Pictus is sick...

[noclueman]

I think he is sick anyway. He's got a bunch of white spots all over his body now. They aren't just spots, they are bumps.

I have seen them before on other types of fish (on gouramis) and I was told it was parasites.

What can I do to help my pictus get rid of these? Assuming they are bad.

thanks!
noclueman

 

[noclueman]

I just went out to watch the fish some more to see if anyone else had those spots on them. I couldn't see any other spots, but I did notice about 4 other fish were scraping themselves up against the rocks/sand/plants as if they had an itch.

I did just buy 4 new plants for my tank about 4 days ago and I just realized I did not rinse them before puting them in (stupid me)...

I don't know what other info might be helpful right now.

If you have any ideas of what I can do, please help.

noclueman

 

[samthefishman]

Sounds like they got white spot.
I would treat it fast! Go to your LFS and ask for the meds. Caution if you have Catfish(which you do) and loaches dont use as much meds, it hurts them.
Good luck mate

 

[digital_run]

Turn the heat up in your tank to about 79-80....also I'd say frequent water changes are in order....good luck!

 

[Doggfather]

Turn the heat up in your tank to about 79-80....also I'd say frequent water changes are in order....good luck!

To treat white spot effectivly you will need to raise the temperature by a bit more. 84 - 86 would be an ideal temperature but be sure you increase it in small amounts.

Caution if you have Catfish(which you do) and loaches dont use as much meds, it hurts them.

Some meds can't be used on catfish altogether due to their potency, so it's always wise to read the lable, not guess how much to put in. Also, meds may not need to be used altogether since the heat treatment method is usually rids the tank of the disease within 1 - 2 weeks.

 

[noclueman]

*next morning*

I checked the tank this morning and noticed a few more of the fish have the spots now. The red rainbow has a bunch, and a few of the smaller fish have some.

I will turn up the heat some and go talk to the LFS about possible meds that wont harm catfish.

If it takes 1-2 weeks with the heat treatment ... is that fast enough?
Last time I had a fish get spots similar to these it didn't last long
These fish are a little bigger now though, maybe they can handle more.

thanks for the advice so far,
noclueman

 

[hellohefalump]

if you try the white spot treatment, be careful - i managed to kill my pictus while treating him and the rest of the tank for white spot. They are sensitive to meds... I didn't put in over the dosage on the bottle, but he still died

 

[noclueman]

Ok, here is what I was told by the "fish expert".

He said pictus cats are brackish fish and actually do better in water with salt in it. He said especially now, since he is sick, that I should add 2 tsp of salt per 10 gallons and turn up the heat.

I told him I thought salt was bad for all catfish, and for my suckers (SAE's). He said no, the salt is good for all my fish and it shouldn't harm the SAE's.


Can anyone confirm or deny this info before I do it?

Thanks for all the help.

 

[JacopoFishy]

sounds like a nasty case of ich. (otherwise known as ick and white spot. full scientific name is Ichthyophthirius.) listen to the advice of the previous posts.

---raise the temperature and add meds. raising the temperature speeds up the life cycle of the parasite which is attacking your fish. The raised temperature will cause the parasites to move on to the stage in their life cycle when the medication can kill them.
---everyone else is completely right: check the labels on the meds very carefully to make sure your pictus can take them.
---I suggest a 20% water change daily.
---there is a theory that almost every aquarium has ich in it and that it lays dormant, attacking unhealthy and/or stressed fish.
---aquarium salt is a good idea in general alongside the raise in temperature and the medication, but before adding it I suggest getting a second opinion and being absolutely sure.