Questions about black ich

[c_bell]

I noticed a couple of days ago my yellow tang came down with black ich. I did a search on black ich to learn how to cure it, and as prescribed I am going to give the tang Formalin baths for 45 min every other day for 5 days. I have also read that black ich is contagious so I will need to treat the other fish as well. Do I need to leave the main tank fishless for a month like with regular ick or is the formalin bath going to rid the tank of black ich. I would Qtine the fish but my Q-tank is only a 20 gal long and the yellow tang is show size 6+ inches.

 

[myescape0]

Originally posted by c_bell
I noticed a couple of days ago my yellow tang came down with black ich. I did a search on black ich to learn how to cure it, and as prescribed I am going to give the tang Formalin baths for 45 min every other day for 5 days. I have also read that black ich is contagious so I will need to treat the other fish as well. Do I need to leave the main tank fishless for a month like with regular ick or is the formalin bath going to rid the tank of black ich. I would Qtine the fish but my Q-tank is only a 20 gal long and the yellow tang is show size 6+ inches.
What does black ich look like ? One of our yellow tangs has what looks like tiny blackheads on his sides.We don't know what it is and we've never seen it before.
We have a 150 gal. w/ 3-yellow tangs, 1- h.lipstick naso tang, 1-marroon clownfish,mated cbs (caught @ beach),juv.french angel (caught @ beach),dec.crabs (caught @ beach),peppermint shrimp,hermits,snails (bought and got from beach),queen conch (from beach),firefish,chromis,lobster (from beach),tiny brittle star (from beach),l/s,l/r (bought and from beach),corals,gorgorians,closed brain, I think that's everyone.
Sump,protien skimmer,chiller,4- 96W power compacts,vortex DL filter(vortex is well worth every penny !!!!!!).

 

[beth]

You know, I think I must be going brain dead I belive that black ich can be treated just with the fish, not the tank, but we should get Terry to tell us just for sure.
I don't see any black ich on those tangs. It basically looks like salt particles, only black instead of white.

 

[myescape0]

Originally posted by Beth
You know, I think I must be going brain dead I belive that black ich can be treated just with the fish, not the tank, but we should get Terry to tell us just for sure.
I don't see any black ich on those tangs. It basically looks like salt particles, only black instead of white.
The pics are from when we first got them...couple of weeks ago...the black spots were just noticed today by my husband.So far just one has the spots. I was wondering if the new juv.french angel we put in could be causing this when he nips and cleans them. He looks as if he's reached puberty and has tiny blackheads on him. He's acting fine outside of the spots.We do not have a QT . I'm trying to find a reasonbly priced 20 gal. to set up w/ a skilter 400. I'm going to try and get a pic w/ the spots in the morning(tank lights go off at 9pm and come back on at 11 am.)We backwashed and recharged our vortex DL and have it running now.
My 33 gal. is fish free, only inverts,l/r,l/s, until I feel it's safe and ich free which is a few more weeks.(1.5 months, may wait longer since I lost a fish I knew was healthy because I watched him grow at the lfs.)

 

[beth]

So, Terry, does that mean that the parasite is not in the water. What is the transmission mode? Directly fish to fish?

 

[myescape0]

We just treated 2 of our yellow tangs and our h.lipstick tang but not our largest yellow tang.We couldn't catch him and my husband refuses to move his l/r. We used Black Spot Control..it was the only thing that we could find at our LFS. Will it come back around since we couldn't do all of them ? We've never heard of this before. Will it kill them ??????

 

[myescape0]

Originally posted by myescape0
We just treated 2 of our yellow tangs and our h.lipstick tang but not our largest yellow tang.We couldn't catch him and my husband refuses to move his l/r. We used Black Spot Control..it was the only thing that we could find at our LFS. Will it come back around since we couldn't do all of them ? We've never heard of this before. Will it kill them ??????
We tried to get pics of the black spots but you can't see them.I guess they are too tiny for my camera to pick them up.

 

[beth]

Yes, you need to treat them all.

 

[myescape0]

c_bell ...where did you find the med. you're trying ?

 

[myescape0]

Originally posted by Terry B
what is in the medication that you used? Black ich is not as contagious as ich, nor is it as dangerous. However, given enough time it can kill fish. I usually do not recommend cleaner shrimp to treat infections but they are much better with black ich than they are with Cryptocaryon irritans (ich). You still may have to treat all the fish. If your tank is fish ONLY then hyposalinity seems to work for black ich in at least some instances.
Terry B
No unfortunately it's not a fish only tank.We have different corals in it along with cbs,queen conch,dec. crabs,snails,hermits.
The medicine is called Black Spot Control..one step treatment for black spot disease on fish.. by Aquatronics.It's all we could find at our LFS. Our fish are acting fine.The naso had the most come off of him during the treatment.
We are going to try and catch the bigger y.tang again tonight.
Would you happen to know where I can find this formalin ? I asked c_bell (this thread starter) but I guess he hasn't checked back in yet.

 

[myescape0]

We just put RALLY by ruby reef in our tank. It has formalin in it. Does anyone know how good this product is ?

 

[beth]

Formalin is the correct threatment for ich, but ONLY in a bathe treatment...not for display use. Hopefully, that was not a reef tank. Formalin is formaldehyde.

 

[myescape0]

Originally posted by Beth
Formalin is the correct threatment for ich, but ONLY in a bathe treatment...not for display use. Hopefully, that was not a reef tank. Formalin is formaldehyde.
My LFS said it'd be ok.The bottle says it's safe for plants and inverts.Should I be worried ?????? We have corals and such. The bottle says..active ingredients: Acriflavine,aminoacridine, 0.245 % (w/v) formalin.

 

[beth]

I would not put it my reef tank. The threaputic dose for black ich is 37% formaldehyde.
Read the linked article that TerryB Wrote which is in the FAQ section.