Help my fish are riddled with white spots!

[Jennifer Deleon]

Help my fish are riddled with white spots!
I just recently got into owning fish and I was unaware about cycling. So 2 days later after tank set up I stocked my tank. I know its cruel and I feel bad already i also didn't know that each required different needs. I am going on 2 weeks now in the cycling process

Fish: 8 Cardinal tetras, 3 cories, 3 platies, 2 mollies, 3 balloon German rams

Tank size is 20 g. Long

Parameters# 7.6 ph, ammonia .50 pom, nitrite .25ppm, nitrate 10ppm. I've done 25% water changes everyday. Put a pinch of seachem safe, and some bio booster. Water temp. Is 78-79

How i am trying to speed up cycling: bio booster, 1 amazon sword, 1 cryptacorne, water lettuce, seaweed looking moss, and 4 java ferns. Stuff i got from a established tank and transferred to mine. A cup of water, a cup of gravel, tank. And drift wood. I also put a bubbler to displace any gases, and my filter unfortunately is pretty new (2wks).

And as I looked at my older pics of my fish I realized that my rams had already white spots since i got them. And I thought that was normal. But now there's more and my tetras and platies are starting to show now. Also one of my platies hot the shimmies. I think it may be be ICH or lymphocystis for the white spots i don't know about the shimmies though. But if it's one or the other how do I treat without harming the rest. And I can't return the fish because they know I got a new tank and will blame me. so any help will be helpful

 

[Colin_T]

The fish have whitespot (aka Ich). The safest way to treat this is by raising the water temperature to 30C (86F) and keep it there for 2 weeks. Then reduce the temperature. The whitespot parasites can't live in 30C water and die.

The following link has more info on whitespot if you want to know more about it. The first post on page 1 and second post on page 2 are worth a read.
https://www.fishforums.net/threads/what-is-ich.7092/

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To dilute nutrients in water, do bigger water changes. I recommend doing a 75% water change and gravel cleaning the substrate any day you have an ammonia or nitrite reading. You should also reduce feeding to once every couple of days while the filters develop the beneficial bacteria.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

If you do a 25% water change each week you leave behind 75% of the bad stuff in the water.
If you do a 50% water change each week you leave behind 50% of the bad stuff in the water.
If you do a 75% water change each week you leave behind 25% of the bad stuff in the water.

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Before you raise the temperature, do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Before cranking the tank temp to 86, check is your fish can handle it. Most livebearers like temps in the 70s, many corys do not like mid 80s either. bear in mind that stress weakens the immune system in fish. medications cause stress but the benefit is normally greater than the effect of the stress. High temp, wrorng paramters etc. can all stress fish,

Ich is a bit more complex than we may realize. It attacks not only our fish in tanks but also food fish. In the latter industry a lot of meds cannot be used because the fish will be consumed by people. There are more ways to treat this protozoan parasite. As usual, there is science on this, Not the easiest read but skimming it will give folks an idea of how many varied treatments have been tried.

One quick observation. Different fish react to various treatments differently, No single approach will work across the board. The study below contains more treatments for ich than I ever iimagined might exist.

REVIEW ARTICLE

An assessment of the use of drug and non-drug interventions in the treatment of Ichthyophthirius multifiliis Fouquet, 1876, a protozoan parasite of freshwater fish

S . M . P I C Ó N - CA M AC H O1 * , M . M A R CO S - LO PE Z 2 , J . E . B RO N 1 and A . P. S H I N N 1
1 Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling, FK9 4LA Stirling, UK
2 Marine Laboratory, 375 Victoria Rd, AB11 9DB Aberdeen, UK

(Received 17 June 2011; revised 12 September 2011; accepted 16 September 2011; first published online 14 November 2011)

S U M M A R Y
Infection by the ciliate protozoan Ichthyophthirius multifiliis Fouquet, 1876 causes significant economic losses in freshwater aquaculture worldwide. Following the ban on the use of malachite green for treating food fish, there has been extensive research aimed at identifying suitable replacements. In this paper we critically assess drug and non-drug interventions, which have been tested for use or have been employed against this parasite and evaluate possibilities for their application in farm systems. Current treatments include the administration of formaldehyde, sodium chloride (salt), copper sulphate and potassium permanganate. However, purportedly more environmentally friendly drugs such as humic acid, potassium ferrate (VI), bronopol and the peracetic acid-based products have recently been tested and represent promising alternatives. Further investigation, is required to optimize the treatments and to establish precise protocols in order to minimize the quantity of drug employed whilst ensuring the most efficacious performance. At the same time, there needs to be a greater emphasis placed on the non-drug aspects of management strategies, including the use of non-chemical interventions focusing on the removal of free-swimming stages and tomocysts of I. multifiliis from farm culture systems. Use of such strategies provides the hope of more environmentally friendly alternatives for the control of I. multifiliis infections.

