Ich or fungus?!

[LeaH85]

I noticed one of my plates has white blobs all over her body. From looking at photos of ich I’d say these are bigger than the ‘grains of salt’ described. It’s only really visible when she’s right under the light. One of the other platies has some white on her tail. I’m about to go to the pet store to pick up a small tank for quarantining and some medicine. I don’t know whether to treat for ich or fungus though. Can any more experienced fish keepers help and advise please?

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Ich is best described as looking like 'grains of salt on the skin and fins'.
That doesn't seem to match your photos and I would tentatively suggest a fungal infection.

Any chance of a clearer pic?

From the images, that tank looks exceedingly bare and would stress out any fish.
We'd also need to know the size of the tank, (NOT volume) and your water chemistry...and what else is in the tank?

 

[LeaH85]

Ich is best described as looking like 'grains of salt on the skin and fins'.
That doesn't seem to match your photos and I would tentatively suggest a fungal infection.

Any chance of a clearer pic?

From the images, that tank looks exceedingly bare and would stress out any fish.
We'd also need to know the size of the tank, (NOT volume) and your water chemistry...and what else is in the tank?

Thanks. I’ve attached a photo of the whole tank as I had to zoom in very close to get the effected fish. Is it too bare? I did t want to crowd it. I haven’t been able to get a better picture as she’s hiding amongst plants and in ornaments etc. Attached one which might be considered clearer… my camera goes in and out of focus every time e she moves so they’re coming out a bit blurry.

Ich is best described as looking like 'grains of salt on the skin and fins'.
That doesn't seem to match your photos and I would tentatively suggest a fungal infection.

Any chance of a clearer pic?

From the images, that tank looks exceedingly bare and would stress out any fish.
We'd also need to know the size of the tank, (NOT volume) and your water chemistry...and what else is in the tank?

The tank is 40 x 28 x 26. It’s just the 4 platies in there (I know this isn’t ideal - I bought the tank on the advice of pet shop who said this size was great for up to 8 platies - glad I did t go for a full 8! I’m saving up for a larger tank)

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

There are no plants in that tank.
Plastic is okay, but it doesn't have the softness that real plants have and fish cannot really swim amongst it as they would the real thing.
You could fill that tank with plastic plants and they'd form solid barriers, filling up the useful swimming space.
Real plants, on the other hand...

I'm still inclined to think that it's a fungal infection and aquarium salt would be a good starting point for treatment.
HOWEVER, you still haven't said what the water pH is, nor the ammonia, nitrite or nitrate readings are, nor the hardness of the water.
This would be necessary info, in order to offer any solutions to your problem.
If you haven't got a suitable test kit, then one should be your priority...after real plants.

 

[Guest14017]

A test kit is the first priority. Any type of infection usually spells a water quality issue, especially fungus. Fungus almost always only thrives in poor water conditions. That definitely isn't ich. It does look fungal but it's impossible to be sure. If the bits are waxy, it could be viral or something else.

 

[LeaH85]

There are no plants in that tank.
Plastic is okay, but it doesn't have the softness that real plants have and fish cannot really swim amongst it as they would the real thing.
You could fill that tank with plastic plants and they'd form solid barriers, filling up the useful swimming space.
Real plants, on the other hand...

I'm still inclined to think that it's a fungal infection and aquarium salt would be a good starting point for treatment.
HOWEVER, you still haven't said what the water pH is, nor the ammonia, nitrite or nitrate readings are, nor the hardness of the water.
This would be necessary info, in order to offer any solutions to your problem.
If you haven't got a suitable test kit, then one should be your priority...after real plants.

