White spot advice please

[Nz C]

hi everyone, I’m returning to tropical fish after a few years away from them.

I’ve recently set up my 200litre tank again and all was going fine, cycle etc etc. However I have a problem with white spot on one dwarf rainbow. White spot was always my nemesis before and I can’t say I ever managed to get rid of it when I had fish before so I am really nervous about this. I’ve read up on the parasite and it’s life cycle but there’s something still nagging away for me.

So I’ve increased the temp to 27, I can’t really go any higher because the rainbows should only go up to 25 anyway. I actually found the gelatinous blister on a wood piece and have removed that. I’ve put in the day one dosage of the only treatment I could find in the shop. And I’ve removed the carbon.

The treatment states to give one dose on day 1 and half the dosage again on day 3 and that’s it, no more info than that.

So the life cycle is longer than that, and it may be still alive when the second dosage runs out. Should I put a third dosage in after day 3? Or will that harm the fish?

If the fish can take it should I keep the temp high for 10 days? But I can’t get it to 30 to we’ll and truly speed the cycle up. I just want to get rid of this parasite for good as last time I just never managed that, it always kept coming back.

The other fish are neons, Cory’s, an algae eater and a betta.

Thanks.

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

What medication are you using?
Copper Sulphate or Malachite Green will kill all protozoan parasites including Whitespot, Velvet, Costia, Chilodonella & Trichodina.

If you use Copper it will also kill snails and shrimp and you will need to do a few big water changes before introducing any into the tank after treatment.

Rainbowfish, Corydoras & Algae Eaters are sensitive to chemicals like Malachite Green and Copper Sulphate so you should check the packaging for use on scaleless fish. If there are no directions for scaleless fish then use it at half dose.

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Rainbowfish and all your fish can take 30C for a couple of weeks if you want to use heat to kill the protozoan parasites. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate. Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. Then raise the temperature to 30C and keep it at 30C for 2 weeks. Then lower the temperature by 2-3C each day until you are back to 24-25C.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence when using any medication or raising the temperature to 30C to maximise the oxygen in the water.

There is more info on whitespot at the following link. The first post on page 1 and second post on page 2 are worth reading.
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/what-is-ich.7092/

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To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.

When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "How To Tips" at the top of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.

 

[Nz C]

Thanks a lot, it’s malachite green that I’ve got. It was the only one they had in the shop and there are no instructions or info other than the two doses. Not impressed!

I did a 40 litre water change a couple of days ago and now the medication is in it I’m guessing I shouldn’t do a water change yet?

So basically I’m ok to carry out the two doses (half doses) on the tank, and raise the temp for 2 weeks and that should’ve irradiated the parasite? I’m worried about the dosage not having killed all the parasites, but the prolonged heat should kill any remaining anyway?

Thanks, I feel like I’m on the right track so far, the rainbow is looking so much happier this morning.

 

[Colin_T]

If there is Malachite Green in the tank I would do a big water change before you raise the temperature to 30C. Malachite Green and heat both reduce the oxygen in the water and a big water change will dilute the chemical so the water can hold more oxygen.

If you want to keep using the Malachite Green you can do a huge (90%) water change every couple of days and retreat the tank with the dose you have been using. However, Malachite Green is pretty toxic so heat is safer.

*NB* You should wash your hands with soapy water after using the medication or doing water changes. And keep the medication away from children or animals because it is poisonous.

 

[Nz C]

Thank Colin,

I’ve got the temp up to 26/27 and put 2 aeration stones on a pump in. The male has disappeared, I’m assuming the worst. I’ll do a big water change this arvo.
I really want to get the other fish through unharmed now. I feel I have no option but to do the second dose of medication tomorrow as I can’t push the temp up anymore if that’s what’s killed the male.

Or....should I do something else? As he was the only one showing any sign of white spot, would it be ok to leave it?

 

[Colin_T]

Why can't you get the temperature to 30C?

If you can't raise the temperature more then do a 90% water change and gravel clean the substrate every 2 days and retreat the tank after the water change.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

If you stop treatment now, the whitespot cysts in the gravel will hatch out and release hundreds of new parasites that will infect the fish. So you need to continue treatment for a week after all the spots have fallen off the fish.

 

[Nz C]

So I’ve just done a massive water change with a good substrate clean too. The male dwarf rainbow hasn’t been flushed out from any hiding place so I’m sure he’s died now. No body though, very strange. If the raised heat helped cause his death then I don’t want to lose my female one too. My book says 25 is the top temp for them.

So the med says treat on day 1 and day 3, but are you saying to give doses every other day for a week to make sure all parasites are dead? I’m worried about over medicating, but I guess with big water changes that’s not so much of a risk?

 

[Nz C]

None of the fish have any spots, it was only the rainbow. I can’t understand why he died though because he was looking so much better this early morning.

 

[Colin_T]

You need to find the body because it will produce ammonia if left to rot. Check under wood, rocks and on the floor around the stand. If the fish jumped out it's not a problem from a water quality perspective, but if the fish is decomposing in the tank it could be an issue.

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I'm not sure what book you are using as a reference for rainbowfish but they can tolerate a much wider range of temperatures than most people think. I had Melanotaenia praecox & M. trifasciata outside in plastic storage containers and the water temperature hit 45C during summer. I didn't lose any fish, which really baffled me because 45C is really extreme for any fish.

Most fish can tolerate 30C as long as the temperature goes up slowly.

None the less, if you have concerns about temperature then just use the medication for a week. The big water change before retreating the tank will dilute most of the medication and it will be like starting treatment from the beginning. Basically you are diluting most of the medication out so you can retreat the tank without overdosing the fish and killing them.