The dreaded spot on Guppies...

Hey @Essjay @GaryE

This is very interesting... I'm wondering the same.. Unless I have some miracle god fish going around... **** I totally forgot to mention I have a pleco as well that hides all day and comes out at night. Please see image below... The yellow guppy is by far the worse... I was hoping my partners flashy Google 7 phone was going to snap some great photos as my phones battery has died... That's got to be white spot right??

The love fish product I will link below as well.

By the way team! I love the responses and thank you... I appreciate this so much!

You have an oily film on the surface. Lay a sheet of paper on it (I use newspaper) and then lift it off by the middle. But you need to address the cause of that. It could be an oily /fatty food, or a contaminant that you’re putting in. Do you use any lotions or sterilising stuff on your hands?

Does the filter return not flow across the surface?

Ichthys said:

You have an oily film on the surface. Lay a sheet of paper on it (I use newspaper) and then lift it off by the middle. But you need to address the cause of that. It could be an oily /fatty food, or a contaminant that you’re putting in. Do you use any lotions or sterilising stuff on your hands?

Does the filter return not flow across the surface?

Click to expand...

I'll be honest, I can't see that visually with my eye... I think it's my partners phone that did that...

There doesn't appear to be that. And the Fluval U3 filter has the top nozzle flowing across the surface. I'll record a video. That will make it easier to see.

You can tell it’s there because of the bubbles. It’s preventing them from popping. If it wasn’t there, there would be no bubbles.

Posted some more images of white spot and my tank water

Much better image of the spot

Ichthys said:

You can tell it’s there because of the bubbles. It’s preventing them from popping. If it wasn’t there, there would be no bubbles.

Click to expand...

I have a venturi open at the top of the filter though to create the bubbles. The bubbles don't stay around for too long. I'm always very careful when handling the tank, always wash and dry my hands with a clean cloth. I know to do this because my mother when I was younger almost killed their entire tank by putting her hand in with lotion on it.

DeBuGti said:

The bubbles don't stay around for too long.

Click to expand...

Fair enough.

Venturis are just a gimmick though, to get more money from you. An outlet flowing across the surface will give much more aeration than a venturi, which doesn’t give much.

We're getting sidetracked. That, in my opinion, is not ich. The spots are too large, and don't have the right shape. They look like clusters to me. It could be a very advanced breakout of another parasite, Oodinium sp, or velvet. Look up pictures online and get back.

Sorry about the time zone difference...

My unanswered question is suddenly VERY large. What are the ingredients in the med you've used?

There is a slight degree of photosynthesis in velvet, so lights off to inconvenience the parasite. If you agree after searching, bring the heat back to normal. Velvet is no fun to defeat - it's tough. But darkness, an Ich med containing malachite green and formalin (ugly stuff, but the parasite is worse) and following the instructions on the med you get are essential.

Interestingly, it can hit one fish and not its neighbour if the tank is well run.

The meds are hard on loaches.

NT Labs Anti Whitespot & Fungus contains malachite green and formaldehyde. Possibly Maidenhead Aquatics' own brand AquaCare Anti Whitespot & Fungus does too as AquaCare meds seem to have the same ingredients as NT Labs.
Interpet Anti Whitespot used to, I'm not sure if it's the same now.

If you find any of these in a shop, it's worth reading the bottle label if possible as that should say.

GaryE said:

We're getting sidetracked. That, in my opinion, is not ich. The spots are too large, and don't have the right shape. They look like clusters to me. It could be a very advanced breakout of another parasite, Oodinium sp, or velvet. Look up pictures online and get back.

Sorry about the time zone difference...

My unanswered question is suddenly VERY large. What are the ingredients in the med you've used?

There is a slight degree of photosynthesis in velvet, so lights off to inconvenience the parasite. If you agree after searching, bring the heat back to normal. Velvet is no fun to defeat - it's tough. But darkness, an Ich med containing malachite green and formalin (ugly stuff, but the parasite is worse) and following the instructions on the med you get are essential.

Interestingly, it can hit one fish and not its neighbour if the tank is well run.

The meds are hard on loaches.

Click to expand...

So the ingredients in the Love fish White fish and parasite does contain malachite green and formalin. Yes it is ugly stuff.

So it does look like that Oodinium sp / velvet. Is it the same thing? I'll bring the temp down now, as it would explain a bloody lot! As to why some fish haven't gotten it and why the Whitespot treatment is just not working. I suppose at this point I should ask the next questions, as I didn't find some great answers on other sites... What does this disease do? Will it eventually spread to everything and kill the fish?

Would it also explain why I can't see the white spots at night when the lights are off? They only really show at daytime when the lights are on the fish!

Velvet. If that is our beast (and remember, I haven't seen your fish and am on another continent) then you have an old old problem in that tank. I deal with it sometimes because I keep killifish in very softwater. Oodinium, or velvet, loves soft water. That suggests your fish met up with it along the supply chain, as your water is good for them.
This one is a real lurker though, and it survives in systems.
The reason your fish are alive is the med. You accidentally picked the right stuff! Yes, the ingredients are scary, but so are many treatments that work. The formalin is in there for velvet, as you aren't the first to mistake ich for Oodinium. Treat following instructions with the lights off, and maybe even a towel over the tank for a week or so. I only learned about the darkness issue a few years ago, and it helps. People online will say darkness cures velvet, but they are wrong. We used to use salt, but that wasn't good enough either.

You are going to have to be organized and do those necessary 25-30% water changes weekly, like clockwork from now on. With loaches you'd have needed that anyway.

Will your other fish get it? They have it now, but probably in its early stages. It is stress and species related. I had one species of killifish that got it all the time, and yet its tankmates never showed a sign of it. Will it harm them? With a measured calm approach, accepting this could take time, you can beat it. It is fatal if unchecked. And the meds may be trouble for loaches. That you'll need to look up. I'm a loach disliker.

Oodinium sp is the internationally used scientific name for the parasite. Velvet is the English common name for it.

@GaryE thank you for this valuable advice. I have to try it being velvet at this stage… as I can’t see white spot acting like that…

-I’ve turned the lights off in the afternoon now. However having them off all day, will this not affect all my plants? I guess it’s plants vs fish?

-once the treatment has hit its 7th day… (Saturday) should I do the 30% water change, and then start treatment again? Or is it a case of leaving the fish to recover?

-if I don’t restart the treatment should i fit my carbon filter pads back in?