White Spot / Ich?

[GavinB]

Hey all

I'm thinking my tank has spawned a speight of white spot as the majority of the fish in the tank keep flicking themselves on the gravel and ornaments in the tank. Saying that there are no visible signs of white spot on any of the fish at all but a couple of my clown loaches are looking rather sluggish and weak.

Ive started a half dose of WS3 in the tank in the hope this will solve the problem but could there be any other issues?

Tank is fully cycled with nitrites, amonia and nitrates all at 0. Hard water.

 

[mattlee]

flashing can be caused by a number of reasons. just make sure you are 100% that you know what your treating before chucking meds in the tank.
fish will flick if they have irritants like whitespot, flukes, velvet etc etc or it could be due to poor water quality or even just an itch.....
do the fish defo have whitespot?
can you see them covered in tiny white spots that look like salt grains?
if not then hold fire with the med ubtil your sure what it is as it may do more harn than good mate. just try doing a large water change and give the substrate a good clean and see how it goes. repeat for a few days and again see what happens.
how often do you do water changes and how much do you change?

 

[GavinB]

180 Litre tank.

I do a 30% to 40% water change every 6 days.

There are literally no signs of any skin parasite at all on any of the fish.

The only issue I can physically see with any of the fish at the moment is the flashing and the fact that the L75 Plec is a little drab colour wise. None of the fish are having issues with feeding.

 

[GavinB]

There are no apparant signs of Velvet either. This is a strange one!

 

[OldMan47]

Please do not treat a disease that is not defined Gavin. You can do far more harm than good trying to treat something blindly "just in case". I have lots of tanks and seldom see any disease i my tanks but on rare occasion I do see reactions of my fish that are suspect. Most often I find that something about their water chemistry is out of whack. The universal cure for water chemistry problems is simple to state but a PITA to carry out. It is enormous repeated water changes.

 

[mattlee]

Please do not treat a disease that is not defined Gavin. You can do far more harm than good trying to treat something blindly "just in case". I have lots of tanks and seldom see any disease i my tanks but on rare occasion I do see reactions of my fish that are suspect. Most often I find that something about their water chemistry is out of whack. The universal cure for water chemistry problems is simple to state but a PITA to carry out. It is enormous repeated water changes.

have to agree with oldman
also parasites may not be seen if they are internal etc and the fact that a microscope may be needed to see them.

 

[GavinB]

I did actually do what you said and had not dosed the tank again. 1 week later it was very apparent that the fish had ich/white spot. I have recommenced dosing of WS3. What are peoples general opionion on WS3? any success or horror stories?

It seems to be working pretty well so far for my fellas. just completed 3rd dose (1 every 48 hours) and I'm already noticing a massive difference.

 

[OldMan47]

The dosage must continue after the last sign of any parasite has been gone for 3 days. Anything less will mean a fresh infestation in a week or two. If you don't get it completely eradicated the first time, the fish need to go the the whole thing over and over.