Apologies I was heading out so didn’t have time to do the test.
pH 7.6
GH 8od
KH 6od
Ammonia somewhere between 0 and 0.5 on the colour chart

Nitrate and nitrite were both *high* (5 and 100) despite having done a 1/3 water change yesterday…
I’ll do another one this evening and test again. If it’s still high I’ll see about adding something. My tank wasn’t cycled properly before I added fish as the pet store told me 24hours and I accepted that as good advice. I’ve had them for a little over 2 months now so I’m assuming it would be fully cycled…

Yes the plastic plants were purely to provide hidey spots and for decoration. I was trying to keep things simple to start off

 

[LeaH85]

A test kit is the first priority. Any type of infection usually spells a water quality issue, especially fungus. Fungus almost always only thrives in poor water conditions. That definitely isn't ich. It does look fungal but it's impossible to be sure. If the bits are waxy, it could be viral or something else.

Thank you. I’ve posted water test results below and the nitrate and nitrite were high despite recent water change. I will do another this evening and then add some aquarium salt which I picked up earlier. The white spots look a bit fuzzy which makes me think fungal too… I was panicking about ich as I had read it can be lethal pretty fast so wanted to be able to act quickly if that was the issue.

 

[Guest14017]

Oh wow - those are some tough fish with those numbers. A 1/3 change will have no effect. You need to do a total change and use an ammonia binding water conditioner and salt to help protect the fish from the nitrites. The salt will also help with the fungus.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Apologies I was heading out so didn’t have time to do the test.
pH 7.6
GH 8od
KH 6od
Ammonia somewhere between 0 and 0.5 on the colour chart

Nitrate and nitrite were both *high* (5 and 100) despite having done a 1/3 water change yesterday…
I’ll do another one this evening and test again. If it’s still high I’ll see about adding something. My tank wasn’t cycled properly before I added fish as the pet store told me 24hours and I accepted that as good advice. I’ve had them for a little over 2 months now so I’m assuming it would be fully cycled…

Yes the plastic plants were purely to provide hidey spots and for decoration. I was trying to keep things simple to start off

Something clearly went amiss with your cycling and beneficial bacteria*, because a cycled tank would not have any ammonia or nitrite present.
Essentially, you need to keep changing the water until both ammonia and nitrites are zero.
No other reading is safe for the fish.
It is sadly safe to assume that your tank is NOT cycled and so it looks as if you're going to have to do a 'fish-in' cycle. This is a bad situation to be in, especially for the poor fish...
If you had real plants, these will eat up the ammonia and other ammonia compounds. Plastic plants, obviously, won't.

So, the more real plants you can put in that tank, the better.
The best plants for your needs will be floating plants, such as duckweed or Salvinia.
Then, if you can find some;
Cabomba
Elodea/Pondweed
Hornwort
Milfoil

*Just because a tank has been running for a longer period of time, it doesn't mean that it has been cycled.
Your petstore was talking complete rubbish and was more concerned with selling you things, rather than giving you helpful advice and support.
Sadly, this appears to be a common modern petstore practice.

 

[LeaH85]

Oh wow - those are some tough fish with those numbers. A 1/3 change will have no effect. You need to do a total change and use an ammonia binding water conditioner and salt to help protect the fish from the nitrites. The salt will also help with the fungus.

Ok. I’ve got aquarium salt in there now. I’ll need to go tomorrow and buy ammonia binding conditioner. I hadn’t tested the water for a couple of weeks as everything had seemed fine. I was testing regularly when I first got the fish and a couple of weeks ago when One seemed to be getting aggressive but everything was within the ‘normal’ brackets then. I’m not sure what could have changed to make the water change so much so quickly except that I started using Prima Mini Granule food which sinks to the bottom after a minute, so maybe this has been causing there to be more waste? I had still been doing weekly water changes and vacuuming the gravel. Guess I’ve learned my lesson to keep testing the water even if everything seems ‘fine.’

 

[LeaH85]

Ok I’ll ke

Something clearly went amiss with your cycling and beneficial bacteria*, because a cycled tank would not have any ammonia or nitrite present.
Essentially, you need to keep changing the water until both ammonia and nitrites are zero.
No other reading is safe for the fish.
It is sadly safe to assume that your tank is NOT cycled and so it looks as if you're going to have to do a 'fish-in' cycle. This is a bad situation to be in, especially for the poor fish...
If you had real plants, these will eat up the ammonia and other ammonia compounds. Plastic plants, obviously, won't.

