The dreaded Ick!

[Kelly Preussner]

I have enclosed a picture of my sword I think is starting to have Ick. There is only 1 white spot on the very end of her tail & no spots on any of the other fish. I just got this & another matching sword almost a week ago. I know it is best to put them in a separate tank & quarantine for the first two weeks but I do not have another tank to do that. I just did a 50% water change yesterday. I am just seeing the white spot this morning, it was not there yesterday. I increased the heat just now - how high should I go? Should I add salt to the water to treat?
Here is the info on my tank:
36 gal tall
Hard water, don’t know the number
PH 8.0
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 3.0

 

[Kelly Preussner]

Forgot to add what is in the tank:
2 black mollies
3 platy
2 sword
3 tetra
1 dwarf gourami
6 nerite snails
4 live plants & driftwood

 

[HoldenOn]

It is ich. Go to 86°F and add a tablespoon for every 5 gallons of water changed. Do daily 60%ish water changes.

 

[Lajos_Detari]

Actually it's hard to say whether it's ich when only have one white dot/spot.

By right ich will have more than one white spot.
If you don't have a quarantine tank, you must be prepare to treat your main tank each time you buy new fish.

I think if I were you, I would wait and see.

Anyway, if you want to treat it, as Holden mentioned, you can increase the temperature to 86F / 30C.
You don't need to add salt at the moment unless the heat cannot kill it.

 

[Colin_T]

It could be the start of a whitespot outbreak. To be safe, do a 80% water change and complete gravel clean, then raise the water temperature to 30C (86F) as suggested by the others. Keep the water at 86F for 2 weeks then reduce the temperature.

Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

The big water change and gravel clean will dilute any parasites in the water and give the fish a few days for the heat treatment to work.

 

[Kelly Preussner]

It could be the start of a whitespot outbreak. To be safe, do a 80% water change and complete gravel clean, then raise the water temperature to 30C (86F) as suggested by the others. Keep the water at 86F for 2 weeks then reduce the temperature.

Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

The big water change and gravel clean will dilute any parasites in the water and give the fish a few days for the heat treatment to work.

Thanks for the advice. Since I just did a 50% water change yesterday do I still do the 80% today?

 

[FishGuest5123]

It is ich. Go to 86°F and add a tablespoon for every 5 gallons of water changed. Do daily 60%ish water changes.

I presume you mean aquarium salt, right? Be sure to dissolve it first.

 

[Colin_T]

Thanks for the advice. Since I just did a 50% water change yesterday do I still do the 80% today?

Yes.

The white spot parasites divide quickly so doing a big water change and complete gravel clean now, before raising the temperature, will dilute the number of parasites in the tank and reduce the number that infect the fish. The fewer parasites that infect the fish, the healthier the fish will be.

 

[Kelly Preussner]

Colin_T
Thanks, I always appreciate your opinion! So I had to work late & have not done the water change. I can do it today but did turn the heat up & as of this morning the spot is gone. Also my other sword had babies & I was able to save 4 of them so I might wait to do the change & gravel clean until later today so I don’t vacuum any babies. Do you think that is ok. I am going out of town tomorrow morning but can do another water change on Sunday. 80% both times, correct?

 

[Colin_T]

Just turn the temperature up now.

The water change and gravel clean is used to dilute the number of parasites in the tank. But if you have baby fish and can't do a water change now, just turn the temp up.

 

[Kelly Preussner]

Thanks!