesday morning I looked and there was no more black spots on the tang. So from the symptoms I read the tang would be trying to scratch against items, which it was not, and the ich would fall off in 5-6 days, which it didn't. Is this black ich or something else?

 

[michealprater]

It sounds like parisites. I would recommend a cleaner shrimp. He will rid your tang of them rather fast.

 

[souk]

I was thinking about a cleaner shrimp but isn't it bad to put a shrimp in so soon after this last addition? Also seeing that they were not there this morning where do they go?

 

[Smonkey15]

oh man have i been where you are. my tang got black ich, or tebullarian worms as they are called. he got a bunch, they disappeared, then came back. i had to quarantine him. from what i have heard a cleaner shrimp does not eliminate all parasites, the only way to really do it is take all the fish out of the display tank.
steve

 

[souk]

yeah I read that too. How long did you have the worms on your tang before they fell off? The spots were on my tang minimum 12 hours maximum 24 hours

 

[steve-s]

While the cleaner shrimp may help somewhat at reducing the turbellarians on the fish, it will do absolutely nothing to rid the tank of the infestation. Unlike many other pest protazoan problems, turbellarians can take much longer to be rid of in the main display and can actually take upwards of 8 weeks to die off naturally in the main display tank once left fallow.

Fortunately they are a snap to be rid of for the fish itself if properly treated in a quarantine environment. Like any other parasite problem without a host, they cannot survive. It just takes longer and more patience on the part of the hobbiest.

Cheers
Steve

 

[souk]

I guess may main question is still do you guys think this is black ich or not? I've read in a book they stay on the fish for 5 to 6 days and the fish would be scratching, I don't want to start treating for black ich if that's not what it is. I also wanted to mention how great these forums are and how much collective knowledge you guys have is amazing. TIA

 

[steve-s]

Not scratching or "flashing" does not mean the tang is not infected, just that the parasites are not that much of a bother at this point if that's the problem.

Wednesday morning I looked and there was no more black spots on the tang.

Since the spots have gone, a sure sign would definately be that they come back. Once the turbellarians leave the host they multiply in the sustrate and then erupt releasing the newly hatched worms into the water column to look for a new fish host. You will most likely see something by the weekend if so. If this does happen your other fish are likley to be affected as well, so keep a careful watch.

Cheers
Steve

 

[souk]

Yeah, I guess I play the waiting game now.