First white spot episode

[rockfarm]

I've kept fish for 30 years and I just had my first white spot outbreak. I keep a community type tank, mostly tetras, with a lot of plants. I broke my heater on a weekend a few months ago and had to find one quickly. It was pretty cheap. I didn't check the temperature setting, and it was set too low, so the water was below the normal range. The weather has been warm. I put some new fish into the tank. Then it turned cold. Several of the new fish died; then I saw uneaten food, then I saw the white spot. I had not dealt with it before. I half dosed the tank (I had loaches) and added salt; and upped the temp with a new heater. Only 6 fish survived. The tank has been clear for a week, so last night I did a small water change and gravel clean. My question is: will Ich always be a danger in this tank? It has a lot of wood and plants. I'm concerned about adding more fish (I'm waiting a while) because in all the years I've never had it. I'm considering UV. What would you do? Thanks for your time - it's much appreciated.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Keep the temp at 86F for another week to 10 days then slowly lower it. You should be fine after that. Vacuum the substrate every 48 hours and change 75% of water every 48 hours also for the next week. I have never had another outbreak in a tank that I treated with the 86F temp method. Good luck.

 

[rockfarm]

Keep the temp at 86F for another week to 10 days then slowly lower it. You should be fine after that. Vacuum the substrate every 48 hours and change 75% of water every 48 hours also for the next week. I have never had another outbreak in a tank that I treated with the 86F temp method. Good luck.

Thanks very much for the reply. With the water changes, how much at once? It's only 100 litres - 20 gallons. I had a few rummy nose survive and they don't seem to like big water changes in my area, although I do use a quality de-chlorinator.

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

If the tank was treated properly, then all the white spot parasites should be dead. However, you should not add any new fish to a tank until everyone has been free of disease for at least 1 month.

The white spot that appeared in your tank came in with the new fish you bought recently. All new fish should be quarantined for at least 2 weeks (preferably 4 weeks) before being added to an established tank.

As mentioned by Deannasue, the safest way to treat white spot is with heat treatment. Raise the water temperature to 30C (86F) and keep it there for 2 weeks, then lower the temperature back to normal.

The following link has information about white spot. The first post on page 1 and second post on page 2 are worth reading.
https://www.fishforums.net/threads/what-is-ich.7092/

 

[FishGuest5123]

Thanks very much for the reply. With the water changes, how much at once? It's only 100 litres - 20 gallons. I had a few rummy nose survive and they don't seem to like big water changes in my area, although I do use a quality de-chlorinator.

Do a 25% daily.