black ich

[khobbs37]

my clown has developed tiny black spots all over. i've been told it's black ich. i can't catch it for a fresh water dip. will melaflix cure the issue? what can be done? thanks

[Percula9]

Are there any corals in the tank? Can you take a pic and post it? Black ick looks like tiny pepper grains on the body. Melafix will not cure it? Formalin is the standard treament. The black spots might be coral stings causing hyperpigmentation.

[khobbs37]

lots of corals. he hosts in a hammerhead and has done so for 6 months with no issues. nothing has changed in my tank other than adding some palythoas and zoanthids about a week ago and then the pepper spots appeared on my clown. i doubt they are related. i was able to finally catch him and give a 10 minute fresh water dip. will this help? thanks

[Percula9]

A picture would really help in the diagnosis. If it doesn't go away quarantine with a formalin treatment.

[khobbs37]

i will try to get a pic when the lights come on at 2pm est.
will the fresh water dip i gave last night help? how long do i leave in formulin? thanks

[kevin2000]

Most cases of "black ich" in clowns are just a melanistic response when they attempt to host in corals.

Black ich isn't like normal ich and few would consider it lethal or hard to treat.

FW or formalin dip is often effective against black ich - here's a link which discusses black ich .. think there is a link to a yellow tang with black ich withint he article.

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/blackich.html

[Matt850]

Does formalin dip work about the best for this? My Goby went and got this (I assume this is it, micro black spots all over its body) and I would hate to lose it. I also have much larger black spots on my clowns, what could these be? All I got are a CC Frogspawn (haven't gone close to this) and a bunch of zoos.