Black spot/Black itch

[weird]

I think my loaches may have black spot/black itch. Does anyone know if this can be treated with heat and salt , similar to whitespot ?

Formalin seems to be the go with this guy.

[Essayons89]

Are you sure that this is Black Ich? Ichyophaga is a parasitic marine flatworm that infects the skin and gills of marine fish. This isn't really the same as freshwater ich and the treatment is different. Droncit (Praziquantel) can be dosed at 0.8 to 1.0 milligrams per 1 liter of water to treat black spot.

Not sure if this helps you at all.

Bryan

[weird]

Thanks mate. Yeah I am not sure if it is black spot. From what I can tell from black spot is that the bugger is not as nearly as bad as white spot and the parasite has trouble completing its cycle and often dies from its own accord.

I read also that silver dollars and gold fish are prone to it, so I don't think it is entirely marine only ... although I am not sure as you can't always believe what you read.

I am thinking it could also be diet related. Apart from the visual appearance there seems to be no other indication of sickness.

I checked a few loach forums and others reported similar problems but no one actually replied saying, "yep this is what it is ...", so I will just continue observing and researching. Apart from that they are happy little guys.

[Essayons89]

No problem.

Yeah, I'm not sure if it is black spot either. I would love to know what it is when you do find out.

Thanks,
Bryan

[weird]

Having added another filter to the tank, the catchments of poo and uneaten food has changed to another location in the tank. Previously when I did a gravel clean, most of the stuff accumulated under the loaches cave which had an open bottom.

Apart from this and increased water changes of late, the black spots are beginning to clear.

[Essayons89]

Sounds good, glad to hear that the spots are clearing up. Just out of curiosity, did you test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

Bryan

[weird]

No I didn't ... I do atleast 20% water changes everyday and I don't overfeed . It is my also my discus tank, which I am extremely anal about ... I do massive amounts of water changes and atleast one every day.

I just wonder if lying in that waste would ave a negative effect ? The black spots are going ... I still have hopes of having a "TANK" size loachy one day. LOL !