Help! white spots!
- Thread starter Shoto^Guy
- Start date
caz27
Fishaholic
I would go and get interpet whitespot plus and asap before it gets worse....most petshops sell it .
The cause is either poor water quality and flupuation in tempreture...
The cause is either poor water quality and flupuation in tempreture...
Hi,
A lot of fish are prone to whitespot (also known as ich) when they are moved from one place to another, which is why a lot of fish when first introduced to a tank develop it. It's also common when water conditions are poor. It is, however, highly treatable when caught early. When you get your ich treatment (as caz27 says interpet anti whitespot plus will do the job, I have also used Protozin and found it to be very very good and quite gentle), make sure you don't overdose. What other fish do you have in your tank? If you have any scaleless fish (e.g. loaches), you will have to halve the recommended dosage that it says on the bottle. Also, contrary to what it says on the bottle, you need to continue treating the fish every day until there isn't a single whitespot left on any fish. This is important as it's only when the spots have dropped off and the parasite is in its free swimming stage that the infestation can be treated.
One more thing that helps - if you increase the temperature in your tank to 80ºF this will speed up the lifecycle of the parasite and hopefully kill it off quicker.
If you go to the top of the beginners forum you will find some great articles on ich and fish disease in general, hope it helps!
Now the only thing left to figure out is why your fishies got ill in the first place. Is it a new tank? If so, you might want to read the article called 'avoiding new tank syndrome', it's really good.
A lot of fish are prone to whitespot (also known as ich) when they are moved from one place to another, which is why a lot of fish when first introduced to a tank develop it. It's also common when water conditions are poor. It is, however, highly treatable when caught early. When you get your ich treatment (as caz27 says interpet anti whitespot plus will do the job, I have also used Protozin and found it to be very very good and quite gentle), make sure you don't overdose. What other fish do you have in your tank? If you have any scaleless fish (e.g. loaches), you will have to halve the recommended dosage that it says on the bottle. Also, contrary to what it says on the bottle, you need to continue treating the fish every day until there isn't a single whitespot left on any fish. This is important as it's only when the spots have dropped off and the parasite is in its free swimming stage that the infestation can be treated.
One more thing that helps - if you increase the temperature in your tank to 80ºF this will speed up the lifecycle of the parasite and hopefully kill it off quicker.
If you go to the top of the beginners forum you will find some great articles on ich and fish disease in general, hope it helps!
Now the only thing left to figure out is why your fishies got ill in the first place. Is it a new tank? If so, you might want to read the article called 'avoiding new tank syndrome', it's really good.
its a relatively new tank...about 3 weeks old....with guppies...onli 3 left now...most of them dead....ard 15 neon tetras and cardinals, and ard 18 cherry barbs....and 8 harlequins.....neber had this problem before....the white post i've noticed it started only yesterday.....so does changing the fish tank water helps? I heard making the tank dark helps.... 
Shoto^Guy,
Aw I'm sorry, sounds to me like you have new tank syndrome - you need to read this article *urgently* http
/fish.orbust.net/forums/index.php?sh...showtopic=10099.
Does this sound right to you? If not, and you are experienced at fishkeeping, then please don't take the following as patronising......
Did your local fish shop warn you about buying so many fish for such a new tank? If so then shame on them - this really is their fault and not yours. A lot of people suffer the same misfortune because they don't know about the nitrogen cycle and lose all or most of their first lot of fish when their new tank starts to cycle.
So first things first - have a read of that article. Then you are right, you should probably start carrying out daily water changes of about 5 or 10% until the tank is 'cycled' and the water condition becomes acceptable for fish to live in (i.e. ammonia and nitrite are 0). Do you have a tester kit for ammonia and nitrite? If not, definitely pick one up, they are really useful when getting a tank established and they help you to be able to pinpoint accurately what's going on which should help to take some of the stress away.
One other thing to pick up if you don't have it already is something to condition the tap water which you'll be adding to the tank when you do water changes - you'll need this to remove the chlorines and chloramines from the tap water.
PS Assuluto are you treating your fish for whitespot at the moment?
Aw I'm sorry, sounds to me like you have new tank syndrome - you need to read this article *urgently* http
/fish.orbust.net/forums/index.php?sh...showtopic=10099.Does this sound right to you? If not, and you are experienced at fishkeeping, then please don't take the following as patronising......
Did your local fish shop warn you about buying so many fish for such a new tank?
