Black spots on tang

[Lynn52]

I have had this yellow tank in QT for a couple weeks. It eats well, swims around normally, is breathing normally, no flashing, nothing to indicate anything is wrong except it has developed some black bumps on his body. They were white initially and my first thought was ich. Didn't surprise me as he came out of a tank with ich and I was lowering the salinity when the spots appeared. It is now 2 weeks later and there are more bumps none have dissapeared after a few days the way ich does. Some are now brownish in color. Most are bigger than ich, at least that I have seen before, upwards of 2 mm they seem to be growing. There is also obvious swelling of the flesh in the area around the bump, kind of like a mosquito bite.
Any ideas as to what I am dealing with? Black ich (turbellaria)? How to treat it?
This is not a great pic. and they are more three dimensional than the pic shows.

 

[oldsaint]

Definitely looks like tubellarian worms to me.

 

[Brian Kim]

I will have to agree with Oldsaint, that looks like black ich. Although not as bad as MI, it should be treated asap.
Freshwater dip followed by formalin bath can help.
Is he already in your QT tank? If so, start treating with cupramine.

 

[Lynn52]

What is the standard treatment?

 

[Brian Kim]

What is the standard treatment?

The same way you would treat MI, I'd recommend Cuprimane

 

[oldsaint]

I would also consider the use of Praziquantel with a fresh water dip before hand.

 

[Blue Lip]

Prazipro

 

[Vaughn17]

The standard treatment is formalin dips, I believe. Copper does not kill it (at least not a levels that won't also kill fish). I had a little aquacultured blue hippo tang with black ich in my qt tank. It did not seem to be a life threatening parasite but definitely made him itchy and miserable. I removed him from the tank and dipped him in malachite green, followed by methylene blue, which eradicated the parasite. Turbellaria has a 10 day cycle, but the little tang was never reinfected. I'm guessing this was because my tank was bare bottomed and loaded with hungry brittle stars, bristle worms, and other assorted invertebrates that must have consumed any Turbellaria eggs. A six-line wrasse in the tank was never infected.

Humblefish knows far more about this topic than me, so maybe he will chime in!

 

[Lynn52]

I have another fish in the tank that appears fine. He is in hyposalinity now so any treatment I do has to be compatable with that (formalin dips would be ok I think), otherwise I have to slowly bring up the salinity before I can treat him.

 

[Vaughn17]

Yes, I would go with the formalin. I tried the malachite green and methylene blue because I had some on hand, and my LFS is not close by.

 

[Lynn52]

I'll have to take a run to the fish store at lunch tomorrow and grab some formalin.

 

[Humblefish]

Your best option is Prazipro, because that is reef safe and less harsh than using formalin.

Black Ich:

Symptoms - This looks like tiny black dots on the body or fins. Black ich is caused by an infestation of turbellarian flatworms and is mostly seen in tangs. It is “ich” in name only and requires an entirely different treatment than Cryptocaryon irritans.

Treatment options – Prazipro, or formalin bath.

 

[Lynn52]

Can I use prazipro while they are in hypo salinity or do I need to bring it up first.

 

[Humblefish]

Can I use prazipro while they are in hypo salinity or do I need to bring it up first.

I would err on the side of caution and bring the SG up first.

 

[4FordFamily]

I would err on the side of caution and bring the SG up first.

X2 although I've used it with hyposalinity I don't recommend it.

 

[Lynn52]

I ordered PraziPro from BRS and it will be here tomorrow. I went to the only fish store in my area and asked the owner if they had any. He had no clue what it was. Fortunately BRS is local for me so my orders are always over night.
My question is, will PraziPro have any effect on ich? The fish have not been in hypo long enough for me to be comfortable that the fish are ich free but I need to deal with this known issue of turbellarian flatworms. I really don't like using copper if I don't have to. Should I restart hypo after treating with PraziPro? Also how long do I treat with PraziPro?

 

[melypr1985]

If you dont want to do copper, then can you do Tank Transfer Method? It's chemical free and prazipro can be done in conjunction with it. You'll need to QT set ups, but it's fast and pretty easy.

Here's how to treat with prazi.... the TTM is in the stickies at the top of the disease forum.

Prazipro (praziquantel): Treats flukes, black ich, and some internal parasites (worms).

How To Treat - In either a quarantine or display tank, dose Prazipro at the rate of 1 teaspoon per 20 gallons of water. DO NOT OVERDOSE(especially with wrasses), try not to mix with other medications (for various reasons), and provide additional gas exchange while treating with Prazi. Wait 5-7 days, do a 20-25% water change and then repeat dosage. The reason for the second dose is to eradicate the “next generation” of worms before they can lay eggs of their own. Because while Prazi does kill worms, it doesn’t eliminate any eggs they might leave behind.

 

[Humblefish]

FWIW; PraziPro has no impact on ich or any other external parasite. It is strictly a dewormer, used to treat gill flukes and most intestinal worms. Metronidazole treats intestinal worms Prazipro does not.

Your treatment options for ich are: Copper, Chloroquine phosphate, tank transfer method, or hyposalinity.

 

[Humblefish]

Almost forgot... Prazipro also treats Turbellarians aka Black Ich, which is another worm.

 

[Lynn52]

Thanks guys. The PraziPro came and I dosed the fish. After 24 hours the fish seem to be doing fine. I'll do a water change and give them a second dose next Friday and hopefully the flat worms will be gone.