white spot

[paulhaff]

hiya i had white spot a couple of months ago probably due to over stocking which wiped out most of my nice fish and most expensive of course, i have 100 gallon system with yellow tang a naso tang and a couple of damsels left they are all ok and quite happy BUT when i add a new fish within a couple of days he is covered in white spots has rapid gill movement and in a day or two dies ive lost three new fish every time i add a new one this happens, my water tests are showing all ok and i always carry out 2 weekly changes of around 5 %. can anyone help im at a loss..........

 

[leon]

The naso tang probably lies at bottom of this problem. Your tank is a little too small for it, they need at a MIN of 130 gallons (uk). and the fish can grow to 1'6"!, so you need pref a long tank, as they do like a good swim. Also tangs are notorious for getting stressed very easily, and having a too small a tank, and another of the same species, and also damsels (which themselves are little bastards) will stress it out, thus you get whitespot.
Now its imposible to completely eradicate whitespot, but there are some things you can do to help.
1) get a U.V sterilizer; this will kill any that pass through it.
2) Add garlic to their food, this will help them gain their appetite and also increases their immune system.
3) Help reduce the stress they recieve, look for any fights between the fish, if need be, get rid of the culprit (if there is one!)
4)a. AS A LAST RESORT, you can add chemical treatments. If you keep any corals or inverts OR even plan to in the future!, get a copper free treatment, copper will kill all the non fish life, but your fish will do better.
b. Give the fish a fresh water dip. This is exactly doing what it says, catch the fish and dip it into fresh water thats warm and same ph or near as, for anywhere between 30secs and 2 mins, dont let the fish out of the net, and any signs of excessive stress then put it back in the tank. The fresh water will kill any parasites on the fish. hope this helps somewhat
leon.

 

[paulhaff]

thanks for your help i will try adding some garlic to the food and maybe purchase a uv as a third measure maybe the damsels will have to go and see how things progress


many thanks

 

[leon]

Which damsels have you got btw? and how many?, some are better than others, but most are very territorial. Id get a U.V filter anyway, as they get rid of most parasites ect. Make sure you have the correct U,V for your tank size, and also the correct pump aswell.
leon

 

[paulhaff]

sorry for the delay in getting back to you damn computer crashed on me!! ive got a devil damsel andall blue damsel not sure what its called nowall fish seem to eating fine and spot free its just when i add a new fish within a few days he gets covered in spots but the rest still remain fine.

 

[Opcn]

Do you have any cleaner shrimp , gobies, or wrasses? They really help I hear

 

[Navarre]

As a person who also lost many fish due to a whitespot outbreak recently, i strong urge you to get a UV filter. I would not keep tangs without a UV.

Add a cleaner shrimp and perhaps a neon goby. I dont recomend a cleaner wrasse as they can tand to harrass the fish and make matters worse.

Lastly, do you use RO water for your changes or tap water?

 

[paulhaff]

i use ro now i tried tap water and it sent my nitrate sky high i think a uv is the way to go thanks

 

[Salt Freak]

I would get a cleaner shrimp as they are very beneficial and very cool to watch and a UV sterilizer is good thing to have just make sure that you have slow flow through it. I definitly would advise against a cleaner wrasse as they have very slow survival rates and takes away from cleaning services in the reefs.

C_F

 

[chris777]

First off do you Qt you fish before you put them in your display? Cleaner shrimp are just a preventive as are cleaner wrasses. Cleaner wrasse do best in big tanks with lots of fish usualy unless you find one that eats frozen foods which is usualy very unlikely ive only seen 2 that ate frozen foods out of a few hundred. I wouldnt add no meds to your main display tank no matter if it says reef safe or not.