Need Help

[Jsperry20]

Hey all,
I hoped if someone could answer a few questions about white spot for me, basically today i noticed i had it in my tank as i can see it on a few of my fish . i am knew to tropical fishkeeping and its the first time i have the disease.
i have a 60 litre aquarium (16.5 gallons)
1 male and 1 female dwarf gourami,
4 male guppies, (infected)
4 neon tetra, (infected)
3 ghost catfish,
1 blue ram (infected)
1 bandit corydora
i feed them with flake food, live bloodworms and shrimp, and frozen bloodworms and shrimp.

I have changed about a third of my water and bought some white spot medicine (the blue kind) at the pet shop were i work and have treated my tank once already, and have turned the heating up a little to 26-27. Can anyone suggest to me what might be best to do now ?

The instructions tell me that i need to take out my carbon filter, what are the reasons for this and when can i put it back in?

Will the "white spots" eventually fall off my fish or will my fish die?

The instructions tell me to use the treatment evey four days but doesnt tell me when to stop, should i stop when i can see no more white spots?

i understand that its a very common disease and that you guys probably get asked about this a lot but any help would be really appreciated,
Thanks

 

[jesseoneill]

Turn the heat up a little higher, but don't go above 30. 28-29 is a nice place. This is important because white spot is actually a parasite which, during its life cycle, alternates between living inside and outside of your fish. The white spots that you see are actually little tiny parasites living inside of your fish, and while inside they are generally safe from all treatment. What happens, though, is that eventually the parasite bursts out and enters the aquarium water, and once it is in the water it can be attacked by medicines (which will kill it) and/or heat (which will kill it). This is also why it's important to use the medicine for at least a week, even if your fish look clean--because even if the fish look clean, if any of the invisible cysts in the water are left alive they will quickly multiply and reinfect your fish.

And yes, you should take off your carbon filter because the carbon will just remove any medicine from the water. (Although heat alone has always been enough in my experience to treat white spot outbreaks).

Edit: Just read on another website that you should continue treatment for 3 days after you see the last white spot on a fish.

 

[Jsperry20]

ok cheers, ill turn the heating up some more,
the instructions on my medicine say treat the water every 4 days, do you think it would be wise to follow this or would it be safe to put a little in say every other day or even every day? its the interpet aquarium treatment anti white spot plus

it does look a bit better this morning except my ram, it looks like theres a little moe on him,

 

[smooth_bourbon]

Catfish are very sensitive to meds, and they sell milder forms to use with them, sorry I dont know the brand you got, did you read to make sure it was specifically safe for the Cats? I would definately not add the meds every other day or every day, I would say follow the instructions on the bottle.

 

[Jsperry20]

yea ok its probably best to follow the intructions lol, its just when people talk about treating the water every day i got the impretion that it may be best,

it doesnt say anything about catfish, just strictly not to use with mormyrids

its day three and it looks like theres even more on the ram, i also done like another 50% water change