Pictus Catfish White Spot

[fishyfeet]

the guppies need to breed so since youve provided no females they are approaching your mollies. im not sure what the answer is, blinking males one track mind

 

[Gidge]

Update on the White Spot, Clown Loach has a few minor spots on his tail today plus I have a ram that has 1 single spot.

The pictus were looking miserable after all the chemicals, so I decided to try dosing with salt I am not sure if reading all the forums its the lesser of two evils, but I have been dosing the tank for weeks with chemicals to get rid of this blasted whitespot and on that one fish its just not working. I know they are sensitive to the meds, so I am hoping this may work.

Funnily enough the corys and the pleco didnt seem bothered at all by the meds.. anyway I am keeping a very close eye on them and will see how this goes.

Raise the temperature very slowly (1 degree per hour) to 30 celcius (Im not sure where you are located, so dont know if you use C or F)Do you have plenty of air in the tank? Raising the temp will decrease the amount of oxygen.

Also I have read here and there that cory's do not tolerate salt all that well. But small doses for a short amount of time (2-3 weeks) will be just fine. Maybe 'google' that a bit just to be sure.

 

[dfield]

Raise the temperature very slowly (1 degree per hour) to 30 celcius (Im not sure where you are located, so dont know if you use C or F)Do you have plenty of air in the tank? Raising the temp will decrease the amount of oxygen.

Also I have read here and there that cory's do not tolerate salt all that well. But small doses for a short amount of time (2-3 weeks) will be just fine. Maybe 'google' that a bit just to be sure.

Yes that was the plan, I do have fish in there that I've read don't tolerate salt, but most say that for the short term they can cope.. so I thought it was worth a try since the meds did not seem to be working at all!

Have increased temp and added more air so thats fine. Today the Loach seems clear of the ich and the other fish still has 1 spot, but othersiwe all clear. I know that I will probably need to keep the salt in for a while, but certainely the loach seems so much happier today, my cat sitting on the side of the chair watching the fish and the loach came over and had a really good look at him.... that was unheard of before now.

The catfish, corys and pleco all seem happy at the moment, no more signs of white spot on those.. one downside the other Honey Dwarf Gourami is sick.. it has the same problem as the other one that died.. I am positive its dropsy.. I did try to treat the other one and that one still died, so I have decided to keep it in the main tank. The last one was gone in a week from first symtoms so I am expecting maybe a day or two.. if it gets bad I have some clove oil and vodka on hand to humanely euthanize it. Apparently they are prone to dropsy (or so I read) and I just think the stress of moving the tank, complete cycling and then ich meds.. have just about finished it off)

My water params are almost perfect, ammonia 0, nitrites maybe .10 ppm, nitrates 20ppm.. but I am not happy with the performance of the filter and so have bought a new one.. I'll run them both until the replacement is established, but I do feel the original one isnt filtering properly..

I have already replaced the heater which was faulty, so I am erring on the side of caution..

Anyway, I'll keep this thread posted with updates in the hope that someone else finds it useful.

 

[dfield]

Todays update, the Loach is clear of the Ich now, I have 1 other fish with 1 spot of it, otherwise all clear. I vacuumed the floor of the tank last night and as soon as I see that spot gone I'll do it again and then re-dose the tank.

I still have the sick Gourami, I relented in the end and removed it from the main tank. I had to move my baby platy's to the "bigger baby tank" we have 6 left and all seem to be doing well in there...

I did make the mistake of putting flake food in last night and one nearly got eaten as their colour matches the flakes!!! So it will be algae wafers for a few feeds to give them a chance. They absolutely love them and putting in one at the front of the tank works wonders... no frenzied feeding, everyone just comes up and takes a nibble then off they go with a full stomach..

I am looking for a new "bigger baby" tank so the little ones can have some peace.

The Gourami is now on anti bacterial treatment, I was using one of the API ones MELAFIX which I thought smelt like Tea Tree Oil and in fact "is" tea tree and whilst I use Tea Tree as an antiseptic at home, I really dont think thats appropriate for the Gourami so its off to the pet store this morning to find some "proper" meds. It is miles happier on its own and I covered the tank mostly with a towel, there is one side open next to the Baby tank, so he has something to look at and the light from that tank coming in. He's really poorly, but I am on a mission!

Still the white spot seems well on the way to being conquered and the catfish have survived the ordeal of the meds. Oh and I bought a new filter a Fluval U4.. wow.. what a difference compared to the Interpet one! My water is really crystal clear.. I have both running together now and will leave it that way for a month or so.. I turned them both down to low and they are doing a great job..

All my water params are perfect too... so thats a relief, I am actually starting to feel like the ordeal with the fish move is coming to an end for my fish.. 3 lost but a lot more looking great.

 

[colleen0309]

Congrats! It's a great feeling when it all works out mostly good!

 

[dfield]

Yes, I am so relieved, it's been such a trial.. I'd never recommend buying a fish tank already stocked it might seem a good idea at the time.. but all this cramming to learn about them, its worse than studying for a degree.. gahhh.

 

[dfield]

Have scoured the fish in the tank looking for white spot.. maybe one or two tiny suspects on the rams but nothing on any of the others..but I am not entirely sure it is as in some lights it doesnt look like there ane any.. so maybe I am just being paranoid.. am going to re-hoover the bottom of the tank tomorrow and I am not going to re-medicate as all the fish seem so much happier. and I don't want to cause the scale less fish more grief...

But I'll keep up the hoovering and watch closely.... I started this post on 26th September and its taken all this time to clear...

 

[dfield]

one final post on this thread for me. My tank is now officially white spot free yay!!! AND... I saved the Gourami!!!! double yay!!!

 

[Gidge]

That's excellent news! Congrats.

 

[dfield]

I finally lost my Dwarf Gourami what a fighter though, I had to give it a chance!!!