Need Help With Fungus!

[-FighterFishh]

In my 30L tank, I have 2 female platies and a male guppy. One of my platies has some strange white blobs near her dorsal fin and one on her tail fin, but only she has this. I don't think it's ich as there aren't many dots, and I've been told that when a fish has ich it's really obvious. This fish is also acting completely normally, eating, swimming around, etc.

I did have to put some white dots on this to show you where the blobs actually are.

I think this could be a fungal infection, but I'm unsure how to treat it. What would you guys suggest? And also, if it isn't a fungal infection, what could it be?
Any help is much appreciated!

 

[marieukxx]

White spots are an infection called White Spot. But I can't see anything in your pics You can buy stuff to clear it called White Spot it's available in most places like pets at home.

 

[-FighterFishh]

White spots are an infection called White Spot. You can buy stuff to clear it called White Spot it's available in most places like pets at home.

Okay, thank you

What's the difference between white spot and ich? Or is it the same thing?

 

[This Old Spouse]

It's the same thing. I don't know that it's ich, but is there a way you can isolate this fish?

 

[fluttermoth]

It doesn't look like either whitespot (also called 'ich' as it's caused by the parasite Ichthyophthirius) or fungus to me. I'd do nothing yet but keep the water in tip top condition and feed well. You don't want to be chucking meds in before you really know what, if anything is wrong.

 

[-FighterFishh]

It's the same thing. I don't know that it's ich, but is there a way you can isolate this fish?

No, I don't have any spare tanks. >.<

It doesn't look like either whitespot (also called 'ich' as it's caused by the parasite Ichthyophthirius) or fungus to me. I'd do nothing yet but keep the water in tip top condition and feed well. You don't want to be chucking meds in before you really know what, if anything is wrong.

We did do a water change today and I've been feeding very well lately, yet the spots keep coming. Also, the water can't be in bad shape as I've taken fish out of this tank recently. This also makes me think that the spots could be caused by stress?

 

[fluttermoth]

If the spots look like the fish has been sprinkled with salt, it will be whitespot; it just didn't look like that in your pics. Stress doesn't cause fish to get spots, they're not like teenagers, lol!

 

[-FighterFishh]

If the spots look like the fish has been sprinkled with salt, it will be whitespot; it just didn't look like that in your pics. Stress doesn't cause fish to get spots, they're not like teenagers, lol!

It doesn't have that many spots, only around a group of 5 by the dorsal fin and 1 on the tail fin. It's pretty frustrating not knowing how to treat this >.<

Ahh, I was told stress could cause white spot in fishies My bad!

 

[fluttermoth]

It doesn't have that many spots, only around a group of 5 by the dorsal fin and 1 on the tail fin. It's pretty frustrating not knowing how to treat this >.<

Yeah; with whitespot you'd know it was whitespot; you'd have fish covered in spots. Sometimes you just have to hold back and see what develops; I know it's frustrating.

Ahh, I was told stress could cause white spot in fishies My bad!

Oh, I see what you mean! Yes, it can.

The theory is (and I've heard some persuasive arguments that this isn't how it works, but it is right in my experience) that the parasite that causes whitespot is in our tanks all the time but the fish don't catch it if their slime coat is healthy as the parasite can't get through the slime. If the fish is stressed or unhappy, that weakens the slime coat and the parasite can get in.

That's certainly my experience; my fish have only had whitespot once in the last 25 years, and that was when I changed the substrate with the fish still in the tank. The very next day, all my neons and my rams were covered in whitespot.

 

[-FighterFishh]

It doesn't have that many spots, only around a group of 5 by the dorsal fin and 1 on the tail fin. It's pretty frustrating not knowing how to treat this >.<

Yeah; with whitespot you'd know it was whitespot; you'd have fish covered in spots. Sometimes you just have to hold back and see what develops; I know it's frustrating.

Ahh, I was told stress could cause white spot in fishies My bad!

Oh, I see what you mean! Yes, it can.

The theory is (and I've heard some persuasive arguments that this isn't how it works, but it is right in my experience) that the parasite that causes whitespot is in our tanks all the time but the fish don't catch it if their slime coat is healthy as the parasite can't get through the slime. If the fish is stressed or unhappy, that weakens the slime coat and the parasite can get in.

That's certainly my experience; my fish have only had whitespot once in the last 25 years, and that was when I changed the substrate with the fish still in the tank. The very next day, all my neons and my rams were covered in whitespot.

She isn't quite covered in spots, but she is developing around one or two more each day. I think the repeated stress of me catching and moving fish could have brought the white spot out.
Am I right in saying that if I slowly increase the tank temp today then I can buy the medication tomorrow and start using it then?

 

[fluttermoth]

Yes; you don't need to raise the temperature, it just helps speed up the lifecycle of the parasite, as it can be treated only during its free-swimming stage; there are no medicines that can penetrate the cyst, which is what the whitespots are.

I used eSHa exit when my fish had and it and that cleared it up within three days, no problems at all. It also turned my tank a lovely green colour that my children were very impressed with and wanted me to keep!

 

[-FighterFishh]

Yes; you don't need to raise the temperature, it just helps speed up the lifecycle of the parasite, as it can be treated only during its free-swimming stage; there are no medicines that can penetrate the cyst, which is what the whitespots are.

I used eSHa exit when my fish had and it and that cleared it up within three days, no problems at all. It also turned my tank a lovely green colour that my children were very impressed with and wanted me to keep!

Okay Did you use the eSHa exit when the fish still had the spots or did you know that it was free swimming?
Also, what temp would be good for my tank to go up to in degrees C?

 

[fluttermoth]

I'd leave the temp alone, in all honesty (others may disagree!). You need to add the meds right away, as you can't tell exactly when each cyst will burst, and they all burst at differing times.
I'm still not convinced what you have is ich though...

 

[-FighterFishh]

I'd leave the temp alone, in all honesty (others may disagree!). You need to add the meds right away, as you can't tell exactly when each cyst will burst, and they all burst at differing times.
I'm still not convinced what you have is ich though...

I think it could be. But the only thing I'm worried about is that I haven't seen her flicking on anything.
If I did treat it anyway, would the medication actually hurt the fish even if it wasn't ich?

 

[fluttermoth]

No, the medication wouldn't hurt. It's just bad practice to treat when you don't know what's wrong, and with what might be the wrong med. It helps parasites, viruses and bacteria evolve immunities to the meds if they're used inappropriately.