from http://dspace.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/...macho et al Parasitology Ich chemo review.pdf

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Definitely looks like ich, or (Ichthyophthirius multifiliis)

Binomial name. Ichthyophthirius multifiliis. Fouquet, 1876. Ichthyophthirius multifiliis is an ectoparasite of freshwater fish which causes a disease commonly known as white spot disease, or Ich. Ich is one of the most common and persistent diseases in fish.

Infected fish are covered to various degrees with small white spots. Severe infestations are easy to spot, but small occurrences often go unnoticed. However, ich won't remain unnoticed for long.

The adult parasite burrows into the skin of its victim, feeding on blood and dead epithelial cells. The irritation caused by the burrowing parasite causes the skin of the fish to swell and produce white cysts seen as small spots. The fish feels as if it's been bitten by a mosquito. It's not unusual to see infected fish scratching against rocks and gravel in an effort to get relief.

After several days of feasting, the engorged parasite develops into a trophozoite, burrows out of the fish and sinks bottom of the tank. Secreting a soft jellylike substance, it forms a protective membrane inside of which it divides into hundreds of baby parasites, known as tomites. The hungry tomites soon leave their home in search of a fresh fish to dine upon.

It is during the free-swimming stage, which lasts a mere three days, that the parasite is vulnerable to medication. Once it has burrowed into a new host fish it is safely protected from chemicals in the water.

water changes between treatments

The entire cycle takes about two weeks from start to finish. Higher temperatures will shorten the cycle, while low temperatures lengthen it. Therefore, raising the water temperature shortens the time it takes for the parasite to reach the stage in which it is susceptible to medication.

Treatments must be given for a long enough period to assure that all parasites are gone. Watch carefully for other infections, as secondary infections often occur where the skin has been damaged by the parasite.

Dose based on the package instructions; however, cut dosages in half when treating scaleless catfish and tetras. Regardless of the medication used, treatment should be given continuously for 10-14 days to ensure all parasites are killed. Between treatments, a partial water change is recommended. Keep water temperatures higher than usual to speed up the life cycle of the parasite. Discontinue carbon filtration during treatment, as it will remove the chemicals.

This is a great way I have treated ich in the past, Andy I hope this helps!

(@Colin_T, are my facts correct? I know sometimes I get confused, so I’m just double checking!)

 

[Colin_T]

(@Colin_T, are my facts correct? I know sometimes I get confused, so I’m just double checking!)

Pretty much but you don't need chemicals to treat it. High temperatures (30C/ 86F) will kill the parasites without needing chemicals.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

It is true that just by raising the temperature, the ich will die, but if you treat it with chemicals, the parasite will die faster.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Naturally, I would rather treat ich just By raising the temperature, but if @Jennifer Deleon wants it gone now, now now! Then chemicals is the way to go.

 

[Colin_T]

It is true that just by raising the temperature, the ich will die, but if you treat it with chemicals, the parasite will die faster.

Not quite correct.
The parasites can only be killed when they are free swimming, regardless of if you use chemicals like Malachite Green or Copper, or if you use heat. Basically you will only be able to kill the parasites in their free swimming stage, and they will die if exposed to chemicals or high temperature.

The time it takes to kill the parasites is the same regardless of what you use. Warm water does speed up the life cycle of the protozoans so it can be treated quicker in warm conditions.

In cold water, the life cycle can take 3 or 4 weeks, compared to 1 week in warm water.

I recommend keeping the water warm for 2 weeks to make sure all the parasites have dropped off the fish and hatched and been killed.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

That is correct. I forgot that you could only kill a free swimming parasite.

 

[Moony42]

Can you send a photo of your tank so I can tell you why your fish has ich?

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Can you send a photo of your tank so I can tell you why your fish has ich?

I think we have already discovered why his fish have ich.

 

[Moony42]

Pheonix please join me in the chat