White Spot/ich And Red Spots-how?

[Fish_Girl]

I found one of my loach struggling to breath and just lying on its side in the tank yesterday, when looking closer it appeared to have white and red spots on it. this morning the loach was dead now another of my loach appears to be "scratching" itself against the stones so im going to confidently assume that we have an infestation of white spot. i have read the sticky thread and know that i need treatment which i will be getting first thing in the morning. im just wondering how on earth this happened? i havent had any new fish, or even plants in my tanks for months.

Im also wondering about the red spots on the loach-this isnt mentioned anywhere in the sticky-is this some other type of parasite?

and this may sound like a stupid question, but can these parasites get out of the tank? im a bit worried because my cats like to sleep on top of the tank and sometimes some of the tank water leaks out a little, would like to know how harmful this could be.

Sorry if any of the questions are dumb, its just i have been keeping fish for nearly 3 years now and have never had to deal with anything like this.

Would appreciate any help.

 

[WILDER]

How many gallons is the tank.
How many fish and which type.
Water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.

Whitespot looks like the fish has been sprinkled in salt.
Tiny red spots can be parasites to septicemia.
I think the cats will be fine.

 

[Fish_Girl]

Thanks for the reply, have done a quick search on septicemia and it seems that parasite infestations can actually trigger this. have been and had a close look at all the fish and frogs and its only the other 2 loach that seem to be showing signs of white spot at the moment.

We did actually treat with interpet anti internal bacteria last night because it was the only treatment we had and i thought it better then nothing. can the tank be treated with this and a white spot treatment at the same time?

Unfortunately since the tank split a couple of months ago the water has been dodgy(i made a thread about it here, bascially the side of the tank split, they were put into a smaller tank, which we have since gotten rid of, and this tank was fixed with tank sealant) so im wondering if this might have had something to do with it.

Poor loach, septicemia sounds absolutely horrible, what an awful way for the poor little guy to go i hope i can stop this from happening to any of my others.

 

[WILDER]

No not really meant to mix meds.
You need to get treating the whitespot as its a fast killer once it infests the fish gills.
Go out and buy a whitespot med and once you added med raise temp gradually to 30.
Increase aeration in the tank as the high temp and med reduce 02 in the water.
Remove black carbon from the filter if you use it.
Also read med instructions carefully that you can use the full dose with the fish you have in the tank.