Help! Blue tang has super tiny black spots on its body

[Oliver199234]

Hi, I have attached pictures in this post.

My blue tang suddenly started to become very itchy. It seems like some very small black dots. The skin looks rough like it has pimples.

I have done a 35 days cupramine treatment at 0.55ppm using Hanna Copper testkit daily and Prazi for 10 days in my quarantine tank before adding it to the main tank.

No spots on its fin.

This fish is doing well for more than a month in my main tank.

My other fish are doing well. The only other tang I have is a blue eyed bristletooth tang.

Everyone seems fine. The blue tang is still eating aggressively.

Can anyone identify what is wrong with my blue tang? Is there any medication?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

When people say "black spots" on a tang, it is often a turbellarian worm. Copper and Praziquantel doesn't affect those much. However, in looking at your photo, the spots are too small. More likely, those are the outlines of the fish's scales, giving the fish a "pebbly" appearance.

Can you describe how you did the prazi treatment? I suspect this tang has flukes that weren't controlled by the prazi.

The tang also has some minor HLLE (Head and Lateral Line Erosion) around its face.

 

[vetteguy53081]

When expanded, pics get blurry but I’m seeing mucus cones in lieu of black spots
Brighter white light intensity may help distinguish which it is

 

[Oliver199234]

When people say "black spots" on a tang, it is often a turbellarian worm. Copper and Praziquantel doesn't affect those much. However, in looking at your photo, the spots are too small. More likely, those are the outlines of the fish's scales, giving the fish a "pebbly" appearance.

Can you describe how you did the prazi treatment? I suspect this tang has flukes that weren't controlled by the prazi.

The tang also has some minor HLLE (Head and Lateral Line Erosion) around its face.

I don't have PraziPro in my country, so I got Prazigold.

It's praziquantel. Following the instructions, it says

"To eradicate emerging larvae, redose it on the 3rd day and the 6th day"

That's what I did during the quarantine period. Maybe the length of treatment is not sufficient. During the treatment, I did turn off my protein skimmer while keeping my powerhead and airstone running.

I just dosed Prazi to my tank again and my blue tang has recovered a lot. I won't say the itchiness is gone but at least reduced 50%

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I don't have PraziPro in my country, so I got Prazigold.

It's praziquantel. Following the instructions, it says

"To eradicate emerging larvae, redose it on the 3rd day and the 6th day"

That's what I did during the quarantine period. Maybe the length of treatment is not sufficient. During the treatment, I did turn off my protein skimmer while keeping my powerhead and airstone running.

I just dosed Prazi to my tank again and my blue tang has recovered a lot. I won't say the itchiness is gone but at least reduced 50%

Timing prazi treatment is very difficult, prazi doesn’t kill the eggs and you need have the eggs hatch, kill those juvenile flukes with prazi, but before they can lay new eggs. I use 3 treatments 8 days apart, but even that doesn’t always work.

 

[Oliver199234]

Timing prazi treatment is very difficult, prazi doesn’t kill the eggs and you need have the eggs hatch, kill those juvenile flukes with prazi, but before they can lay new eggs. I use 3 treatments 8 days apart, but even that doesn’t always work.

OK. Thank you for your suggestion.

I'll do 3 treatments 8 days apart. Unlike marine velvet and ich, treating the fish with copper is relatively easy for me as long as the dosage is correct and hold it for a period of time.

I'm just surprised there's worm in my tank even though I treated with Prazi before.

It's been a few hours now and my blue tang is almost back to normal.

I'll try to prolong the treatment.

Last question: Is Prazi safe with invert?

I don't have any invert at the moment.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

OK. Thank you for your suggestion.

I'll do 3 treatments 8 days apart. Unlike marine velvet and ich, treating the fish with copper is relatively easy for me as long as the dosage is correct and hold it for a period of time.

I'm just surprised there's worm in my tank even though I treated with Prazi before.

It's been a few hours now and my blue tang is almost back to normal.

I'll try to prolong the treatment.

Last question: Is Prazi safe with invert?

I don't have any invert at the moment.

Prazi is pretty safe for all fish and invertebrates, you just want to ensure that the tank has good aeration (air bubbles from an air stone, not just water circulation). Prazi only remains active for a day or so in the water, so multiple doses are always required if the flukes are one of the egg laying species.

Sometimes, prazi just fails to cure flukes. In those cases, if there are no invertebrates present, you can use hyposalinity:

Hyposalinity

Hyposalinity Jay Hemdal 2021 This term refers to a long-term bath treatment for marine fishes in which the salt content of the water is lowered and held below the point that certain parasites can survive. The salt level reached, and the time of the treatment are the two variables...

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