Possible ich... single white spot on fin

[kurtjs]

Hi, while checking in on my fish today (mainly my pregnant platy) I noticed a white pot on her tail fin. She was also rubbing it on the sand/plants. A couple days ago I had. 25 nitrite level but after a couple water changes thats fixed. Amonia and nitrate are good. Not sure if it's ich or something else stress relayed since she's super pregnant. Closely looking at the other fish in the tank, i see no other white spots. Any help is greatly appreciated. I will attach 3 photos.

 

[GaryE]

Ich parasites create cysts, and this is a cyst. But minor injuries create them too. You have to watch and see. Ich will increase, if it is present.

 

[kurtjs]

Ich parasites create cysts, and this is a cyst. But minor injuries create them too. You have to watch and see. Ich will increase, if it is present.

She has been bothered a little bit by another platy as she has got more pregnant. I wonder if that caused a little injury to her?

 

[GaryE]

One clue - I find harmless cysts tend to be on the fin ray.

Ich cysts are often on the soft fin between the rays too.

 

[kurtjs]

One clue - I find harmless cysts tend to be on the fin ray.

Ich cysts are often on the soft fin between the rays too.

It's weird, I've been monitoring her and it's like it cha he'd shape/got smaller less dense.

 

[On_a_dishy]

I gave my Betta a salt dip yesterday and 2 mysterious white dots that were on his head fell off.
They were either ich cysts or, embarrassingly, lumps of undiluted panacur (fenbendazole - a long story involving detritus worms). I suppose time will tell but I’m now wanting to treat the tank for ich…
Sorry, I know that doesn’t help you!

 

[GaryE]

Ich cysts would not fall off in a salt dip. The skin irritant action of salt causes the fish to secrete mucous, which makes it hard for new parasites to burrow in, but those already dug in aren't bothered.

Probably, those were small bacterial or fungus patches.

Hang in. Our meds are extremely crude. They save the fish if used properly, but there's always a cost to the animal. "Treating" without a reason for treatment is a major cause of death in newly acquired, already stressed fish.

 

[On_a_dishy]

Ah, ok! That’s reassuring! My shrimp also had white spots that immediately fell off in the salt bath; these spots were on their legs.
Any idea what it could be?

 

[GaryE]

Some day, I will keep some shrimp to see what they do and what the fuss is. With fishkeeping over 5 decades, I've seen some stuff. I can try to figure out fish problems.
But shrimp?
They've just never caught my interest.

 

[FishLady18]

A single ich cyst on a fish would be very unusual, so far as I know. These protozoan cysts usually take hold out of sight in the gills and spread like wild fire on the fish‘s body.

 

[On_a_dishy]

Some day, I will keep some shrimp to see what they do and what the fuss is. With fishkeeping over 5 decades, I've seen some stuff. I can try to figure out fish problems.
But shrimp?
They've just never caught my interest.

I was the same. This month I’ve returned to the hobby and was struggling to finish the fishless cycling of a tank, so I bought some cherry shrimp to help with it. I put them in the tank and an hour later was still watching them. My eyesight is so bad that it’s a case of “glasses off; face up against the aquarium”, so my daughters enjoyed the theatre of my audience lasting so long. I only left the tank because I had to make dinner.
I think their stick-eyes, long “noses” (mouth pieces?) and gentle passivity make them quite comical. I’m still not quite used to them, though, and their ghostly, limp, hanging exoskeleton moults are something straight out of a horror film. Particularly when one floats up against the glass and I’m right on the other side of it, focusing into the middle of the tank. That’s a jump-scare indeed.

 

[Essjay]

But shrimp?
They've just never caught my interest.

There are many species of shrimp ranging from the colourless ghost/glass shrimp (Paleomonetes species) to the larger not quite colourless amano shrimps to the colourful Neocaridinas and 'crystal' Caridinas. Then there are the filter feeding shrimps such as bamboo shrimps Atyopsis moluccensis. And the long arm shrimps, Macrobrachium species, which can and do eat small fish. The various species have different water and temperature requirements, just like fish, and some need other special conditions, such as filter feeding shrimps which need a good water flow and somewhere to perch in the flow while feeding.


Edit - my avatar is one of my red cherry shrimps, Neocaridina davidii (or at least that's the scientific name last time I looked!)

 

[On_a_dishy]

A customer at my LFS has 7 shrimp tanks in his living room. His family never has to put the light on in there because the aquarium lights are enough. He's just bought an eighth tank to house the top grade shrimps he plans to buy!