White Spot On Clown Loach?

[UK_Dave]

I noticed over the weekend that there may be a chance that my 2 clown's may have white spot, but I wasnt sure if they could catch it as I was lead to believe that its only mainly scaled fish that get it.

They seem to have a few white spots over their backs.

Can they have that? If so, is it just the white spot chemical from a shop that I will need to use? Also, if so, then how should I go about solving the issue before it spreads to my other fish?

I have checked out my other fish and none of the others seem to have it, just my loaches

please help

thanks

 

[dilou]

Yes, in fact clown loaches are very prone to getting whitespot. The fact that they are scale less means you have to be careful what medication you use and only use half the recommended dose. When my clowns had whitespot I slowly turned the heater up by 2c a day until it reached 34c (be careful with other fish you may have which might not appreciate it too hot, but most should be ok). I found the best medication to use was called Protozin, I think its made by Waterlife, I had to buy it from ebay as I had trouble finding it. The directions are easy to follow, just remember to use half of stated dose.

Just wanted to add that the earlier you catch it the easier it is to cure and also treat the whole tank, even though the other fish have no signs of it.

 

[UK_Dave]

well, as for the other fish, I have:

2 x Angels
1 x Common Plec
1 x Gourami
1 x Female Siamese
and 2 x Baby Silver Sharks


Most of my fish are all young, so not sure on if that would make it more of a problem to solve with heat etc. aswell as medication

If its easy enough to sort then I will just go get some good white spot medication...The good thing is we have a good shop near me that has always come through with advice, but I prefer to try experienced owners 1st then move onto the shop advice to make sure they both add up correctly

cheers for the reply

 

[WILDER]

Clown loaches are very prone to whitespot.
http/www.bollmoraakvarieklubb.org/artiklar/praktbotia/clown%20loach.htm

Clown loaches do have scales. The only part of the clown loach that don't have scales is the head region.

 

[dilou]

I think the other fish will be ok with the higher temp, I had an Angel, plec and female bettas when I treated my tank and they are all ok, as long as the increase in temp is done slowly, thats why I done it gradually over a few days.

The reason for increasing temp is that the whitespot parasite can only be killed when its free swimming, ie, not on the fish, and the higher temp increases this cycle.

Get some good whitespot treatment and make sure you complete the course, even if you cant see any spots on the fish. The reason I recommended the Protozin is because its recommended for clown loaches, a lot of whitespot med isn't safe for loaches.

The good news is it sounds like you noticed it early, as you say there's only a few spots on the clowns and the other fish don't seem to have any.

I would start treating asap because whitespot can spread very quickly. And thanks Wilder for the link, I really did think that clowns didn't have scales, something new I've learned today.

 

[onebto]

Good advise

I think it was mentioned about finishing the course of treatment this I cannot stress enough!

If the white spots have left the fish it does not mean that the white spot has completely gone

 

[iffles]

agree with above

i havent needed (thank goodness!) to use meds for ich yet, because the cases in my tanks are quite mild, so i just use salt and heat treatment. as a general rule, i don't like using meds unless necessary because i get soo confused with the dosage and everything . its generally a mystery to me .
salt and heat treatment should only be used if your fish can cope with salt, dont kno about clowns tolerance to salt. cories are sensitive to salt so dont know if clowns are similar (even though they are completely different species!), but someone else on here should know.
and starting treatment early is a good idea as said somewhere above, cos starting early meant i could use salt instead of something else like malachite green, etc.

 

[UK_Dave]

Just an update...Over the last 3 days I have been adding the whitespot treatment, the only make I could get was called eSHa which the shop I like (never had a fish die on me from there, and info is seemingly in line with info from here)...Anyways, that eSHa was the only brand they had that was best with loaches

So, I have added half the amount that is recommended ie. 15 drops instead of the 30 for my size tank, then less over the next couple of days, aswell as upping the temp 1 degree at a time daily

And the good news is the loaches are starting to look like their normal colours now, the white spots have started to dwindle, and the loaches spend less time scratching against the rocks and are back to playing dead and doing their random things they do that make you laugh at them.

Other good news is that still, none of my other fish have caught it, so I believe (fingers crossed) that I have caught it in time....Although only time will tell!

So, to do the rest of it right, whats the next step? The temp is now at 30, loaches looking like an improvement, and had 3 days of the course of treatment

Do I: Carry on for longer using smaller doses? up or lower the temps to what? etc etc

If someone can help then it would be greatly appreciated

 

[WILDER]

It's best to treat another week once spots have disappeared.
Keep temp at 30 and keep going with the med.

 

[UK_Dave]

Thanks...So your saying that I should add the smaller amount of meds for the rest of this week, and onto next week so that its been used for 1 week?

 

[WILDER]

Keep going with half dose.
You treat one more week once spots have gone. Just to make sure the parasite has been killed off.

Dosn't the esha exit med break down on it's own. No water changes.
Never used the med myself.

 

[UK_Dave]

thats great

thankyou very much...Lets hope this will be the last of it! I know I need to add another loach, but have been holding out for a while till I get the ones I have all sorted!

As for it breaking down, not sure...But I do water changes anyway as part of the usual upkeep

 

[WILDER]

Good Luck.