The Return Of.... Whitespot!

[Aisha]

Just a few more ideas;
1. Mollies and many of the live beares get ick (white spot) easier than many of the egg layers. Years ago if you kept mollies you added a little salt to the water and kept the temperature higher. ( 78 to 80)
2. Overcrowding will make ick spread quicker
3. Older fish ( because they are weaker) get ick easier
4. If you see ick on 1 fish isolate it ASAP. If you see it on many fish you might as well treat the whole tank.
5. as mentioned; If you have shrimp you can not use any treatments that cotain copper. Malachite green is a good tratment for ick but it is messy and will stain the silicone and other things in the tank.
6. Also as mentioned; You have to continue to treat after the ick apears to be gone. ( not sure how long but probably 5 to 10 days) Good Luck; This is a great hobby , Don T.

Thanks Don. I did read about the whole salt thing somewhere.. the tank temp is currently 26 is that equivalent to 78-80? Ive looked at all the ingredients on the treatments and what it contains... theres not alot! how can i tell if treatments contain copper.

I know!! I feel totally addicted! I didnt realise fish could be hobby! Its a shame uni starts soon... feels like itl be cutting into my time!!

 

[Colin_T]

the ingredients on the container should state copper or copper sulphate

 

[Aisha]

4. If you see ick on 1 fish isolate it ASAP. If you see it on many fish you might as well treat the whole tank.

I strongly disagree with this. If one fish has it, it is best to just assume to entire tank has it. The ich are free swimming and aren't picking on one particular fish. They will latch on to their first target of opportunity.

If one fish is showing spots, you can almost guarantee 100% that the other have them somewhere. The spots may just be too small to see. Or they might be some place hidden like in their gills.

It is probably best to just bite the bullet and treat the entire tank. The rest of the tank is in all likelihood infected anyway.

I didnt see your post earlier.. I would rather treat the whole tank for the reasons that you mentioned.. imean that is why it came back. ta


WIth all the treatments i have none of them that give the full ingredients or even the lil booklets that come in the package... they do mention other substances but not copper..

 

[Colin_T]

if it doesn't mention copper in the ingredients then the product probably doesn't have copper in it.

 

[Aisha]

if it doesn't mention copper in the ingredients then the product probably doesn't have copper in it.

ok thanks