Black Spot Disease

[RiC]

Hello all,

My pair of apistogramma maciliensis [got them four months ago] has developed what clearly looks like "black spot disease" - it's been going on for several weeks now. They don't seem to be affected by it, but I'm beginning to worry as this does not seem to go away at all. They behave normally and eat normally. I have been researching the condition everywhere in my books as well as on the net, and from what I've read it would be better not to treat (especially wild-caught fish); they claim that, even if the parasites are "long-lived" in the fish, they will "eventually disappear." Well, it doesn't seem to disappear. What does "long-lived" mean precisely?

They are in a long 20g with a small school of carnegiella strigata, which are not affected by it as far as I can tell.

I do 30% weekly water changes on this tank; should I increase the water changes or isn't it necessary? The temperature is at 80; if I increase it a little bit, will this accelerate the life cycle of the parasites?

Could I try garlic in their food or would it be completely useless since those parasites are not nematodes?

Thanks for any input!

 

[fishgeek]

neascus and metacercaria are the terms to search

prehaps medications effective against intestinal flukes may help
praziquantel

though the black spots are due to larval stages erupting from the skin and will not respond directly to prazi

searching this forum has a fair amount of information
andrew