Odd White Spots on Blue Acara Cichlid

Tank size: 45 Gallon
Tank age: 1 1/2 Years
PH: 6.7
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 20ppm
kH: Can't Test For
gH: Can't test For
Tank temp: 70F


Hello fishforums! My Blue Acara Cichlid about a week ago had a white spots appear on her fin (see image). The fin seems to be affecting her, she has been holding the fin close to her while moving the other one. She also has been swimming and acting more frantic than normal, darting more often at other fish and darting away when I walk near the tank. The tank is planted with a recent addition of a bristlenose pleco and a large piece of drift wood, which both looked all clear when I purchased. The other fish in the tank seem ok with no spots on any of their fins. I have some ideas on what it could be which I hope you can confirm or deny, but I am still uncertain. Some of them being Lymphocytes Virus, Epitheliocystis, Cauliflower Disease, or just ich (very unlikely it has not spread to the body and the spots are not uniform but idk). I thank you for your time and I hope you can help me help my fish.

Volume and Frequency of water changes: about 50% per week

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: API Leaf Zone

Tank inhabitants: 5 Black Skirt Tetras, 4 Cory Catfish, 1 Blue Acara Cichlid, and 1 Bristlenose Pleco

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): 1Piece of Drift Wood

Exposure to chemicals: none

Digital photo (include if possible):

It is not Lymphocystis or Epitheliocystis

If it is just the one white spot and it hasn't changed in a week, it is not white spot because the white spot should have dropped off the fish by now.

It could be a calcium deposit in the fin. This can happen to older fish and is normally nothing to worry about.

The unusual behaviour could be poisoning from the new driftwood. Do a big water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week and see if it helps.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Colin_T said:

It is not Lymphocystis or Epitheliocystis

If it is just the one white spot and it hasn't changed in a week, it is not white spot because the white spot should have dropped off the fish by now.

It could be a calcium deposit in the fin. This can happen to older fish and is normally nothing to worry about.

The unusual behaviour could be poisoning from the new driftwood. Do a big water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week and see if it helps.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Click to expand...

if it is the drift wood i dont know much but id reccomend just removing it for a few days see if it is better and then bake it and put it back

Colin_T said:

It is not Lymphocystis or Epitheliocystis

If it is just the one white spot and it hasn't changed in a week, it is not white spot because the white spot should have dropped off the fish by now.

It could be a calcium deposit in the fin. This can happen to older fish and is normally nothing to worry about.

The unusual behaviour could be poisoning from the new driftwood. Do a big water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week and see if it helps.
Make sure any

Click to expand...

Sgooosh said:

if it is the drift wood i dont know much but id reccomend just removing it for a few days see if it is better and then bake it and put it back

Click to expand...

Thanks for both of your advice! I will try everything you say to do. Idk if it will change anything knowing that the blue acara is only 1 year old and all the other fish are acting normally. Thanks for your help

A one year old blue acara is not an old fish but they can still develop calcium deposits in their fins. Monitor the spot and if it changes or more appear, post more pictures. If it doesn't change then it is calcium and nothing to worry about.

Colin_T said:

A one year old blue acara is not an old fish but they can still develop calcium deposits in their fins. Monitor the spot and if it changes or more appear, post more pictures. If it doesn't change then it is calcium and nothing to worry about.

Click to expand...

Ok recent development
I think there might be velvet disease in my tank. So when I got the plecos from the pet store I got one for my 45 and one for my 37. The 37 has another blue acara in it. I just noticed like 20 mins ago that it has white spots on (see picture) it that almost look like ich but I think its velvet because the pleco in my 45 gallon has spots on it that looks like a fine white dust (I cant pick it up on my camera). The pleco in the 37 has the same with spots on it but less. Also the blue acara in the 45 (the one I originally posted about) the way it has been acting is what people say how fish act in the early stages of velvet. idk if I should make a new post about this with all this new info but it all seems to add up with velvet added into the equation. Thank you for your time!

The blue acara in the 37 gallon.

Velvet (Oodinium) is yellow/ gold in colour. To check the fish for velvet, shine a torch (flash light) on them after the tank lights have been turned off. If the fish have a yellow/ gold sheen over their body, they have velvet. You can also use a digital camera with its flash turned on, to photograph them after dark and it will show up the yellow/ gold sheen.

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The fish in the picture does not have velvet. It looks like white spot (Ichthyophthyrius). You can treat white spot and velvet by raising the water temperature to 30C (86F) for 2 weeks, or at least 1 week after all the spots have gone.

Before you raise the temperature, do a 80-90% water change and complete gravel clean, clean the filter too. This will dilute the number of disease organisms in the water and allow the heat to work. Increase aeration/ surface turbulence too.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

If the heater isn't able to raise the temperature enough, insulate the back, base and sides of the tank with 1 inch thick polystyrene foam sheets. Tape them on the outside of the tank.

Have a coverglass on the tank too. Try to have 4, 5 or 6mm thick coverglass because it is less likely to chip than thinner glass.

Colin_T said:

Velvet (Oodinium) is yellow/ gold in colour. To check the fish for velvet, shine a torch (flash light) on them after the tank lights have been turned off. If the fish have a yellow/ gold sheen over their body, they have velvet. You can also use a digital camera with its flash turned on, to photograph them after dark and it will show up the yellow/ gold sheen.

--------------------
The fish in the picture does not have velvet. It looks like white spot (Ichthyophthyrius). You can treat white spot and velvet by raising the water temperature to 30C (86F) for 2 weeks, or at least 1 week after all the spots have gone.

Before you raise the temperature, do a 80-90% water change and complete gravel clean, clean the filter too. This will dilute the number of disease organisms in the water and allow the heat to work. Increase aeration/ surface turbulence too.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

If the heater isn't able to raise the temperature enough, insulate the back, base and sides of the tank with 1 inch thick polystyrene foam sheets. Tape them on the outside of the tank.

Have a coverglass on the tank too. Try to have 4, 5 or 6mm thick coverglass because it is less likely to chip than thinner glass.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the help!
I took pictures with the flash on of both the fish. I the cichlids both look like they have some yellow on them but I think its just their natural coloring. Both the plecos have a bit a yellow on them but when I took the a image with the flash on I couldn't see anything. I think I will do everything you said to both of the tanks just to be safe. Anyway thanks for all your help and happy thanks giving if you are in the US!
(first and third imagion is the cichlid in the 37 the second one is the one in the 45)

The yellow looks more like colouration due to the lines of it. Just treat the tank with heat and get rid of the white spot and see how they are after that.