White Spot

[kkcrd11]

\so the tropical fish i rescued appear to have white spot . one penguin has died and one neon looks to have two spots on his fin.

I checked them this morning and didn't notice anything untoward all ate fine

so whats my next move i'm very new to this .

Amonia 0

Nitrites 0

Nitrates 20

PH 6.4

Ive also removed the affected neon to another tank that floats on the top of mine . he is acting okay but i'm unsure what to do

Ive removed the dead fish and done a water change of about 35 %

I dont have any specific white spot treatment but what i do have are tonic salt . anti internail bacteria , and swimbladder medication

Thanks in advance

 

[LongS]

Increasing the temp to around 29-30 degrees and treating the tank with aquarium salt will speed up the parasites life cycle and the salt will kill them off.

I would read up on treating the tank with the heat and salt method. can you post your entire stocking and tank size please?

 

[kkcrd11]

Hi

I lost a neon about 7 30 as well . I couldnt get clear info on the salt method fast enough to do that so went down to the petstore and bought the white spot treatment . I have administered the amount required now . should i raise the temp as well they are at 26 degrees right now .

Tank 54 litres

stock 3 neon tetras
1 penguin tetra

amonia 0 nitrites 0 nitrates 20 ph 6.5

 

[LongS]

Yes raise the temperature gradually to around 28-30 degrees. This will speed up the Parasites life cycle, there are good articles online about the entire cycle of an ich parasite. Its not until the white spots actually fall off can they start to be killed off. They will fall to the substrate and burst, producing more swimmers that attach themselves again to the fish. If you can speed the life cycle up it will be faster to get them to the stage where they can be treated.

I take it your filter is cycled as your ammonia and nitrites are reading 0?

 

[snazy]

Make sure the tank is well aerated if you raise temperature while using medication, as both will deplete oxygen from the water.

 

[kkcrd11]

Yes i used old media from my other tank when i took these little ones in . so everything has been pretty stable in the tank .

I increased the temp last night and again today they are now at 28 degres and seem ok so far. and they are due a second dose of medicine on day four so fingers crossed,

They all had a good appetite this morning but i wasn't sure if I should be feeding them as normal or not, but yesterday was the day I usually starve them so it felt cruel to not feed them today ??

Thanks for your help

 

[kkcrd11]

"Make sure the tank is well aerated if you raise temperature while using medication, as both will deplete oxygen from the water."


Hi

Thanks i do have an air stone in there but i only have it at half power as it foams up the top of the water otherwise should i still increase it or leave as is ??

 

[snazy]

"Make sure the tank is well aerated if you raise temperature while using medication, as both will deplete oxygen from the water."


Hi

Thanks i do have an air stone in there but i only have it at half power as it foams up the top of the water otherwise should i still increase it or leave as is ??

Increase to the max I'd say.

 

[kkcrd11]

ok, thanks i will do that

 

[LongS]

Are you planning on adding these little guys to the main setup after they have been treated?

Just one more thing, once the white spot has disappeared from the fish, be sure to carry on the treatment for at least 3 days after in order to kill any little nastys in the gravel.

 

[kkcrd11]

No my other set up is a coldwater fancy goldfish aquarium .

The spots seem to be getting better on the fish already . they are back to playing in the bubbles now which is a good sign they were hiding under the filter yesterday

How do you mean carry on for 3 days ?? . The treatment says to add it on day 1( which was yesterday) and day four then thats it. (is this what you mean ). I water changed yesterday after removing the dead penguin) but not today as the meds were in there what day should i do the gravel vac ?? I dont wanna syphon all the meds out ?

Also one more question its a sponge filter in the tank will this be affected by the medication it doesn't have cazbon in . Im hoping not as its only a two week old tank as it is.

Thanks again

 

[snazy]

How do you mean carry on for 3 days ??

I'll take the liberty to reply, although not addressed to me.
You need to continue to treat ich after all spots on the fish are gone, as it is then when the parasite falls off the fish and is vulnerable to treatment only at this stage.
Therefore you need to continue the treatment for a while after all signs are gone to make sure all ich parasites were killed.
If only one of them survives, it starts rapid multiplying in the gravel, then it attaches to a new host and the whole tank will eventually get reinfected again

 

[LongS]

As above ^ Thanks snazy.

 

[kkcrd11]

So tonight I've done a water change and gravel vac (30%) as I didnt wanna stress the fish too much, and I have added the second dose of white spot meds . The fish seem ok they are swimming about and eating but I've noticed their fins are looking like little bits are missing is this because the spots burst or is it fin rot ? and if it is fin rot is this because the immune systems have been weakened due to the white spot and what should I do next can I treat both things at the same time ???

Thanks again in advance

 

[kkcrd11]

bump