My ammonia is 0 and ph is 7.4, I just noticed these tiny dots on the neon tetras tails, but it only seems to be on the neons and ONLY on their fins, I didn’t see any on the body. They’re also super small, much smaller than the usual ich I see at pet stores. I haven’t added anything new to my tank in months, I don’t know what this is or how they got it. How do I treat it?
Is this ich?
- Thread starter Kyanite14
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- ich neon tetra
How long has the fish had the spots for?
Have the spots changed position or number?
It could be white spot but if no new fish or plants have been added in the last few weeks, it's unlikely. If you want to err on the side of caution and say it is white spot, just raise the water temperature to 30C (86F) and keep it there for 2 weeks, or at least 1 week after all the spots have gone. If the spots don't change in a week, then it isn't white spot.
Increase aeration/ surface turbulence when raising the water temperature.
Use a thermometer in the water to measure the temperature.
If the heater can't warm the water up enough, then get a coverglass for the tank (if you don't already have one) and insulate the back and sides with 1-2 inch thick sheets of polystyrene foam. Just tape the foam to the outside of the tank to insulate it.
Have the spots changed position or number?
It could be white spot but if no new fish or plants have been added in the last few weeks, it's unlikely. If you want to err on the side of caution and say it is white spot, just raise the water temperature to 30C (86F) and keep it there for 2 weeks, or at least 1 week after all the spots have gone. If the spots don't change in a week, then it isn't white spot.
Increase aeration/ surface turbulence when raising the water temperature.
Use a thermometer in the water to measure the temperature.
If the heater can't warm the water up enough, then get a coverglass for the tank (if you don't already have one) and insulate the back and sides with 1-2 inch thick sheets of polystyrene foam. Just tape the foam to the outside of the tank to insulate it.
I have an idea, but it is an educated guess. Because I see a cyst on the eyeball, I suspect Epistylis. It's a parasite that presents like Ich, but is generally a feeder on bacteria. If a tank has a bacterial bloom, this usually present parasite can get onto fish. It doesn't kill as quickly as Ich, but it has to be dealt with.
Look it up to see if what you see is what the texts and photos online say.
Epistylis loves heat, so if I am right, the course suggested above would make it worse. I reduce temperatures for this to room temps, which a neon won't mind at all. I then water change about 25% daily (well, 4-5 days a week) for a couple of weeks. I have no access to any med that will treat it, but keep an eye out for wounds caused by the parasite as it settles down. I would also make sure I had a regular as clockwork water change regime going of at least 30% every 7-10 days, to dial it down.
I've had it sit on a few individual fish for months, never spreading to tankmates, and never taking off. I think it was a pet shop inheritance in my case, and the water changing held it stable. Back then, I didn't even know this parasite existed, and couldn't attack it as I should have, but the affected harlequins lived for years anyway. If I had slacked on water, I suspect it would have killed them. I wish I had known then about it liking warm water though.
I can only point you in a direction to explore. I can't see the cysts myself, for texture, etc, but a good site will show you the details you need to check out.
Look it up to see if what you see is what the texts and photos online say.
Epistylis loves heat, so if I am right, the course suggested above would make it worse. I reduce temperatures for this to room temps, which a neon won't mind at all. I then water change about 25% daily (well, 4-5 days a week) for a couple of weeks. I have no access to any med that will treat it, but keep an eye out for wounds caused by the parasite as it settles down. I would also make sure I had a regular as clockwork water change regime going of at least 30% every 7-10 days, to dial it down.
I've had it sit on a few individual fish for months, never spreading to tankmates, and never taking off. I think it was a pet shop inheritance in my case, and the water changing held it stable. Back then, I didn't even know this parasite existed, and couldn't attack it as I should have, but the affected harlequins lived for years anyway. If I had slacked on water, I suspect it would have killed them. I wish I had known then about it liking warm water though.
I can only point you in a direction to explore. I can't see the cysts myself, for texture, etc, but a good site will show you the details you need to check out.
My room hit 87 because of the heat wave, and I’ve been dealing with a large algae bloom for the last month or so. They don’t seem all that bothered by the spots like ich seems to do. That does sound more plausible than ich since the guppies are unaffected. Unfortunately my phone camera isn’t too good but this was the best photo I could get. I’ll try for a better one when I get home from work and do the water change.
I did a couple of water changes yesterday, I had some green water from algae I was trying to deal with. Looks like the spots haven’t multiplied, and it seems like it’s mainly on one tetra. They’re so faint that I don’t think it could be ich. I feel like @GaryE could be correct about epistylis, as I wasn’t able to do my weekly water cleaning for a month or so due to family emergency. Ammonia was 0, but maybe bacteria managed to bloom due to the lack of gravel cleaning? Hopefully the clean water helps.
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