Black spot disease

Freshwater4Life

Dovii
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Dec 22, 2015
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Got a new fish in the other day and noticed that one of them has black spots on him. That look and are the same size and appearance as ick spots. After some research online which there wasn't much available for this disease it seems it's pretty harmless and should go away as the parasites can't survive in the aquaria environment. I went ahead and dosed the tank with some tetra para guard to speed up the process . Anyways wondering if anyone else has dealt with this disease and if so any quick cures and how did it go ?
 

Wailua Boy

Potamotrygon
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Jan 2, 2015
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With that species, black spot could well be likely. The black spots aren't spreading though?
 

Wailua Boy

Potamotrygon
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Only other thing I could think of would be skin flukes and that can sometimes look dark and spotty but that would spread
 

Freshwater4Life

Dovii
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Ok cool. I'll keep an eye out but yea I'm pretty sure it's the black dot disease . Thanks for helping.
 

Coryloach

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I can't speak about this species of fish but "black spots" that look like "black spot disease" appear on clown loaches due to TDS shock or what most people call a "Ph" shock, I.. e. a sudden change in water parameters. This happens also in established tanks, when the KH of the water is so low or non-existent that the PH goes all over the place.
But in your case it's more likely due to lack of proper acclimation. The fish is in shock. It takes about a month for them to pull out of that state and then watch out for the real diseases, hopefully not...

I went ahead and dosed the tank with some tetra para guard to speed up the process .
And how exactly is this going to speed up the process even if it was a "black spot disease" that everyone has ever only heard about....
Medication stresses fish, and in many cases beyond recovery if the fish is already stressed because of different factors.
 

Freshwater4Life

Dovii
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Everything I've read about it so far is its a parasite with a life cycle and has nothing to with water parameters although that's obviously always important . Hence why I used paraguard. Have never had any issues with it before . Well I recieved 2 of the same species and the other one has no dots on it whatsever and they were acclimated fine . Thanks for the input though. Not saying I'm right but that seems to be the concensus from everything I've read including the section on black spot disease on here that was pinned up top of this thread. But it might not be black spot disease. Just seems to be that from the evidence thus far.
 

RD.

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Black spot disease is spread by birds, and carried by snails. In freshwater fish there is no real treatment, you have to simply wait it out & make sure that the cycle cannot repeat itself. (do not keep snails with infected fish)

The OP's fish is WC, so it is very possible for it to have this disease.

Dr. Edward J. Noga, MS, DVM, a highly respected professor of aquatic medicine and immunology, that has been published approx 150 times in related papers/journals. His lab at NC State University specializes in the study of infectious diseases of finfish and shellfish. Here's what he has to say on this topic:

"According to Noga, if the fish has "black spot disease" there is no OTC treatment for the metacercaria (which are not in themselves lethal). They will simply "come out" of the cysts.

If there are no snails or copepods around, that is the end of the line. However, while the metacercaria are there, they can cause an immune reaction, which can be hard on the fish. If/when the metacercaria come out, they leave behind a hole that can get infected with bacteria and/or bleed. That is a danger to the fish. Salt in the water helps healing and increases production of the slime coat. Frequent water changes dilute out any possible infectious bacteria and supports the immune system. The key for fish survival (if they do not bleed to death from the holes) is a good immune system.

Black Spot is due to the metacercarian stage of a parasite with a complex life cycle called a "digenean" trematode . The "black spot" is caused by the metacercaria encysted under the skin which irritates the melanocytes of the fish tissue, causing the dark spot.

As long as it is under the skin, it is impervious from outside."


Tetra Parasite Guard contains Acriflavine, which would help with any potential secondary infections from the holes produced, but IMO lots & lots of fresh water, with some plain old kosher salt would be just as effective in that regard, without exposing your fish to the other meds found in Tetra P.
 
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