View Full Version : black spots on tang
saltydunc
06-07-2007, 4:08 PM
my yellow tang has developed a few small black spots on it side and some on its head....i noticed its rubbing its self on the sand now and then....its been dashing around a bit aswell....hes been eating normally and he seems ok apart from these black spots....if anyone can help it would be appreciated.
Do you have a cleaner shrimp in your tank? Usually those will get rid of most parasites on a tang.
saltydunc
06-07-2007, 5:07 PM
yes i have 2 cleaner shrimps in the tank....ive been reading the forums and it seems he has black ich which doesn't seem good....hard to treat etc....i don't have a hospital tank and i have corals,crabs and shrimps so i can't use meds....im hoping theres a natural remedy to treat him or the outlooks grim....i'l be seriously pissed off if i lose him cause hes doing so well apart from this black ich.
Sounds like you have few options.
1. leave him in there and hope the cleaner shrimp get them off.
2. Take him out and bring him to your local fish store and see if they have a hospital tank that can treat him.
My LFS offers that service for free as they care about the fish and will do anything within reason to help save one. Hard part is catching the fish. Call around and see if any stores in your area will help you out. I don't know any other way to rid ich, especially black ich, within your tank if the cleaner shrimp don't do it. As you already know, meds, especially ich meds, are not recommended in reef tanks.
Reefscape
06-07-2007, 5:49 PM
Here is a little info on Black Spot..
By all accounts, you need to get the tang away from other fish, as this can be passed on to them...
http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/compldiagnodisease/a/aa041701.htm
Niko
saltydunc
06-07-2007, 5:53 PM
what about adding a cleaner wrasse.....i would go and get one tomorrow if need be....the problem with the shrimps is when they go near the tang he tends to want to nibble their feelers and it puts them off going near him....maybe the wrasse would be more effective.
saltydunc
06-07-2007, 6:06 PM
problem is i don't have a quarantine tank and the parrasite will be in my tank now....so i will have to erradicate it from my whole system especially as i want to add 1 more other type of tang eventually.....there my favourite fish....cheers for the link atnixon and your comments ace.
Reefscape
06-08-2007, 2:06 AM
what else exactly is in the tank Dunc?
Niko
severum mama
06-08-2007, 10:28 AM
Please don't add a cleaner wrasse. They really are best left in the wild. First of all, they have a dismal survival rate in captivity, even if they become accustomed to eating prepared foods. Second, they are invaluable to their natural habitats since they clean parasites off of wild fish.
If black ich is anything like white ich (I forgot the sci. name), then it is very contagious to your other fish. Your best bet in that case is to set up a QT, remove all the fish from your main system, medicate them or use hyposalinity, and let the display tank run fallow for about 8 weeks. Since your inverts can't tolerate meds, that will probably be the only way for you to ensure that the parasite has been removed from your tank. Then you will have a QT ready to go for every new addition in the future.
dorkfish
06-08-2007, 11:56 AM
If black ich is like normal ich, then a cleaner shrimp, cleaner wrasse, etc. will not help, as ich is too deeply embedded in the flesh for these creatures to get at.
As for erradicating the black ich from your display, well if the parasite doesn't have a host, it will die off from lack of food after about a month. I know you don't have a quarantine, but you need to get one, if you want to give your fish an effective treatment, AND, espescially with tangs (the way I look at it any newly bought tang WILL get ich) you need to be quarantining new arivals to keep parasites out of your display.
saltydunc
06-08-2007, 5:19 PM
cheers for the advice guys.....to answer you atnixon i got 3 blue green chromis....2 pecular clowns....1 yellow tang....2 cleaner shrimps....1 peppermint shrimp....4 blue legged hermits....1 snail.(not sure what kind).and various soft corals. as for the yellow tang i went to my lfs and talked to the guy and he recomended a fresh water bath for it..he said he has used this method to some effect .... so i did it tonight ...i prepared the water to the same ph and temp as my tank and dipped him in....he didnt seem to mind too much and when i put him back in the spots were all gone.....hes never missed a beat since hes had this ich and even after this dip hes still full of life and eating heartily... i gave him garlic and spiritula just there and hes first there for the food...... hope this sorts him out.. :)
saltydunc
06-08-2007, 5:42 PM
i never knew cleaner wrasses were hard to keep....i see them alot in the fish shops in my area....i just thought one would do a good job of keeping parasites at bay....but if they dont adapt well in the aquarium i will give them a swerve.....to be honest i only want to put another two fish in anyway....a flame angel...and another tang....maybe a powder blue or a lipstick tang.
dorkfish
06-09-2007, 1:06 PM
hes never missed a beat since hes had this ich
I know what you mean... my yellow didn't seem at all affected when he/she had ich...
I definitely agree with the cleaner wrasse- they should really be kept in our oceans. I've had these bookmarked for a while if you're interested:
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/marine/wrasses/CleanerWrasse.php
http://www.talaythai.com/Fish/0013_en.php
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/labroide.htm
I would also suggest a QT tank. Black ich can stay in your tank for months. Freshwater dips can help comfort your fish as well as make some external parasites literally fall off the skin, but these dips are not considered a cure by any means. Formalin can kill black ich.
These will help you with the formalin bath:
http://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/showpost.php?p=914832&postcount=7
http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/compldiagnodisease/a/aa041701.htm
If you go the hyposalinity route you should slowly bring your specific gravity down to about 1.009 (small range of 1.008-1.010). You cannot perform hyposalinity with inverts nor is it recommended with live rock either.
Good luck and please keep us posted.
SHK_ATK
06-09-2007, 5:20 PM
I would get in the habit of providing garlic to your yellow since you ideally want to do things to PREVENT the disease/parasites instead of TREATING them, I would NOT suggest getting a powder blue tang as they are difficult to keep plus these fish are very fragile and do not like to be abused by other fish IE your yellow. A Naso tang (AKA lipstick) would be alright, but you would have to watch out for the yellow and its aggression towards him. I recently put a kole tang (smaller than the other tangs) in with my other three (naso,vlamingi,regal) where chasing him around the tank. He is a lot better now and does not get chased, but I think hes still trying to get use to his new home.