# black spots on yellow tang



## kilravn

i had the same problem i read in another post. my yellow tang got ick and then it seemed to go away after 2 weeks or so. after the ick went away almost instantly the tang got bumps appearing to be pushing out from inside.he scratched on a rock for about a week and the bumps went away. now he is still scratching on rocks and i noticed that he has very very tiny black spots. these spots are so small i had to just about put my nose on the glass and had the light have to hit the fish the right way for me to see them.i am wondering if it a different stage of the icks life cycle or a different parasite all together.

temp= 78
ph = 8.1
ammonia= 0
nitrite= 0
nitate= 15


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## Melissa

it sounds like black ich, which is a parasitic worm. It can be a little more difficult than white spot to get rid of. For fish-only tanks that have no freshwater sensitive invertebrates present, you can use hyposalinity to treat it. Slowly lower the salinity in your tank for a few days. you can also give your fish a frshwater dip.


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## usmc121581

It sounds like black ick. they are the same thing but different color. Just keep him well feed. That way he is strong enough to fight off the infection. Do you have a UV sterilizer? What do you have in your tank? If its a fish only raise the temp up to about 81 to speed up the life cycle of ick. If thats the only fish you have, when the ick hatchs from the cyst it needs to find a host in 24 hrs or it will die. So if your tank is big enough and it is has a 1 or 2 fish the chances of ick finding a host in that time is low.


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## kilravn

i do have a few hermitts, 1 emerald crab, and 1 peppermint shrimp will gradually lowering the salinity kill them or should i use a quarintine tank.
if so i have a 10 gal. tank but no filter or anything. how long should tang be isolated? would it bee better to move crabs and shrimp to 10 gal. and treat tang in main tank?


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## kilravn

tang is the only fish in tank will raising temp affect crabs and shrimp


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## usmc121581

kilravn said:


> i do have a few hermitts, 1 emerald crab, and 1 peppermint shrimp will gradually lowering the salinity kill them or should i use a quarintine tank.
> if so i have a 10 gal. tank but no filter or anything. how long should tang be isolated? would it bee better to move crabs and shrimp to 10 gal. and treat tang in main tank?


It would depend on what you have in your main tank! I would never suggest that you do that especially with copper as copper will be a pain to remove from everything. When I get ick I let it be. I do nothing about it.


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## kilravn

i do not want to and copper or any chemicals to the tank. i will just keep feeding him to keep his immune system up and i will let you guys know what happens. thanks for all your help. hope to talk to you again soon


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## Melissa

it will, but if you want to you can put the crabs and shrimp in a different tank. The 10 gallon will be to small to treat your tang in, it will just stress him out more being in it. So take out your crabs and shrimp in the main tank and raise the temp in it. that is assuming you have no other corals or inverts.


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## Melissa

oh, and you could also get a garlic additive and soak his food in it. This will help him eat better and stay healthy.


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## usmc121581

kilravn said:


> i do not want to and copper or any chemicals to the tank. i will just keep feeding him to keep his immune system up and i will let you guys know what happens. thanks for all your help. hope to talk to you again soon


That is what I wanted to hear. Invest in a UV sterilizer then This will help out big time.


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## kilravn

you said that the 10 gallon is to small for the yellow tang,but i have him in a 20l. could that be causing to much stress? the tank has about 15lbs. of live rock in it. i have a 55gal. freshwater tank that i want to transfer to the 20 and treansfer the tang to the 55. should i transfer fish furst before tring to get rid of ick or would that cause even more stress? should i but my freshwater inhabitants in the 10 gallon and move just the tang to the 55 gallon to treat? 

i also have a question about my emerald crab. every time my fish swimms by him he tries to reach out and pinch him. is this just another affect of the tank being to small? do i have a more aggresive emerald crab?should i worry about hermitts and shrimp? is it dangerous to the yellow tang?


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## kilravn

thats 20 long, not 20 liter


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## usmc121581

kilravn said:


> you said that the 10 gallon is to small for the yellow tang,but i have him in a 20l. could that be causing to much stress? the tank has about 15lbs. of live rock in it. i have a 55gal. freshwater tank that i want to transfer to the 20 and treansfer the tang to the 55. should i transfer fish furst before tring to get rid of ick or would that cause even more stress? should i but my freshwater inhabitants in the 10 gallon and move just the tang to the 55 gallon to treat?
> 
> i also have a question about my emerald crab. every time my fish swimms by him he tries to reach out and pinch him. is this just another affect of the tank being to small? do i have a more aggresive emerald crab?should i worry about hermitts and shrimp? is it dangerous to the yellow tang?


Yes move it to the 55gal. That is or could be the stress factor. A 20 is way to small for a tang. As for the crab because they are in a confined space everytime the fish swims past him its intruding on the crabs space. Its like me walking in your bedroom and taking a nap on your bed. You would pinch me to for it. Probaly do more then pinch. But you get the idea LOL


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