Update-
Great news and Bad news-
1st the bad- This is what I found in one of my tanks 2 weeks ago. (about the same time AC went down). The remains of a poor clown loach and missing its head and tail.
This is my 1st clown loach death I've had in about 2 years. I think it was due to the to the possible black spot disease or whatever it is that gave my clowns the black spots.
Shortly after I flushed the remains of the clown loach down the toilet I decided to Quarantine some of clowns to see if I could help them with some meds.
I took my 90g tank, broke it down, and turned it into a Q tank. I wanted to remove all the sand because I think it was a breeding ground for the parasite that was causing all of the nasty black spots. I replaced the sand with a small pea gravel. I also set-up a few pieces of slate for the clown loaches to hide under.
With 12 clowns in the Q-tank,
I then used a wide spectrum anti-parasitic and anti-bacterial control product called Paragon II by Aquatronic. This product is no longer available because Aquatronics went out of business. The main ingredients of Paragon II are - Metronidazole, Furazolidone, NeomycinSulfate, Naladixic Acid, And Sodium Chloride.
and now for the great news-
After 3 treatments and 2 weeks gone by, 95% of the black spots are gone. Problem is that I have no more Paragon II left. I will continue the treatments with a Jungle Labs Product called Parasite Clear until my clowns are spot free. The main ingredients of the Parasite Clear product are -Praziquantel, metronidazole, and Acriflavine. I hope this is just as good or better than the Paragon II.
My next decision is what to do with the clown loaches that are in my other tanks. They still have the black spots really bad. I could turn my 95g tank into a q-tank and put the rest of the clown loaches in there. Or I could go the expensive route and just treat all my tanks. I'll try to make up my mind by Tomorrow.
I hope everyone on the net can learn something from this rare black spot experience. I'll keep this thread updated for better or worse.