Ich on my swordtail?

[Chris1212]

Relatively new aquarium with three male swordtails and two male platy. I just noticed all of these little white dots on one of my swordtails (body and fin). Note, no typical behaviors of ich that I've read about and it eats well. Swimming around seemingly happy and healthy. Thoughts?

 

[Chris1212]

One more thing, we used to have three platy but we lost one last night. It has been sickly since we got it (about a week ago)

 

[AilyNC]

That looks like ICH to me.

What is ICH?

WHAT IS ICH? Ich or Whitespot is a parasitic protozoan that infects fresh, brackish and saltwater fishes. It is identified by small white spots that appear on the fish's body & fins. There are several stages to this parasite's lifecycle and it must be noted that the parasite can only be killed...

www.fishforums.net

 

[Essjay]

That looks like ich. The best treatment is heat - do a big water change, vacuuming the bottom of the tank, then refil with water warmer than the tank water and turn the heater up. You need to keep the tank water at 86 deg F for 2 weeks. Salt can also be added to the tank at 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons - dissolve it in a bit of tank water first. When you do a water change, add enough salt to treat the volume of the new water only.

 

[Chris1212]

Thanks. Definitely treating for ich, assuming all five of my new fish have it. Heat cranked up, will do a water change after the first three days of treatment.