White Spot Advice

[Clarousel]

Hi guys, just found a tiny white spot on 2 of my cherry barbs. Current tank is 5G with java ferns, elodea, amazon sword. Tank has been cycled. Water params as of yesterday are:

Ammonia - 0.10
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 10

Did a 40% WC and will do a 50% later when I'm home. I've also removed the 2 barbs to a hospital tank and added treatment. Is there anything else I need to do?

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

Did you also treat the main tank, as it is only the free swimming White Spot parasite which can be killed with the treatment. So if you don't treat the tank water then the parasites could still be there. The parasites live on the fish for around seven days, so you will need to continue treatment for that period. It is very common and usually springs up when the fish are either stressed or when new tank mates are introduced, so worth a precautionary treatment whenever you get new fish. Good luck

 

[Clarousel]

I didn't because I couldn't find the shrimps that were in there. I read that white spot medication can kill shrimps? That's why I was hesitant to add treatment.

 

[Clarousel]

Oh yeah as mentioned earlier that the parasites could still be in the water, how long can they be in the water before spots show up?

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

Oh yeah as mentioned earlier that the parasites could still be in the water, how long can they be in the water before spots show up?

The main question is whether the parasite has just been introduced or is it that your fish are just latent carriers(which is common). Have you recently bought new fish or plants?

 

[Clarousel]

I see. Fish have been fine since day 1 and I think the culprit is the baby amazon sword I recently put in from my dad's tank. I'm thinking of putting the 2 barbs back in the tank and treating that although I don't know if the treatment will kill a baby apple snail I have in there..

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

Are you using Protozin to treat them, as I do believe this will harm anything without scales...... so your snails and shrimps may suffer. Might be best to carry on with your hospital tank treatment. In your main tank just up the temperature as the parasite will struggle to survive at 30C +. Taking the temp up to 30C won't harm your fish or shrimps, and might be enough to kill the parasite. I would think that 5-7 days at 30C will be enough.

I am certainly no expert on this, and I am sure that there are folk here who know more about it than I do, but I have had it a few times over the years and always managed to get rid of it fairly swiftly.

Hope this is helpful

 

[Clarousel]

I really hate this white spot parasite!

I'm not very keen on adding the medication to my tank so maybe going with your idea would be good. However I don't use a heater cause I'm in a tropical country and its really warm (temp today is 35C) and I don't have a thermometer to check the water temp.. Argh. Should I just put the fish back and remove my snails to the hospital tank (after cleaning it out), and treat from there?

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

I think you should just stick with what you are doing as moving the fish back and forth will only stress them and aggravate the problem. If you don't see any white spot on your other fish over the next 2-3 days, then I would think that the tank will be ok. If however you see it start to appear on the others then you will have no choice but to remove your snails and shrimps and treat the whole tank.

I am in the heat of Asia too, but have the A/C cranked up so need heaters in my tanks.........and pay for even more electricity!

 

[Clarousel]

I got really worried so I removed my 2 snails and treated the whole tank. I thought that'd be safer... kill all those parasites! I'll be dosing the meds every other day with a 50% WC before and changing 20-30% of the water in between. Is this okay or too many WCs?

Also, I rinsed out the hospital tank's filter (sponge filter attached to o2 pump). Is that enough to remove traces of meds?

Thanks so much for your help! I always panic when white spots appear And yes its extremely hot a/c is a must. Stepping out of the house is like stepping into a toaster

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

Water changes are always helpful, but to be honest the meds will do the job, and all will be good in a week or two, I am sure.

 

[Clarousel]

Alright will just monitor and do WCs as necessary then! Thanks again

 

[Clarousel]

I forgot to add, my filter's a HOB with a filter insert that has black pellets in it. I can't remember if it's carbon or not but do I need to remove it? I read that it neutralises the medication although I've already added the meds..

 

[DevotedToDiscus]

If it is active carbon it can remove meds, but it depends how fresh it is. If the carbon is more than about 4 weeks old it will already be saturated and won't absorb anything anymore, so you can leave it alone.

 

[CrazyAirborne]

follow the instructions on your meds, cuz doing water changes while medicating a tank will just remove the meds..... and you REALLY should have a thermometer in ur tank, kind of essential imo.