AH! Black Dots

[Blake]

So Rick has no trace of Ick, but now he has maybe 30 pinhead sized black dots all over him. ****it, what is this?

[dark horge]

Probably a case of 'Black Ich'
(Tubellarian flatworm infestation).

A three-pronged attack is usually recommended:

1) A freshwater dip for the fish, discarding the used bathwater carefully. Make sure pH and temp match the display's.

2) Formalin bath for the fish, followed by removal to a recovery tank. The best formalin-based medications for this contain some organophosphates like trichlorphon. 5ml of Formalin per gallon of warm saltwater is often recommended, as is 10 or more minutes. Make sure pH and temp match that of the display.

3)LIGHT surface-siphoning of the display tank bottom while the fish is recovering. I know this is sacrilegious for a sandbed, but the worms pursue the 'pregnant' stage of life in mulmy sediment. If the sandbed is quite live, then some of the good critters ought survive and make a meal of leftover worms.

Blake, consecutive parasitic infestations often point to two things: a fish with depressed resistance and a tank with a lack of biodiversity (critters keep each other in check, etc.)

Could you provide details about your setup?
Size, Filtation, Bottom, Lighting, Inhabitants, Chemistry specs, etc...

horge

[Brooke]

I had a yellow tang who got these worm infestations. My cleaner shrimp would usually clean him right up. I never did a dip or anything on him, but I think it would work. It's just so hard catching those darn tangs! Give his food a boost with some selcon, if you aren't using it already. If I had followed advice #3 above, he probably wouldn't have gotten them a second time.

Horge, would garlic work for these parasites or not?

[ 03-21-2001: Message edited by: Brooke ]

[horge]

Brooke!
Theoretically, yes.
Garlic has a proven effectivity as an internal anthelminthic (dewormer), so it should repel external worms.

I'm more concerned with the compound nature of diseases piling up in Blake's tank. Balanced biodiversity normally keeps a lot of pathogenic organismns from becoming dominant to the point of overcoming a fish's natural resistance to them.

I hope Blake posts tank, equipment and livestock specs, so we can try getting to the root of the problem.

[Blake]

Tank
46gal bow, 20lb fiji live rock, 30lb oolite dead sand, eheim 2227 wet/dry, 1.023 sg, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrate, 0 nitrite

Livestock
Had two false percula clowns (dead), Ick (the white one) got em
5 Red hermits
12 Margarita Snails
1 pepermint shrimp
1 sally lightfood
1 atlantic bristle star

Corals
1 leather mushroom
1 frogspawn

I haven't added any livestock since I started treating Rick the Tang with Copper in the QT.

Copper dosing in the QT started March 1, ended March 14. Now I am wating until April 10th or so to re-introduce Rick into the display tank. I had to wait for the Ick parasites to die off due to lack of a host. It is a new tank, started about Jan 2. I've been through all the algae blooms (diatoms, red, green, hair). Also, Rick came down with the black dots about 5 days ago; he was in the QT.

[ 03-21-2001: Message edited by: Blake ]

[horge]

Okay, so if Rick's still in QT, then treatment for Tubellarians as I outlined is easier to accomplish. You can double check with online sources for alternative treatments.

Still, black dots can also (rarely) result from ammonia or nitrate burns.

If the dots are actually tiny pits on the facial area and/or along the lateral line, then you could have the initial stages of HLLE on your hands and need to feed better grub: fresh marine algae for tangs helps.

Good luck, Blake, and keep us posted

[ 03-22-2001: Message edited by: horge ]

[Blake]

It has been a week since the black dots have appeared. Every day they have become less in number. Rick the Tang is almost free of them; I added nothing to the QT tank except time. Is this normal for this flatworm to dissapear? I have been feeding Rick lots of frozen brine and Ogo.

[Brooke]

Blake-

Be sure your tang is getting spirulina as well. It comes in frozen cubes or flakes. Also, the varieties of seaweed selects dried seaweeds are very good and your tang will love them. The tang heaven from ipsf is great too.

Brooke

[horge]

When fattened, the feeding flatworms can bail out to finish up on the substrate, where they burst to release battalions of baby flatworms hunting for a fish-host

So yeah, they CAN just disappear.

Again, make sure they ARE Tubellarians, and not black pits in the skin.