HELP!!! Is this Ich, or something more serious?

[robvia]

I have a yellow tang that has black ich. At least that is what I think it has had. I have done 2 freshwater dips a week apart. After each dip the black spots went away. 6 days after the first dip, they came back. Hence the reason for the second dip. 2 days after the second dip, it has developed white splotches. They are large and at least some of them have a black spec in the middle of the splotch. Does this mean the parasite has penetrated the surface of the fish? The splotches seem to be under the skin of the fish. In the tank are angel, grouper, clown, damsel, crab, and anemone. It is a 90 gallon tank. I have been reading about copper, no-ich, hypo salinity and other treatments. I’m not positive that the disease is ich.
Please help,
Rob

 

[gkp]

Copper will kill any animal without a backbone so if it is any pericite it will die. If you have inverts or corals copper is a no no. I have not personaly used the other options you mentioned so I will not comment on them.

 

[beth]

Copper is that effective with black ich. Formalin bathes is the correct treatment. The procedure is detailed in the FAQ Thread. Do not put formalin in to your display.