White Spot On My Rams Fin

[Zoepop]

I spotted a small white spot on one of my rams fins this morning, was on my way out to work so couldn't do anything about it, had another look tonight and it is still there but not any bigger, looked through all of the other fish and can't see any sign of anything so what is the best course of action?

Should I just keep an eye on it and hope it gets no worse?
or should I medicate? Don't have any other tanks to ove the ram out into so that isn't an option but I do have some anti whitespot treatment that I bought for my goldfish

it's this
http/www.eshalabs.com/exit.htm

if I do medicate now before things get any worse or spread I know I have to take the carbon out of my filter but is there anything else I should be doing?


tanks is 240l and currently has 10 xray tetra, 13 corys, 1sae and two rams.

Thanks for the help

 

[Zoepop]

forgot I have apple snails too will that medicine be ok? I've checked the leaflets etc and there is no mention of snails.

 

[spectrum]

Definitely treat it. It says safe for sensitive fish so probably it will be ok, If your worried then use a half dose, I've treated my tanks a few times with whitespot treatments that say on the label not for use in tanks with snails and my pest ramshorn snails lived right through it.

*Sorry for the edit* Just spotted you have cories which I think are also sensitive to medication, however it DOES say safe for sensitive fish so it SHOULD be ok.

 

[Zoepop]

I've taken the carbon out of the filter and given the first dose of the meds, should I keep the filter carbon in water to keep it fress till I put in back in? also how long should I wait after giving the third and last dose of medicine before I put the carbon back in?

Thanks

 

[spectrum]

To be honest Carbon has little benefit in aquarium apart from removing things such as medications, so really you could take it out forever and not much would change, bacteria can't grow on it anyway so you don't need to leave it in the water if you plan on returning it to its original position. Another thing is carbon only has any effect in the tank for around a week, If you've had it in there for longer than 1 week it won't be doing anything anyway.
I know a lot of carbon says it will last for around a month but this is not true.

 

[Zoepop]

To be honest Carbon has little benefit in aquarium apart from removing things such as medications, so really you could take it out forever and not much would change, bacteria can't grow on it anyway so you don't need to leave it in the water if you plan on returning it to its original position. Another thing is carbon only has any effect in the tank for around a week, If you've had it in there for longer than 1 week it won't be doing anything anyway.
I know a lot of carbon says it will last for around a month but this is not true.

oh right didn't know that! It's been in there for a month since i started the tank so not much point in putting it back in that case! Is it worth buying some new carbon for the filter to remove the last traces of the meds from the water?


If I don't put the carbon back in will it affect the working of my filter having two empty baskets or should I fill them with something else?


Thanks for all the help spectrum much appreciated! oh and sorry for all of the questions!!

 

[spectrum]

No problem glad I could be of use
I would leave the medication in there and let water changes get rid of it over time, that way the whitespot will be less likely to make a return visit as most of the remaining parasites will be eradicated in free swimming form. Have you turned the heater up? Sorry I forgot to mention this earlier, basically the parasite consumes food from the fishes exterior then falls off to become 'Free floating' and this is the only stage that it is treatable at. So by turning the heater up by a degree or so you speed up the lifecycle of the parasite and get it off your fish and into the water quicker.

 

[Zoepop]

What temp should I be aiming for? At the moment I have it set about 27

Thanks

 

[spectrum]

Leave it at that
Sorry I didn't realise you would have it at that high temperature, I should have figured it out by the rams.

 

[Zoepop]

Leave it at that
Sorry I didn't realise you would have it at that high temperature, I should have figured it out by the rams.

will do thanks again. I'll let you know how he gets on...no sign of it getting worse still just the one spot on his fin no signs on anyother fish either but better safe than sorry!

 

[spectrum]

Good luck with him, rams are awesome fish