My neon tetra has a white patch on one side of its back. I thought it might be fungus. I dont think its whitespot as it isnt like grains of salt, more a patch. I have added aquarium treatment 8 (anti fungus and finrot) by Interpet as directed, I dissolved it in warm water, but just before I was ready to pour it in, I noticed the medication, which is a white emulsion, had settled to the bottom of the pint of water I dissolved it in. As it was in a jug, I swished it round a bit and then added it. I also added a couple of airstones.

I then read an article on here saying the Interpet treatments need dissolving in really hot water (not warm like directed) otherwise they dont get activated. If this is the case what should I do?

The neon tetras were only purchased at the beginning of the week (yes I can see the sense of a quarantine tank now - Im going to buy a spare tomorrow).

Prior to me noticing the white patch on the neon tetra, I noticed one of my albino corys wasnt moving much and I was worried about him, but I couldnt see anything on him. I also found a dead, nibbled neon tetra in the plants today and after this I did a 25% water change and gravel vac. I didnt see anything on the dead one, but to be fair he had been nibbled quite a bit.

So if I have treated correctly, should I be quarantining anyone or is it too late?

This post has been edited by alysonpeaches: Jul 19 2008, 09:49 AM

The white patch does it look like bleaching beneath the skin.
How is the red stripe area is it vibrant red.

When I first saw it I thought it had something stuck to it. It wasnt a lightening of the natural coloration. Ive just been for another look but all the neon tetras are in hiding now behind the plant and large piece of bogwood. They went there when I put the airstone and the treatment in. I dont remember his red coloration being affected, the patch was on the blue as far as I remember.

How long did you climatise them for.
Any signs of flicking and rubbing.
Bleached out marks beneath the skin is columnaris.
Keep an eye on the red stripe area that it dosn't looked bleached out or a milky substance.
What are your water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.

20 minutes, floated bag on surface, then opened it, at this stage a danio entered the bag (!) so I gently tipped the whole lot out.

No signs of flicking or rubbing.

Ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 40 pH 6.5

So you never added any tank water to the bag before you let them go.
What is the ph of the store to your tank.
Also the white patch any excess mucas on the fish.

I am fairly sure its a fungus by looking at pictures of affected fish on Interpet treatment box.

I have added the treatment but Ive no idea what is in it, it smells almost like menthol or something. Im going to bed now and I will let you know whats what in the morning.

Temperature, just a thought, I turned my thermostat down today from 28 to 25 because I thought the cory mentioned in post 1 was lethargic and I read they like it cooler than 28.


Yes I did swish a bit in, but the danios are so quick, as soon as my hands appear they think food food and one dashed over and ended up in the bag, and thats when I had to tip the whole lot in.

Columnaris has many disguises it can look fluffy in appearance to bleached out patches.
That finrot and fungus med is not that great on columnaris so see how he goes.
Good luck.

Yes I did swish a bit in, but the danios are so quick, as soon as my hands appear they think food food and one dashed over and ended up in the bag, and thats when I had to tip the whole lot in.

If there a big difference in ph the fish can get ph shock.
Thats why is best to test the ph of the bag water to your tank so you no how long to climatise them for.

Thanks, will know next time. If the tetra dies, do the rest of the tank need any treatment?

Water changes, yes or no?

This post has been edited by alysonpeaches: Jul 17 2008, 10:41 PM

You are already treating the tank so I would just see how they go for now.

This morning nitrites are up slightly 0.25 ppm I think I saw all the neons first thing, but now Im missing one. I cant see the one with the white bit swimming about. They dont seem keen on the airstone, but I left it on because of the treatment.

Ive now bought some pimafix and some melafix but wont put anything else in yet.



Ive just done a 10 per cent water change. I got the chance for a good look and it looks like 3 little white spots. It seemed less distinct last night. So I guess its whitespot.

So quick everyone, do I use the Interpet whitespot treatment or the pimafix or the melafix????

This post has been edited by alysonpeaches: Jul 18 2008, 12:39 PM

I would do a water change and run some black carbon to get the finrot med out of the tank.
If the white spots are the size of a grain of salt it sounds like whitespot.
You need to raise temp to 30 once you added the whitespot med.
Read instructions carefully as with neons and some other fish you somtimes have to half dose.
Don't forget to remove black carbon from the filter.
Also increase aeration with the high temp and med.

Thanks. Ive treated with the whitespot treatment (Interpet). I raised the temp slightly, but I will jack it up some more. There were no special instructions for neons. Indeed the only instruction was that you can treat again after 7 days. How long do you keep the treatment up for? Do you do any water changes whilst the whitespot treatment is in the tank? Will this just dilute it? The instructions dont mention it.

There are 3 little white dots on the tetra and each one is getting more distinct as time passes. Yesterday it looked quite vague, now it does look like white spot.

Im quite nervous about when the white spots drop off because they are supposed to live in the gravel arent they? Presumably the meds will kill them. I find it difficult to vacuum every single bit of gravel as my tank is planted and there are lots of large pieces of bogwood.

As I have two tanks, how can I ensure that things like the gravel syphon dont pass the infection around? I could use separate syphons for each tank I suppose. Would boiling water poured over the gravel vacuum it kill the parasite?

Best to treat another week once spots have fallen off.
If you have to do a gravel vac and water change you just add the correct amount of med back
to the water removed.
When you have finished with the syphon just steralise it in boiling water.
No need to steralise the gravel the med will kill the parasite.
Good luck.

I am really seeing the wisdom of quarantine here and have bought a spare tank for if I buy any more fish. The neons seem to be a little delicate. One of them has redness round one of his gills: I tested the water but no nitrite nor ammonia are detectable. Im hoping this will settle.

Thanks once again Wilder. Hope you enjoyed your birthday.

This post has been edited by alysonpeaches: Jul 19 2008, 09:05 AM

The one with ich hid away for a bit, then reemerged. Some of the white had fallen off. Im assuming the treatment will kill the bits that fell off. One of the neons is picking on the two with symptoms (i.e. the one with red gills and the one with white spots). The one with the red gills has red gills on both sides now.

Is there a treatment for red gills that can be used alongside the Interpet white spot treatment? Im assuming it contains malachite green and formaldehyde. Or should I just do daily water changes?

This post has been edited by alysonpeaches: Jul 19 2008, 02:18 PM

Sadly the one with the white spot died overnight. The one with the red gill area and all the others seem to be fine today, all feeding well. When I looked at the deceased, the part where he had white spot looked like it had been nibbled away. Obviously Ive no way of knowing if the bite was the original injury or this occurred after death. Due to the lifecycle of Ich I am still going to treat the tank again next weekend to be sure all the bits that fall off are dead.

I still havent treated the one with the red gill patch because Ive no idea what to do, but dont want to add more treatment to the Ich treatment.

Have you check your water stats.
Red gills can be bad water quality to gills flukes.
Not sure if whitespots can cause red gills.
Check your water stats first.
R.I.P.