Newbie Help Please

[Akasha72]

Hi, I have a female sunset platy that keeps flicking herself against things .. my aquarium rocks, ornaments even leaves of plants. I saw her first do this a few days ago so got my Dad to take a look (he kept tropical fish for years so I trust him) he said he couldn't see any evidence of white spot in any of the fish. They all look really healthy. He suggested it could just be a minor thing resulting from the new tank syndrome that I'd had (now all settled) and to keep an eye on things for a few days.

I've not noticed her do it again until tonight when she rubbed her face 3 or 4 times against one of the rocks then went back to chasing round the tank with the others (they were all kinda playing and fighting over a bit of food) I wondered if it's anything to worry about.

I can't see any white spots or anything odd apart from a shiny line behind both her eyes and I've no idea if that was there before this.

I'd appreciate some advice before I act as I've only just got my filter settled and don't want to put anything in that will set the cycle back to the beginning

Thanks all Akasha

 

[SamWiseOG]

yeah sounds like it could be white spot deffinatley dont treat it with any sort of medication untill you can confirm it or if the white spots start appearing. You could possibly try a water change but often times white spot is caused by stress so you may wanna do a small one if you think you can do it whithout causing to much stress to the fish.

 

[CameronN]

yeah sounds like it could be white spot deffinatley dont treat it with any sort of medication untill you can confirm it or if the white spots start appearing. You could possibly try a water change but often times white spot is caused by stress so you may wanna do a small one if you think you can do it whithout causing to much stress to the fish.

A great way to do a water change without stressing the fish is with a gravel vacuum.

 

[minnnt]

High nitrates and nitrites can cause them to do it. Perform a 50% water change just to be on the safe side and it should sort it out. When did you last do one and have you got a test kit to check the water?

 

[Akasha72]

Hi and thanks for the replies.

I did a 10% water change a week ago (regular maintenance) using my gravel vac. I planned to do another today anyway. I was thinking of doing 2 buckets out and 2 buckets in. In my tank that's about 12 litre's. I've been reading here that a good treatment for possible white spot/parasites is to turn the heater up. It's set at 26/27 at the moment should I increase it today while I've got access to it?

All the fish look happy and well this morning. None layed on gravel or at the top. They're all just swimming round so I'm guessing there's nothing major going wrong.

Could this just be a stress thing given everything they've been through with the new tank syndrome?

Also, I'd dropped another half algae wafer in hoping to get my oto's to try some but the guppies and platies love them and they were fighting over it again. The guppies are the bosses of my tank. Maybe she was getting mad cos she wanted some and couldn't get to it...?

I'll post my water results in a bit. I normally do them around 10am (same time of day, every other day now)

 

[Akasha72]

Okay water is as follows:

PH 7.0-7.2

Ammonia 0

Nitrites 0

Nitrates 5 - 10

Not a water problem then ...

 

[Akasha72]

just spent 10 mins staring into the tank and trying to get a good look at every fish (not easy when they don't stay still long enough!) and I think you're all right. I have white spot. Heading out to get a few more plants today so will have a look for something to treat them with whilst I'm there.

I understand I'll need to take my carbon out of my filter if I put a white spot treatment in. What do I do with it whilst it's out? Do I need to keep it wet?

Any help appreciated. Thanks guys

 

[the_lock_man]

just spent 10 mins staring into the tank and trying to get a good look at every fish (not easy when they don't stay still long enough!) and I think you're all right. I have white spot. Heading out to get a few more plants today so will have a look for something to treat them with whilst I'm there.

I understand I'll need to take my carbon out of my filter if I put a white spot treatment in. What do I do with it whilst it's out? Do I need to keep it wet?

Any help appreciated. Thanks guys

Personally, I don't use carbon filters at all, their only real use is to remove medications from water once the course has run. I think the reason they are included in filters is to remove heavy metals from the water, but then a decent water conditioner does that anyway. After a few weeks, they lose their absorbency, so need replacing.

Therefore, my recommendation is to

A) Throw away the carbon filter.
B) Go out and buy the whitespot med, 2 new carbon filters, and some more biomedia.
C) Follow the instructions on the med to the letter. It will probably tell you to keep treating after all the spots have disappeared, and you should do so.
D) Once the course has finished, and you are rid of the whitespot, insert one of the carbon filters, and leave it there for 3 weeks.
E) After three weeks, take the carbon filter out, chuck it, and replace it with the new biomedia.
F) Keep the 2nd carbon filter in stock, for when you need to remove old medication at some point in the future.

 

[Akasha72]

Oh #29### ... I wish I'd come home and read that BEFORE I went to the petshop lol

So, I have Waterlife's Protozin whitespot and fungus (because I saw it recommended to someone else on here a couple of days ago so grabbed it when I saw it)

I'm just havin a cuppa and then about to dismantle the tank, drain a couple of buckets of water - giving my gravel a good clean at the same time, remove the black sponge from the filter and medicate the tank. Is that right? Anything else I need to do?

I can get some new carbon sponges tomorrow from P@H I suppose.

 

[soybean]

So you've actually seem white spots on the fish?

 

[Akasha72]

Yes, the platy has a couple of white spots on her tail and so does one of my female guppies. It's difficult to tell if anymore have them as they move so quickly. About to put this stuff in anyway. Hoping it works

 

[Akasha72]

All done, 2 buckets out, 2 back (with de-chlorinator of course) 3 mil of whitespot stuff and now my tank looks like I've dropped a bottle of ink in there.

Just seen that platy flicking against the rocks again so I'll be keeping a close eye on her for the next few days.

The Waterlife stuff works on other parasites beside whitespot so if I have mis-diagnosed by any chance it should still cure the problem ... I blooming hope so after it robbed me of £4

 

[Akasha72]

Hi, I've got a query that I'm hoping someone can help me with.

The whitespot stuff said to treat day 1,2,3 and 6. Today is day 3, I'll treat again on Thursday for the last time.

So, the carbon sponge ... It's been sitting in a jug of tank water since Saturday. I know The_Lock_Man said to chuck it out and buy new but finances arn't so good at the moment so I was hoping to re-use the original one. It's only a few weeks old anyway.

Question is. Can I just put this original one back in and when do I put it back? Does it go back 24 hours after the final dose of waterlife stuff or do I have to wait a few days? It doesn't make it very clear on the bottle instructions. Also, do I need to do a water change or do I just carry on and do my normal weekly maintenance at the weekend (10-20% water change and gravel vac)

Any idea's and advice greatly accepted

Thanks Akasha

 

[soybean]

Just don't put it back in. You don't need carbon in on a day to day basis. The only time you need it is to remove something from the water and big water change will do the same. Carbon stops being effective anyway after a few weeks. And sitting any media in a jug of water for a few days doesn't preserve bacteria - if all you had to do was keep it wet, we'd be able to buy it online now. The bacteria need a flow of water which provides oxygen, and a source of ammonia and nitrite to feed off, without which they start to die off.

Just chuck it away and replace it with regular sponge.

 

[Akasha72]

Okay, thanks Soybean. I have a new box of the ordinary white filters (I'm running an interpet pf2 if that's any help) should I put a clean one in the space of carbon one? My water is still slightly blue looking so will that settle without the carbon?

How much water should I change aswell? I could manage say 50% at the weekend. Will that be enough to clear the blue water?

Sorry to be a pain