suspected white spot in tank

Hi,

I think I have an outbreak of whit spot in my community tank. A number of my Cardinal Tetra have been impacted & they have some fin rot as well. Also, 2 Dwarf Gourami have died.
I did introduce 4 Kuhli Loaches about 3 weeks ago & I suspect this caused the issue.

Any advise would be appreciated.

Unfortunately i don't know how to download the images from my phone

I managed to get 2 pics on

The cardinals are indeed covered with ick. Everything in the tank is infected. If you have multiple tanks, need to use different tools, hoses, etc. Need to treat immediately. And a good lesson to always place new fish in a quarantine tank. Good luck!

Hi

I have just one tank. I have ordered API white spot treatment will arrive in a day.

thanks

While you wait for the medication, do a 90% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day until you get the medication into the water. This will help dilute the number of parasites in the water and there will be fewer affecting the fish. Do the same 90% water change and gravel clean just before you add medication too.

You can also reduce the water temperature to 20C until you get medication in the water. The parasites grow slower at cooler temperatures and there will be less hatching between now and when you get the medication.
After you add the medication, you can increase the temperature to 24-26C.

You should clean the filter today so it's clean. Wash filter media/ materials in a bucket of aquarium water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the lawn/ garden outside.
If you have carbon in the filter, remove that because it will take the medication out of the water when you treat and the medication won't be able to do its job.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence whenever fish are sick or you are treating them. Most medications reduce the oxygen level in the water and fish need more oxygen when they are sick. White spot parasites affect the gills as well as the body and the fish need as much oxygen as possible during an outbreak.

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To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.

When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

If you have big rocks or driftwood in the tank, remove these before measuring the height of the water level so you get a more accurate water volume.

You can use a permanent marker to draw a line on the tank at the water level and put down how many litres are in the tank at that level.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "FishForum.net Calculator" under "Useful Links" at the top right of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.

Hi,

Completed a large water change tonight and added the white spot treatment. A cardinal tetra died making 3 in total since the outbreak. It has mainly impacted the Cardinals.

The other Dwarf Gourami & Rummy Nose Tetra are not covered in spots. Yet, they are not displaying there normal swimming behaviour.

I read feeding should be reduced during this period is that correct?

Between the ich & its treatment, the fish are apt to be off feeding as much as usual. Yes, reduce the amount of food. Remove uneaten food & feed a lot less.

Do as Colin said, change lots of water frequently & vacuum before retreating with meds. The general lifecycle of ich is on the fish, then it falls off into the substrate. Then it goes into the water column to reinfect the fish. I'm guessing your cardinals are on at least a second bout of infection. It gets worse every reinfection as the fish weaken. Caught early ich is more easily treatable.

Does your ich treatment tell what it is? I'm not sure if what you may have available would be my choice here. Keep up the treatment for 10-14 days after all signs of ich are gone. As Colin said it can hide in the gills. Don't quit too soon!!

Good luck!

Hi,

The API White Spot Cure bottle says to repeat second dose after 48 hours, then after another 48 hours do a 25% water change & add activated carbon which is no problem.

The bottle gives no further instruction after the second dose. I take it a wait and see approach is needed here. If the white spot remains do I dose again? What about water changes?

I leave for a Christmas holiday on 21st Dec. Overall is it better to leave water changes till I come back on the 30th?

I have a neighbour who is going to feed the fish & I will make her aware of the situation incase of fish death. I don't want to alarm her.

Thanks