Help! My Silver Shark Has Whitespot

[beginner to fish]

hiya i have bought a siilver shark and two silver dollar fish the silver shark is very active and eating well but looks like it has white spot but the silver dollars are hiding but are eating fine when fed and have no white spots on them i bought them at the same time and everything else in the tank is fine. i have just done a test on the water and my levels are:
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0
and my ph is 7

do you have any idea how my silver shark has got whitespot but nothing else in the tank is affected.trea

also do you have any advice on which treatment to use as sharks have small scales so are more sensitive.

thanks
danny

 

[beginner to fish]

HELP im really worried i have never kept one before and he is all my friends favourtie fish.

 

[Curiosity101]

How did you cycle the tank?

How long has it been cycled?

Do you have any plants in the tank?

Have you added any chemicals?

What filter media is in your filter?

 

[beginner to fish]

How did you cycle the tank? i cycled just normally until it was ready.

How long has it been cycled? it has had fish in it for over a year.

Do you have any plants in the tank? i only have artificial ones in it.

Have you added any chemicals? i have no chemicals apart from dechlor

What filter media is in your filter? is a fluval 305 external canister it has carbon and loads of mini ceramic cylinders with holes in.

thanks

 

[JenCliBee]

Sounds like youve brought the illness with the fish, what size tank is it?.... the silver dollars are probably hiding becasue they need to be in bigger groups.

 

[Curiosity101]

Was there a break before the new fish were added?

If the answer to the above question is yes or no.
Then your test results aren't correct.
I suggest re-testing...

The tank is 220l Jen (read their past posts)

 

[JenCliBee]

Was there a break before the new fish were added?

If the answer to the above question is no.
Then your test results aren't correct.
I suggest re-testing...

The tank is 220l Jen (read their past posts)

agree with C... the nitrate reading is suspect..... also the silver shark and the SD's need more of there own kind to feel at ease in that tank but unfortunaley the tank is to small... research is the key before buying fish and you have brought fish that not only sounded ill with purchase but fish that are NOT suitable for your tank size.

 

[beginner to fish]

there was around a 1 and a half month gap and iu only tested the water about 20 mins ago

 

[Curiosity101]

So the tank was empty for 1 1/2 months?

Those test results can't be accurate. It's literally impossible.

What are you testing with?

 

[beginner to fish]

Was there a break before the new fish were added?

If the answer to the above question is no.
Then your test results aren't correct.
I suggest re-testing...

The tank is 220l Jen (read their past posts)

agree with C... the nitrate reading is suspect..... also the silver shark and the SD's need more of there own kind to feel at ease in that tank but unfortunaley the tank is to small... research is the key before buying fish and you have brought fish that not only sounded ill with purchase but fish that are NOT suitable for your tank size.

this what i don't like about these forums everybody says my tank is too small but i have heard and seen so many peoples tank smaller and the same size as mine keep silver dollar and sharks and they are all happy and i find as long as there is sufficiant filtration and good water quality and water changes then there should be no problem. the problem i have now is you are telling me i have not got a big enough tank but your not helping me by telling how i can cure my fish. each day i come on here more and more people put me off fishkeeping i love fish and i take care of them i came on here to get help on how to take better care of them not being told that im doing nothing right. i can't afford a bigger tank right now and as i live with my mum and dad i am not allowed a bigger one right now as they are epensive to run. i know i have made mistakes but when i ask for help on how to treat and why it has happened i don't epect to be told one million times my tank is too small.

So the tank was empty for 1 1/2 months?

Those test results can't be accurate. It's literally impossible.

What are you testing with?

no the tank has always had fish in it but i added new ones with a month and half between adding them.

 

[JenCliBee]

this what i don't like about these forums everybody says my tank is too small but i have heard and seen so many peoples tank smaller and the same size as mine keep silver dollar and sharks and they are all happy and i find as long as there is sufficiant filtration and good water quality and water changes then there should be no problem. the problem i have now is you are telling me i have not got a big enough tank but your not helping me by telling how i can cure my fish. each day i come on here more and more people put me off fishkeeping i love fish and i take care of them i came on here to get help on how to take better care of them not being told that im doing nothing right. i can't afford a bigger tank right now and as i live with my mum and dad i am not allowed a bigger one right now as they are epensive to run. i know i have made mistakes but when i ask for help on how to treat and why it has happened i don't epect to be told one million times my tank is too small.

Firstly... you have been told what the problem is with your fish and the likely hood that you have brought the illness in with these new fish... treat with a whitespot treatment, raise the temp and add more oxygen because the medication will use oxygen as will higher temp.

Secondly... just becasue someone else has the same fish but in a smaller tank doesnt make it right, if someone jumped off a cliff and survived, would you do it?... i doubt it!!!.

The fish you have brought need a larger tank simple!!!, you can argue till the cows come home but it wont change the facts, they also need more fish of there own kind to keep them happy, if you had researched the fish then you would have known this already... do you actually know what size these fish can get to?...... if not i would advise you to take a look... you need more of them so add say another 6 of them at that size and then come back to me and say that your tank is a suitable size.

You asked advice and we gave it, we also advised you on tank size and the fishes requirements... isnt that what were here to do?

You can either take the advice or not.. either way i wont be affected, however you say you love your fish... and thats not indispute... youve come here and asked for help and that alone is commendable... but eiether way the fish isnt going to be happy for ever in unsuitable conditions even if they SEEM happy now... however...you say the silver dollars are hiding, does that sound like a happy fish?

 

[Curiosity101]

If you can't afford a bigger tank then don't buy the fish that needs a bigger tank.

You say you want help how to better take care of your fish. This is what you are being given. The only way you can take better care of them is by re-homing them to bigger tanks.

People who keep them in smaller tanks will shorten the fishes lifespan dramatically whether they look happy or not.

People on here aren't just going to sit idely by and not tell people when they're doing something that will harm the fish.

And we are helping. Why do you think I asked so many questions. Just because you may not understand the full reason we are asking them doesn't mean it's not for a good reason.

Your test results must be wrong. The answers you gave have shown that.
So is there a chance to re-test?

Keeping fish in a tank too small for them stresses them out and makes them more prone to disease. FACT.
If we tell you the fish are too big for that tank then...we're doing so for a reason.

Both of the above could be contributing factors to why the fish got ill in the first place. (If it wasn't that they brought the illness with them)