dovii88;624871; said:
i have to questions has anyone heard of black ick, and second my jurupari has black spots on him but they dont seem to be on his skin but more or less in his skin like a blackhead or just maybe part of his pigment..wat do you guys think .... i think black is is a crock of crap..but im open to suggestionos
Bad news and good news for you... Your fish has "Black spot disease" (Black ich, etc.). Or otherwise known as turbellarian flatworms. This is a parasite, like the other forms, but the good news, is that typically it is not nearly as devastating, or as hard to get rid of as some of the other forms of Ich. Even still, it's never one to just ignore, because it can - and will, if left untreated, take over your whole tank and kill everything. These worms live in the substrate of your tank until they mature and go looking for a host (one of your fish). They feed for about a week, nestled under the fish's skin, and then wiggle out and fall back to the substrate where their body literally splits and out come babies. They then lay waiting on the bottom until mature, and the cycle repeats all over, growing in population each time.... quickly becomming (or at least having the potential to become an epidemic in your tank). The easiest way to recognise them, is that when they feed, they develop coloring, which to the naked eye appears black. They, like other strains of Ich are about the size of a grain of salt, some larger, some smaller. These spots will most commonly appear on the fins and fleshy areas of the body, but keep in mind that these worms are mobil, so the "spots" can be anywhere, and move at any time. Once your fish is actively infected with these worms, they will display common signs of distress such as flashing and rubbing, erratic swimming patterns, labored breathing, and later, loss of appetite, loss of pigmentation, and slow swimming, or periods of no swimming, but rather "resting" several times /min. And more often than not, secondary infections develop. To treat this, you should give your fish a fresh/salt dip, also, formalin baths are a common treatment.
You will need to repeat this treatment a few times to ensure your fish is free of them. They should be removed from the main tank, and placed into another holding tank, or QT. These worms can live for months without having a host to feed on, so if at all possible, the main tank should be vacated, and left bare for at least a few months. Juv. worms feed on the waste in substrates before they are mature enough to seek a host, so by regularly siphoning substrates while treating the tank, it can help keep reproductive numbers down. As far as other treatments, for certain fish hyposalinity is an option, or medications specifically designed for external parasites - - just remember with these, they should be done in a med. tank and not the main one! You won't always get rid of them on the first pass, but if you notice it early, take every measure to correct it, and are able to house your fish in another area while your main tank "clears", then re-infection is less of a risk. Either way I know it is still a pain in the butt, and a real headache if you lose fish over it. Well, I hope this helped some, and let me know how it goes -k-.
-Em
