Neon Tetra's Have Whitespot :( Please Help

[kylealastairlove]

i just looked into my tank and was having a good look at my new neon tetra's (added them 3 days a go) and noticed 4 out of 5 of them had a few white spots on them i did have 10, within the first 24 hours after first lights out and lights on in the morning half the population was missing searched the whole tank and to my surprise none were found anywhere, everything was going so well with my tank this month as well, just such a let down i dont even know how to go about treating whitespot, can anybody help, can anybody answer this question too. i was thinking of adding some silver tip tetra to my tank (obviously not now i discovered the dreaded whitespot!) if i moved the neons to a quarantine tank, would the whitespot parasites still be in my main tank ? if so how do i go about getting rid of this ?

any help very much appreciated!

 

[KuronoEnyo]

i just looked into my tank and was having a good look at my new neon tetra's (added them 3 days a go) and noticed 4 out of 5 of them had a few white spots on them i did have 10, within the first 24 hours after first lights out and lights on in the morning half the population was missing searched the whole tank and to my surprise none were found anywhere, everything was going so well with my tank this month as well, just such a let down

i dont even know how to go about treating whitespot, can anybody help, can anybody answer this question too. i was thinking of adding some silver tip tetra to my tank (obviously not now i discovered the dreaded whitespot!) if i moved the neons to a quarantine tank, would the whitespot parasites still be in my main tank ? if so how do i go about getting rid of this ?

any help very much appreciated!

Sounds very much so like Ick
I know my advice will get undermined as fast as I post it BUT
I got rid of all the ick I once got by just adding in some aquarium salt (2 table spoons because I had a 10g) and turning the heat up (about 84 degrees) a bit on the heater. Within about 5-6 days it was completely gone I can't remember precisely how soon it was gone cause it was something that happened the 3rd month of beginning the hobby.
I didn't quarantine either since I knew the parasite was in my aquarium would live in the water.

 

[kylealastairlove]

ahh thanks for the info just what i was looking for, i didnt know if the parasite could live in the tank water or not because being a parasite i thought the only way it would be able to survive is if it was living on/in a living host, i heard of putting the temp up and using salt, i want to completely remove the parasite from my tank but im still a bit confused as to where to start but thank you very much

 

[KuronoEnyo]

ahh thanks for the info

just what i was looking for, i didnt know if the parasite could live in the tank water or not because being a parasite i thought the only way it would be able to survive is if it was living on/in a living host, i heard of putting the temp up and using salt, i want to completely remove the parasite from my tank but im still a bit confused as to where to start

but thank you very much

Yeah once the white dot "Pops"( I think ) The parasite is free roam in the water waiting to attach itself usually what will happen then is cause the water is so warm it'll die while free float, then because of the added aquarium salt it should help the fish create a stronger slime coat which will prevent the parasite from re attaching causing it to just die in the water, Then you should keep up with your common water changes also remember that the salt wont come out through evaporation so kinda good to keep a good memory on how much and when exactly you last added the salt.

 

[Tuxyu3]

Do you have any other fish? Salt can be very harmful to some. I generally recommend using medicine with ich, more reliable (IMO) and can be removed easily if necessary.

 

[Essjay]

The whitespot parasite has a three stage lifecycle, and it can only be killed in the third stage.
The first stage is where it is attached to the fish and feeds on the fish's tissue. It is covered with a coating which we see as the spot. Because of the coating, it is impervious to treatment and can't be killed. The next stage is where the parasite drops off the fish and forms a sort of cyst around itself. It rests on the bottom of the tank and multiplies within its cyst. Again, because of the coating, it can't be killed. The final stage is where the 'cyst' splits open and all those tiny parasites go looking for a fish to infect - this is the only stage it can be killed, by medicaion at least.
It is because of this lifecycle that you have to treat the whole tank. Just because you can see the first stage as the spots it doesn't mean you haven't got any second stage or third stage in the water. If you use a medication, there must be some in the water when every last 'cyst' splits open and releases the 'baby' parasites so follow the instructions to the letter. Increasing the temperature speeds up the lifecycle so it gets to the third stage faster.

I've had whitespot a few times over the years and I've always used a medication not salt. Because I currently have loaches, last time I had to treat at half dose and I continued the course a bit longer.

 

[kylealastairlove]

well i just learned a fair bit about this then, first things first i have to go out and get some treatment for this ick/whitespot. by the way the neons are the only fish in the tank other than 2 zebra snails i have, im gonna go with the medicine treatment instead of using salts, so how long all in all would you say it takes to completely clear the tank of the disease. im slowly raising up the temperature, rather than putting it straight up as i dont want to shock or weaken my fish any more

 

[Essjay]

Yes, I should have said to raise the temp slowly. And decrease it slolwy after treatment has finished.

If you have snails in the tank, a medication will kill them. Most whitespot meds are copper based and copper kills snails. If your zebra snails are nerites, I've found they drop dead at the merest sniff of copper.
What I do is remove the snails from the tank first, then treat. Once the treatment is finished I make sure very trace of it is gone before putting the snails back. That means doing a big water change, then running a small internal filter full of carbon for two or three days, with a fresh batch of carbon every day. And doing a water change when changing the carbon. Then I use polyfilter, the stuff made by underworld and is very expensive. After killing snails by putting them back too soon, I probably go over the top.
For the duration, my snails go into another of my tanks - but not straight in in case they have some of stage 2 or 3 in the water on them. They first go into a plastic tub of water from the second tank which gets changed several times over a few hours before they go in. If you don't have a second tank, keep them in a container somewhere warm and change the water regularly like you'd do for fish-in cycling. And make sure the container is covered or the snails might well climb out.

 

[MrsM]

i used a copper based treatment and thought id cleared out all the remaining copper from the treatment, i used water changes, double dosed water conditioner and also added carbon every 4-5 days for a couple of weeks...i added 2 snails after that and within the week...both dead......tread carefully with copper based treatments...they say once youve used it you can never have invertebrates due to the copper leaching back into the tank for months..possibly years after, and like it was said..the tiniest bit of copper will kill snails...

 

[Essjay]

I've been luckier than you, my snails have been OK after carbon, polyfilter and a lot of water changes after whitespot treatment. But I did change the carbon every day for a few days. Several smaller batches of carbon changed every day should remove things better than one big batch left in for a few days

 

[MrsM]

tbh i didnt like the snails and i have never added any since, so it may be safe for me to add snails now, but i wouldnt risk it either if m honest...my silicone and some parts of my pirate ship wreck are still VERY blue too....i was told to be wary of adding shrimp too....if id have known i would have heat treated the ich in my tank...10 days at 30...thats what cleared mine, after a failed dose of waterlife protozin...

 

[kylealastairlove]

thanks for the advice people, i really hope i can save my neons as they are settling in so well, i just came home from work walked in to my room and seen them swimming from one end of the tank to the other together, i looked and i thought, now that! that is why i brought neons although i dont think i will buy them off the internet again. im going out tomorrow to get some medicine so i will start the treatment tomorrow