Black ICH or nothing?

[duijver]

I may be paranoid, but after losing all of my fish to ICH, and going FOWLR for 11 weeks, I am trying to be extra careful.

I picked up two clowns, from the same person, and they have a few black spots on them. Its probably nothing, but I wanted to get a second opinion.

One has two spots on the same side - behind the pectoral fin and along the lateral line beneath the soft dorsal fin. The second one has one black spot on its anal fin.

They are in a QT tank now with about 3/4 to 1/2 tablet of CHLOROQUINE PHOSPHATE (250MG), which has had success with regular ICH and other protozoa. However, my reading so far has pointed out that black ich is more of a flatworm so I may need to use something like PRAZIQUANTEL.

So, what are your opinions? Am I being over paranoid or should I be worried about the spots?









Thanks guys!

[ChilisREasy]

cant tell yet...i wouldnt worry just yet

[duijver]

Thanks. If it is something it appears as if it's under the skin. I'm guessing that a FW dip may do little in dislogging it - right?

[Loverotties]

Put him in your HT and watch it.

[duijver]

Ht?

[ChilisREasy]

i think she means Quarantine Tank..no i wouldnt dip the fish..its more stressful than the ich & the ich is IN THE MAIN TANK it wont cure it..i would suggest some Neon cleaner goby's..they kill ich parasites & are immune to them as well.

[Mr.Peanut]

Those spots do not look like black ich to me.

From what I can see from your picture, those spots are light brown, and flush to the fishes body. Black ICH is a raised black spec like the size of sugar or salt.

Do a search but I think the best treatment is a fresh water dip. The hardest part of killing black ich is the encysted ones in the tank. Not the ones on the fish. Once the fish is clean, you can transfer the fish and water to a bucket. Empty the Q/T and scrub it and dry it thoroughly. Replace the fish and water and observe them for more spots.

[Mr.Peanut]

Originally Posted by ChilisREasy

i think she means Quarantine Tank..no i wouldnt dip the fish..its more stressful than the ich & the ich is IN THE MAIN TANK it wont cure it..i would suggest some Neon cleaner goby's..they kill ich parasites & are immune to them as well.

FW dips can be extremely effective when used properly. Properly being the key word.

Cleaner fish/shrimp are not 100% effective in an aquarium because they can only affect ONE stage (trophonts) of the ich's 4 stage life cycle and they cant get everyone and It only takes one to reproduce hundreds more.

[ChilisREasy]

yea properly ..not easy...anyway i doubt thats ich

[Mr.Peanut]

Originally Posted by ChilisREasy

i doubt thats ich

me too.

[duijver]

Thanks guys for your advice!

Since many of you feel like it's not black ich, and it has not yet spread, I decided to do a freshwater dip for 2 1/2 minutes and placed them in the main DT. I've been watching them since Thursday and the same spots have existed. Granted, considering the 5-6 day period it probably means nothing... but I already have no fish in the tank .. What’s another 3 weeks at this point?


I have never had success with FW dips. Actually, the last ICH outbreak I had all of the fish I FW dipped died. But, since these fish seemed really healthy I figured I would give it one more shot before giving up forever.

To maximize my results I mixed up a 5g bucket of tap water (same temp as DT and QT), treated it with de-clorine,slimecoat, etc and then used the power to bring the water to pH 8.3. Then I used the same pH power in my DT (very reluctantly I might add since it wouldn't dissolve correctly in a cup), and moved the clowns separately into a small container with the FW dip solution for 2 1/2 minutes. Then I dropped them into my tank.

Obviously, this was pretty controlled and it seems to have worked out (fingers crossed).

Thanks again guys!

[Mr.Peanut]

No problem.

Another thing that leads me to think you fine, is that the spots are in the same place. Black Ich moves around while on the host.

[duijver]

So, it looks like the plot thickens.

As Mr. Peanut said, Black ICH normally moves around so I'm guessing that, that is not the problem. But, both clowns are quickly getting black. I don't think that they are black clowns... but who knows. Lets pretend that they are absolutely not black clowns. What else could cause clownfish to turn back?



Thanks guys!

[Mr.Peanut]

If there isn't any kind of problem and I hope there's not. I'd say that is pretty cool. Do black clowns start off orange?

[duijver]

I don't really see any problem. Although, they stick really low to the tank, so I am beginning to wonder if my lights are too powerful for them. When I purchased the pair I was told that they were tank bred. When I picked them up they were in a basement with a 20g breeder tank split in 2. The 20g tank had a small 9" PC light over tank.

Now they are in a 36" TEK 39x4 lighting system.. so maybe it's that.