# It looks like black ich



## DotFrog (Dec 27, 2011)

It's on my kuhli loaches. Like black grains of salt. Please help!!! I'm gonna do a full tank restore. What is it??? Ive been doing heat treatment and excessive water changes for the ich breakout.


----------



## jbrown5217 (Nov 9, 2011)

I did a google search and found this Black Spot or Tang Disease - Black Ich Diagnosis and Treatment

you didn't really give much for us to go on though. Pictures or a video would be more helpful.


----------



## DotFrog (Dec 27, 2011)

Thanks, but I did a lot of searching too. Everything seems to be saltwater black spot...
It seriously looks just like ich, except it's black.


----------



## DotFrog (Dec 27, 2011)

*c/p*


----------



## Summer (Oct 3, 2011)

Not sure, a pic would help a lot


----------



## jbrown5217 (Nov 9, 2011)

I am going to quote the very first line of the article I gave you.



> Typically a "disease" that is most commonly associated with Tangs and Surgeonfishes, *but one that can be contracted by other species as well*


I am not saying this is your problem, but that is is a possibility and fw/sw doesn't matter, just that it is more common in sw fish. Also pics are super helpful, once again.


----------



## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

How long have you had the fish? I had native, wild caught fish with spots all over that looked like black ich. They were also flashing. I decided it was this:
Black Spot (diplopstomiasis)
It is only one stage in the life of a parasite and it can't reproduce in an aquarium. I didn't treat and it went away on it's own. A possibility if the fish are new or you have recently added new fish to the tank.

Google diplopstomiasis for more info.


----------



## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

Are these black spots moving around? I had some tiny worms on a freshwater fish years ago that were easily treated with an anti-parasite med. They moved slowly.


----------



## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

snail said:


> How long have you had the fish? I had native, wild caught fish with spots all over that looked like black ich. They were also flashing. I decided it was this:
> Black Spot (diplopstomiasis)
> It is only one stage in the life of a parasite and it can't reproduce in an aquarium. I didn't treat and it went away on it's own. A possibility if the fish are new or you have recently added new fish to the tank.
> 
> Google diplopstomiasis for more info.


I agree.


----------



## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

This is really bothering me. Once, in my 45 years of keeping fish, I saw small black dots on my fish, and they moved. They cleared up really easily. The problem is that while I found them online that time, I can't find the name now. Anyone else ever stumble across this rarity?

The black spot on natives is big - it's a blotch. I always took it to be a cold water beast, but I could be wrong there. I've never seen it on a tropical fish, but behind some beaver dams, every red-bellied dace or fathead minnow is coated in it. It could never be mistaken for ich.

However, the skin parasite whose name I can't find could be, in a stretch.


----------



## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

navigator black said:


> The black spot on natives is big - it's a blotch. I always took it to be a cold water beast, but I could be wrong there. I've never seen it on a tropical fish, but behind some beaver dams, every red-bellied dace or fathead minnow is coated in it. It could never be mistaken for ich.


Looking at more pics of diplopstomiasis, I see what you mean about bg black spots. The spots I have seen look more like the fish in picture 3 here:
Ask A Biologist: posted July 10, 2006
It say's this is Apopphallus brevis but it also says the fish is an intermediate host, so it shouldn't be a long term problem in the aquarium.



navigator black said:


> This is really bothering me. Once, in my 45 years of keeping fish, I saw small black dots on my fish, and they moved. They cleared up really easily. The problem is that while I found them online that time, I can't find the name now. Anyone else ever stumble across this rarity?


It sounds like you are describing 'black ich' which is what jbrown5217 linked to. It is caused by a type of flatworm, and moves about on the fish. It is almost always referred to as a marine parasite but I'm sure I read that there is also a species that is found on FW fish, of course I can't find that now that I'm looking for it .


----------

