Black Spot/ich..not sure

[Salttanker]

Hello everyone,

I have had a Yellow Tang now for about a month. I noticed he was scratching himself against the rocks, so I wanted to get a closer look. On his face, there appears to be black dots, almost like pimples. I will try to get a picture of it and submit, but in the meantime, is this a form of ich, or is it blackspot disease? The Tang is eating just fine, and is very active. Anything you all could suggest would be great. Thanks,

Mike

 

[steve-s]

Try to get the pic. It could be tubellarian worms. Easy enough to treat but the fallow period on the main tank is usually much longer.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Salttanker]

Steve - I have the pictures, along with a 15 second movie clip of the Tang. I tried to send them here, but it has a 100KB limit..these are 133K since its 1024/768 for good quality. Let me know what your email adress is and I will mail them to you. Thanks for your help.

Mike

 

[steve-s]

my username @aquariumadvice.com

Cheers
Steve

 

[OhTheHumanity]

My tang had it too. Following advice from here, I did a fresh water dip. Close to 10 minutes he/she did fine (though I wouldn't reccomend that long). There were a couple left on him. I had to put it back into the main tank for the night so I could get the QT set up the next day.

That morning they were all gone, so I thought I'd keep a close eye for a few days. About 4 days later a few more popped up on him. They were there for 2 days then gone. That was about 2 months ago and they have not returned.

I can't remember who it was on here that told me they did a FW dip and they didn't return either. Well thats 2 times it's worked. I don't know if that really means anything, or we just got lucky.

 

[Salttanker]

For some reason I get return receipts when I try to send it to you. I also so noticed you had an address on your website, so I sent them there as well..that one seemed to work. Let me know if you get them. Thanks

Mike

 

[steve-s]

Doesn't look like ich or tubelllarians. Looks more like the onset of HLLE combined with a mild bacterial infection. The circled area's show a slightly pinkish hue. It is usually brought on by sudden drops/changes in pH or bacterial. The black you are seeing around the back and lower area of the eye are not from a parasite.

The easiest way to deal with this is do several large water changes with well aged SW. Make sure it is mixed for at least 24 hrs and the pH, alk, temp and salinity are the same as the tanks. Higher DOC and other nutrient are typically the cause.

How new is the tank and what are you feeding?

Cheers
Steve

 

[Salttanker]

The tank is now about 3 months old. I will prepare some water for the change in the meantime. I also ordered some garlic juice, and solcon?? I can't remember what it was called. Do you think this will help as well?
Also, I originally started out using tap water, but then moved over to an RO/DI system to eliminate problems. Could the change have an effect on the Tang as well?

Thanks for your input,
Mike

 

[steve-s]

I also ordered some garlic juice, and solcon?? I can't remember what it was called. Do you think this will help as well?

The Selcon will definately help and the garlic won't hurt either. What actual foods are you using though? Tangs need to be fed foods high in spurlina content. Be sure to follow the directions but I wouldn't use the garlic extract more than weekly. Rely moreso on the Selcon.

Also, I originally started out using tap water, but then moved over to an RO/DI system to eliminate problems. Could the change have an effect on the Tang as well?

If the tap water was treated with a conditioner it should be okay, without knowing the cities water analysis I couldn't be specific. The water changes and the vitamins you have ordered will help though...

Cheers
Steve

 

[Salttanker]

I use a mixture of flakes, formula 1, and seaweed. I will plan on doing some water changes tonight. Thanks for your help,

Mike

 

[steve-s]

You will probably need to do several water changes over the next few weeks but you should see some results soon. If the whitish area's around the gill area are HLLE or scaring from it, that will take much longer to heal. The Selcon will definately help with that though.

If things do not improve, be sure to post back.

Good Luck!
Cheers
Steve

 

[Salttanker]

Thanks Steve - How big of a water change should I do at a time? I am going to create some make up water, and let it sit for 24 hours.

Mike

 

[steve-s]

I would suggest 20-25% for the first and possibley 15-20% every few days for the next two weeks. Once the nutrient is reduced, any bacterial problems should subside much faster with the lack of available food. Once the tang has some extra vitamins in the foods (Selcon), it should be able to fight the rest on it's own.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Salttanker]

Thanks again for all your help on this Steve. I love my Tang, and don't want to lose him if I can help it. These fish are so sensitive to their environment, but they are one of the most beautiful fish on the market.

 

[Salttanker]

Hello Steve. It has been about a week now, and there have been signs of improvement on my Tang. I have been doing water changes, and soaking the food in Selcon daily, and garlic extract about every few days. The red blotches are starting to go away, and he is still eating well. I also noticed that the Ph was around 7.9, so I brought it up to 8.2 and he is swimming around more happily now. Could this have been the culprit all along? Maybe it dropped and went un-detected? Not sure..
Thanks again for your help with this. This is a life learing hobby, and I really like this site. It has valuable information in it.

Mike

 

[steve-s]

Yes, large sustained drops in pH can cause the same red splotch's. In either event, the water changes will usually fix both problems. Might want to look into the set up of the tank as well. If the tank has a solid lid and insufficient water flow, you will continue to have pH issues.

Glad to hear things are looking better.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Salttanker]

I have glass coverings with a canopy on the top. I also purchased an additional Power head, which should be here on Friday, to move more water on the surface of the tank. This should help get the Ph more stable, right?

Mike

 

[steve-s]

I would also suggest replacing the glass top with eggcrate material. Even with the added water flow, the glass lid traps too much CO2 which will supress the pH. Free air flow combined with water flow is the key.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Salttanker]

Ok, thanks for the advice. I do have 2 flaps that open on the glass top. Maybe I can just leave those open. If that doesn't work, I will buy some egg crates to replace them with. Thanks again for your help!

Mike

 

[Salttanker]

Hi Steve - I took your advice and opened up the glass tops on the tank so the oxygen levels would be better. I also have a couple of power heads closer to the surface to break up all that dead algae. Within a few days, my Tang is looking 90% better already. I think this problem led to a Ph problem all along. Thanks for the great advice!

Mike