If so then shame on them - this really is their fault and not yours. A lot of people suffer the same misfortune because they don't know about the nitrogen cycle and lose all or most of their first lot of fish when their new tank starts to cycle.So first things first - have a read of that article. Then you are right, you should probably start carrying out daily water changes of about 5 or 10% until the tank is 'cycled' and the water condition becomes acceptable for fish to live in (i.e. ammonia and nitrite are 0). Do you have a tester kit for ammonia and nitrite? If not, definitely pick one up, they are really useful when getting a tank established and they help you to be able to pinpoint accurately what's going on which should help to take some of the stress away.
One other thing to pick up if you don't have it already is something to condition the tap water which you'll be adding to the tank when you do water changes - you'll need this to remove the chlorines and chloramines from the tap water.
PS Assuluto are you treating your fish for whitespot at the moment?
Assaluto,
Not sure about cooking salt - sounds a bit risky to me but I don't know for sure!
Another thing about salt - you need to be sure that your fish can tolerate it. If you have any scaleless fish (like corys or loaches) then this can cause them much irritation.
What product are you using to treat them with? It's not uncommon to treat ich for 10 days + - I think it depends on how early you catch it. If it's quite advanced, then obviously it may take a bit longer to shift. If you haven't increased the temperature in your tank, then do so (gradually) to 80ºF as this will help.
Not sure about cooking salt - sounds a bit risky to me but I don't know for sure!
Another thing about salt - you need to be sure that your fish can tolerate it. If you have any scaleless fish (like corys or loaches) then this can cause them much irritation.
What product are you using to treat them with? It's not uncommon to treat ich for 10 days + - I think it depends on how early you catch it. If it's quite advanced, then obviously it may take a bit longer to shift. If you haven't increased the temperature in your tank, then do so (gradually) to 80ºF as this will help.
The fish *should* be fine provided you use one of the 'gentler' medications like Protozin by Waterlife. I think it is better to use a lesser dosage over a longer period of time than try to blitz them quickly as this will just cause stress to the fishies. If you are medicating using a half dosage and after two weeks the white spots are still there you could try gradually increasing the dosage every day - this should help to get rid of the infestation without stressing the fish out too much.
zull
New Member
i'm just getting over ich, don't know if you can get this where you are but we used paragon II, recommended from the store, that is what they use. used it for five days, dosage every two days, by the third day no spots on any fish, every one doing great, didn't destroy my biolgical bed. my tank is still cycling, but kept a close eye on nitrite and nitrate, will be doing a 15% tank change today. 
Oh man its the 4th day and it seems dat the white spots have appeared on my cheryr barbs as well.....previously onli the neons has...now it carry on to the cherry barbs...and it looks kinda serious...haiz...2 weeks? seems kinda long...wonder if they can really survive as they look pretty weak to me....surprisingly my leopard danios and harlequins are healty as ever....oh well hope they will not get the spots....
Oh man its the 4th day and it seems dat the white spots have appeared on my cheryr barbs as well.....previously onli the neons has...now it carry on to the cherry barbs...and it looks kinda serious...haiz...2 weeks? seems kinda long...wonder if they can really survive as they look pretty weak to me....surprisingly my leopard danios and harlequins are healty as ever....oh well hope they will not get the spots....
Shoto^Guy,
It's not uncommon for the white spots to spread to other fish even after you've started the treatment. This is because the white spots only represent the final stage of the ich cycle. Even though your other fish aren't showing the spots they may still be infected so make sure you treat them fast. Have you already bought a treatment yet? If not then you should nip out and get one asap - Protozin is what I use but I think there are many many treatments and they all do the job. Also, read this http/fish.orbust.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=7092. It's an article written by one of the members here about ich and it might make you feel better to know exactly what's going on.
Don't worry it's very common and provided treatment is swift your fish should get through it. If you're saying your fish are looking pretty weak then there may be something else causing it over and above the ich. As your tank is only 3 weeks old it may have high levels of ammonia which could be what triggered the ich. Are you carrying out regular water changes?
It's not uncommon for the white spots to spread to other fish even after you've started the treatment. This is because the white spots only represent the final stage of the ich cycle. Even though your other fish aren't showing the spots they may still be infected so make sure you treat them fast. Have you already bought a treatment yet? If not then you should nip out and get one asap - Protozin is what I use but I think there are many many treatments and they all do the job. Also, read this http
/fish.orbust.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=7092. It's an article written by one of the members here about ich and it might make you feel better to know exactly what's going on.Don't worry
it's very common and provided treatment is swift your fish should get through it. If you're saying your fish are looking pretty weak then there may be something else causing it over and above the ich. As your tank is only 3 weeks old it may have high levels of ammonia which could be what triggered the ich. Are you carrying out regular water changes?Similar threads
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