Treatment Of White Spot, Please Advise

[dayzofspeed]

hi all i am hoping someone out there can give some advice regarding the treatment of white spot. 1 week ago 22 nov i first noticed signs of irritation in a small number of my fish with them flashing against objects in my tank and began to suspect i was about to have a problem although i could see no physical evidence of whitespot at this point. then 2 days later 24 nov i noticed a very small number of spots appearing on a few of the fish. the following day i purchased and applied anti whitespot medication (interpet) containing formaldehyde and malachite green as the active ingredients, i carried out a 50% water change turned the temp up a little to 28 and applied a 1/2 strength dose as there are loaches in the tank. tomorrow i am due to re apply (4 day interval). my question is this how long do i carry on with this treatment and do i continue at 1/2 strength, will the 1/2 strength dosage lengthen the treatment time. the outbreak seems at this point to be under control on the few fish that showed signs except for the loaches, its multiplying quite a lot on them, none of the fish are showing signs of distress at this point all feeding well and keeping active and no sign of rapid breathing, the second part to my question is this after tomorrow i am due to re apply in another 4 days time but will be away for the weekend, would it be ok to cut this down to 3 days and dose the night before i go away or will that mess everything up. my water stats are ammonia 0, nitrate 10 and ph 7.6 temp at 28. i really need the advice on this matter as i've never had to deal with whitespot before. sorry if the question is long winded but i felt i needed to give you all as much info as possible.
many thanks......... kevin

 

[Jamepsss]

I've had it twice in my tanks and one course of the Interpet stuff was enough (day 1 and 4). I used full dose though and turned temp right up to 31. Didn't lose any fish. Good luck.

Edit - I kept the temp high for seven days after the last spots had gone.

 

[dayzofspeed]

so should i use full dose even with loaches present? and if i have to continue do you know if i can decrease dosing to a 3 day

 

[Jamepsss]

so should i use full dose even with loaches present? and if i have to continue do you know if i can decrease dosing to a 3 day

I'd stick to the half dose. Having the water at 30/31 should sort the problem out anyway to be honest. Sorry I can't be more help, I've never had loaches.

 

[markandhisfish]

be sure to keep giving the gravel a good vaccing too, pushing the gravel vac in really deep , as the parasite can live in the substrate awaiting a host . also if your turning the temp up that high be sure to increase airation , either by surface agitation or an airstone , as at thyat temperature the water is much less able to hold dissolved oxygen .

 

[zuulan]

I'd stick to the half dose. Having the water at 30/31 should sort the problem out anyway to be honest. Sorry I can't be more help, I've never had loaches.

Yes, I agree. The King British remedy I use recommends a half dose for sharks & loaches.

 

[marksayer10@tiscali.co.uk]

so should i use full dose even with loaches present? and if i have to continue do you know if i can decrease dosing to a 3 day

if the medication says only to use half dose then yes use half dose otherwise use full normal dose, i personnally use WATERLIFE - PROTOZIN and i think it works brilliantly, i also add garlic to there food, either crushed or buy a liquid garlic and add to there frozen food while defrosting, the white spot parrasite does not like garlic,

as far as dosing then after you have done your treatment for the week then only retreat if you need to, i normally treat for about 2 weeks,

hope this helps

 

[dayzofspeed]

hmmm i think we have some dried grated garlic in the kitchen cupboard is that ok ... and if so how much. i have my heater on max and i'm not sure its going to hit 30/31 to be honest, but i still have my old heater that malfunctioned and was running too high, maybe i could put that in the tank as a temporary measure to get the temp up higher. i have a juwel aquarium with built in filter and i already pointed the water jet straight up to increase the aeration, on the packaging for the treatment it says " harmless to all species of fish except mormyrids (elephant fish) DO NOT use with mormyrids" it even has a picture of a clown loach on the box so maybe its safe to give a full dose next time.... what do you think

 

[markandhisfish]

if certain species liek loacjes and sharks are sensetive to it , it will warn on the bottle to only use half dose , like it does on king british ws3 , which is without doubt the most effective ich treatment i have ever seen. it should be used with care tho as it is pretty potent stuff .

if the interpet 1 doesnt warn about specific species like loaches etc then i cant see any harm in a full dose

 

[VickiandKev]

Hi,

Firstly, if you have started a med you need to carry it on and finish the course, half dosing and cutting it short will not work at all. I usually try the natural approach first, increasing the temp to 30 (increasing aeration)and adding salt (0.25g/L) for at least 3 days after you stop seeing the white spots. This usually works fine! If this doesn't work I would recommend using Esha exit, its fantastic (when I am a vet I will always recommend that to all my clients!) We also have clown loach of all sizes and they do fine on a full dose using esha. With regards to garlic, this improves the fishes immune system and does not directly affect the ick parasite.

Hope that helps...

Kev

 

[dayzofspeed]

i'm not intending on cutting it short, my biggest concern is not being home when i have to add additional meds on the next four day cycle and was asking if i am ok dosing a day early.all the help given so far has been greatly appreciated as always

 

[dayzofspeed]

just wanted to thank you all for the advice, treatment has been carried out and "touch wood" it seems to have worked, tho i'm still keeping a very close eye on things