Help My Fish Are Dying

[CHR1S]

CAN SOMEONE HELP ME PLEASE ALL MY FISH ARE DYING FROM WHAT I CAN GATHER FROM LOOKING ON THE INTERNET I THINK I HAVE WHITE SPOT! I NOTICED A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO MY NEONS HAD WHITE SPOTS ALL OVER THEM BY THE END OF THAT DAY THEY HAD DIED AND I LOST 3 MORE YESTERDAY AND 2 SO FAR TODAY!!
THE PROBLEM IS OUT OF CONTROL AND IN MY HAST TO TRY AND DO SOMETHING I THINK I HAVE MADE A BIG MISTAKE I LOOKED ON THE INTERNET FOR CURES AND A SITE POSTED A MESSAGE SAYING TO ADD SALT INTO THE TANK (I HAVE A BI ORB 60 LI TR) SO I DID 1 TABLE SPOON FULL(TABLE SALT!!!) BUT LOOKING ON THE INTERNET TODAY I SHOULD HAVE PUT SOME SORT OF DIFFERENT SALT IN, WILL THIS KILL MY FISH BUT NOT THE WHITE SPOT???
MY CATFISH IS UPSIDE DOWN ON THE BOTTOM OF MY TANK AND MY SMALL BLACK SHARK FISH HAS JUST DIED BUT THEY HAD/HAVE NO SIGNS OF WHITE SPOT
ONE OTHER FISH IS COVERED IN WHITE SPOT BUT THEY ARE ALL ACTING REALLY STRANGE I THINK THAT THEY ARE ALL DYING?
I HAVE PUT IN A FIRST AID FILTER AND DONE A 20% WATER CHANGE PLUS I HAVE TURNED UP TEMP TO 28.
DO THEY NORMALLY DIE THIS FAST FROM WHITE SPOT?
OR IS THERE SOMETHING ELSE GOING WRONG AT THE SAME TIME??

 

[Piltdownpaul]

Need to get that salt out-do a large water change as soon as possible-you will lose more fish if you dont-and then you will need some whitespot treatment too

 

[aaronnorth]

TABLE SALT =

You need proper aquarium salt, dose that to the instructions and also get some whitespot treatment, turn temp up to 30d gradually, How many fish did you have?

 

[CHR1S]

TABLE SALT =

You need proper aquarium salt, dose that to the instructions and also get some whitespot treatment, turn temp up to 30d gradually, How many fish did you have?

had 14 my fighter fish being the bigest but now im down to 7.
my cat has died within the last 15 mins

 

[Colin_T]

Whitespot kills by attacking the fish in such large numbers that it actually damages their gills and makes it impossible for the fish to breathe. The lifecycle is sped up in warmer water so by increasing the temperature you will speed up the growth rate of the parasite and more will hatch out to attack the fish.
Turn the temperature down to 24C and get some whitespot treatment immediately. Do a 75-80% water change and gravel clean before you treat the tank. This will dilute the parasites in the water and gravel. Make sure the new water is free of chlorine and has a similar temp & PH to the tank water.
You need to treat the tank for at least 10 days.
If you have carbon in the filter then remove it before treating otherwise the carbon will absorb the medication and the fish won't get better.
If you treat the tank now chances are you will still lose fish over the next few days. However, any that survive that period of time will probably be fine after the treatment is finished.

 

[aaronnorth]

Whitespot can't survive 30C so it is safe to turn it up,

 

[CHR1S]

Whitespot kills by attacking the fish in such large numbers that it actually damages their gills and makes it impossible for the fish to breathe. The lifecycle is sped up in warmer water so by increasing the temperature you will speed up the growth rate of the parasite and more will hatch out to attack the fish.
Turn the temperature down to 24C and get some whitespot treatment immediately. Do a 75-80% water change and gravel clean before you treat the tank. This will dilute the parasites in the water and gravel. Make sure the new water is free of chlorine and has a similar temp & PH to the tank water.
You need to treat the tank for at least 10 days.
If you have carbon in the filter then remove it before treating otherwise the carbon will absorb the medication and the fish won't get better.
If you treat the tank now chances are you will still lose fish over the next few days. However, any that survive that period of time will probably be fine after the treatment is finished.

the nearist town to me is about an about 2 hours away so getting treatment is not an option for me at the moment, is there anything else i can do?
what about the cat fish and sharkfish they had no signs of whitspot why would they die and so fast they were fine this morning

 

[Colin_T]

The higher the temperature the less oxygen it holds. By turning the temp up to 28 or 30C you are significantly reducing the oxygen carrying capacity of the water and putting the fish under more stress. And with the fish under serious stress from the whitespot, the lower oxygen levels will just add to their problems.
Also because there isn't any medication in the water the parasite will just grow and multiply faster in the warmer water.

If you can't get medication then move the fish into another container or tank with new water. Then each day move them into a new container of clean water. Do this for a week or so and it should get rid of the whitespot. The parasites will fall off the fish and when the fish are moved to new quarters, the old water can be tipped out and the tank cleaned thus removing the parasites. Over a few days the fish will lose all the parasites from their bodies and they will be free of them.

If you don't have another container to move the fish into then just do a 80-90% water change & gravel clean each day or even twice daily. This will reduce the parasites in the water and help limit reinfection.
Make sure the water is free of chlorine before using it.
Don't bother feeding them until they are better. Chances are they won't eat anyway.

 

[CHR1S]

The higher the temperature the less oxygen it holds. By turning the temp up to 28 or 30C you are significantly reducing the oxygen carrying capacity of the water and putting the fish under more stress. And with the fish under serious stress from the whitespot, the lower oxygen levels will just add to their problems.
Also because there isn't any medication in the water the parasite will just grow and multiply faster in the warmer water.

the first aid filter i put in the biorb is for killing white spot parasites
you are telling me to turn the temp down and someone else is saying turn it up ?

 

[aaronnorth]

turning the temperature speeds up the life cycle like you said but it also means the parasite is killed quicker, you should use an airstone/ ump to add extra oxygen when medicating anyway.

 

[Colin_T]

the first aid filter i put in the biorb is for killing white spot parasites
you are telling me to turn the temp down and someone else is saying turn it up ?

I have no idea what a first aid filter is so I can't comment on it.

If you have medication in the tank to kill whitepost then leave the temperature up and it will help to get rid of it faster.
If there is no medication in the tank then the parasites will only grow and reproduce faster and kill your fish sooner.