I Hope I'm Being Paranoid

[cynic]

Hi

2 of my columbian tetra have a tiny white spot on them, one is on the tail fin, on the other fish its on the fin that runs down the belly.

The fish are fine behaviour wise, all other occupants accounted for and the water is double zero's with 40-60ppm on the nitrates and 25degC.

I was just beginning to think they were settling in because their colours were starting to show

I have seen posts on white spot, ick etc etc . If i can actually get a picture clear enough i will post it but they won't oblige at the minute.

Any tips..?

 

[nanoMama86]

Go pick up some ich meds, man. Sorry. Dash it all, it must be ick season, everyone seems to be breaking out in it!

 

[fluttermoth]

I've seen quite a few fish over the years with the odd white spot in the fins. I wouldn't treat for whitespot unless you're sure that's what it is. Even if it is whitespot/ich (they're the same thing), it won't kill healthy fish that quickly, so you have a few days to see what happens.

If it is ich, the fish will soon be covered in spots; then you'll know and can treat it

 

[nanoMama86]

Yeah, but an early infection of ich can be cured by things like Kordon Rid Ich + that aren't harmful to plants and inverts or your bb, and to me, it's not worth the wait for it to get to a severe infestation before I treat, because then, I have to use the big guns that are stressful and potentially harmful. Mardel also has a new product out, maracide with biospheres that just treats the fish by coating and sealing the meds to its skin. It is what I used for my last outbreak, and I must say I am very impressed with its quickness and gentleness. You have to use it for a little longer because it doesn't treat the water, but it also heals secondary infections and so that was a huge bonus to me.

 

[This Old Spouse]

I've had 5 longfin black skirt tetras for more than a year, and there's always at least one that has some white spots on its tail or fin. It's not ich. I don't know what it is, but they have it intermittently all the time. This isn't a great photo, but you can see the stuff on its tail here.

 

[Harlequins]

I know it sounds daft question, but does the tetras every go near the sand??

I'm always fretting over the corys especially the blacks,only to find they have sand stuck to them

 

[StandbySetting]

Most probably a calcium deposit, very common.

 

[This Old Spouse]

I know it sounds daft question, but does the tetras every go near the sand??

I'm always fretting over the corys especially the blacks,only to find they have sand stuck to them

Nope, these tetras never go near the sand. All the other fish do at some point, but the skirted tetras (longfins and painted) never do.

Most probably a calcium deposit, very common.

That's good to know. I pretty much quit worrying about these spots a while ago when I realized they weren't infected with ich and their behavior didn't change and none of the other fish were sick.

 

[nanoMama86]

Well yeah that is obviously NOT ich. All the ich I have ever seen has been perfectly round and obviously raised. You also have to go by their behaviour, as well. That being said, I had a bolivian ram that I never saw scratch that had obvious ich, so idk. At the very least, a good water change will ease your mind. My fish are my babies and I ABHOR the thought of them suffering at all for any stretch of time.

 

[cynic]

Well the 'spots' that were there last night have gone today, they were there this morning so dunno. Will keep an eye.

Had a real good scan of the tank when feeding the fish and one of the Panda's has some sort of white fluff on one of its fins. #29###, fungus meds then. Good news/bad news. Why can't we have good news/good news