black spots on my bichir(s)

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JESToner

JESToner

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 22, 2007
348
3
0
Austin Tx
now i remember reading about this a while ago, at first i thought it was just the way my lapradei was, he had a few black spots along the side of its body, but now i am starting to see it appear on my congicus, and on another lapradei, and it dawned on me that i read about this somewhere in one of the stickies but cant find it, anne? infblue? shed some light for me, how dangerous is it? how do i go about treating this?

also, i just bought a lapradei today, and it looks like he had 7 or 8 bloodworms sticking out of its butt... it doesnt look good, i dont have anything to quarintine these fish... =( but at this point... it wouldnt hurt to treat the whole tank since i dont know which fish have been contaminated and which havent (for sure anyway)
 
so far all i've done is add salt and up the temp (my first instinct for any disease problems)
 
picture (also...consider this part of the sneak preview for the photoshoot i did earlier tonight to document my new substrate)

Q1.jpg
 
There are a number of possibilities regarding the black spots. Occasionally, the larvae of digenetic flukes (parasites) will cause black spots to appear. If the black spots have a smooth, waxy appearance then they may be symptoms of 'fish pox' which is viral in origin. 'Fish pox' is much more common on cold-water fish than tropicals. It is incurable (like all viral diseases) but in most cases seems to cause the fish very few problems.

The worms protruding from the anus are likely parasitic nematodes. Most nematode infestations in tropical aquariums are self-limiting in that the worms require an intermediate host to carry out their reproductive cycle so once the adults eventually die then the infestation is over. However, some nematodes like Camallanus have the ability to reproduce even in the aquarium. Any medication with Praziquantel will usually clear up nematode infestations pretty effectively. Jungle Parasite Clear is one of the staple medications that I keep on hand for internal and external non-protozoan parasites and I've found that it works well. Hikari Prazi-Pro is another excellent choice.

-Joe
 
I believe I have had that on my congicus but, has since gone away. I have a koliba that has black spots on it as well but, I believe that it is part of the coloration. I know that I have read somewhere as well.
 
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