So, the more real plants you can put in that tank, the better.
The best plants for your needs will be floating plants, such as duckweed or Salvinia.
Then, if you can find some;
Cabomba
Elodea/Pondweed
Hornwort
Milfoil

*Just because a tank has been running for a longer period of time, it doesn't mean that it has been cycled.
Your petstore was talking complete rubbish and was more concerned with selling you things, rather than giving you helpful advice and support.
Sadly, this appears to be a common modern petstore practice.

eep going with water changes. I’ll replace plastic plants with some real too. The readings were all in the ‘safe’ brackets a couple of weeks ago but clearly somethings gone wrong. Yes I realised that the pet shop’s advice was horrible when I posted asking another question in the first week and everyone was horrified that I hadn’t cycled tank and that I’d been advised that the size was fine for 8 platies That’s why I’ve been asking forums for advice now rather than the shop and will continue to do so!

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Ok. I’ve got aquarium salt in there now.

Good.

I’ll need to go tomorrow and buy ammonia binding conditioner.

Okay...but some cheap plants would be more helpful. Try not to become dependent on chemical fixes.

I hadn’t tested the water for a couple of weeks as everything had seemed fine. I was testing regularly when I first got the fish and a couple of weeks ago when One seemed to be getting aggressive but everything was within the ‘normal’ brackets then.

It might be a pain, but I'd ignore all those who say that they either never test their water, or only do so when they think something is wrong, (at which point, it's often too late). Try and get into the habit of testing once a week...until you really ARE in tune with your tank and fish. Testing will always give you a head's up for changes in the water and allows you to act sooner, rather than later, preventing, rather than curing.

I’m not sure what could have changed to make the water change so much so quickly except that I started using Prima Mini Granule food which sinks to the bottom after a minute, so maybe this has been causing there to be more waste? I had still been doing weekly water changes and vacuuming the gravel.

This sounds credible.

Guess I’ve learned my lesson to keep testing the water even if everything seems ‘fine.’

Yup...as above.

 

[Essjay]

Your GH is also a bit on the low side for platies, they prefer hard water. Low hardness won't harm them quickly, it's more a long term thing, so get the ammonia and nitrite sorted first, then we can talk about ways to 'harden' the water for the platies.

 

[LeaH85]

Your GH is also a bit on the low side for platies, they prefer hard water. Low hardness won't harm them quickly, it's more a long term thing, so get the ammonia and nitrite sorted first, then we can talk about ways to 'harden' the water for the platies.

I should say these numbers might not be 100% - I was picking the colour which most closely matched the one on my test:

The ammonia test was a separate pack of strips and the colour i got wasn’t just quite as pale as the one shown for zero, but not as dark as 0.5. I am in Scotland though and our tap water is soft I believe. I will get on top of the ammonia and nitrite situation first and then come back for the next step!

 

[Essjay]

Most of Scotland has very soft water but there are areas where it's harder.

Scottish Water will tell you what their lab says. They do make it a bit complicated though.
Load this page

Water Quality Search - Scottish Water

Water Quality Search

www.scottishwater.co.uk

then enter your postcode in the box. That will tell you your supply zone - make a note of the name.
Next load this page

Water Quality - Scottish Water

Water Quality

www.scottishwater.co.uk

and download "water hardness data 2019" (as that's the most recent year). This will contain a huge table. Across the top are the various units for measuring hardness, look for two columns - 'hardness as mg/l CaCO3' (this is also called ppm) and 'German degrees' (this is also called dH). Now go down the supply zone column till you find yours and note the numbers in those two columns.

Once you get there, you'll know your hardness in the two units used in fishkeeping