White Dots

Prip17

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About a week ago i noticed a couple of really tiny white specs on my keyhole cichlid, about 3 or 4 of them. Well today i look in my tank and one of my tetras is COVERED in little white specs, im verry worried that maybe this could wipe out my whole tank. Its a 30 gallon tank with around 13 fish in it. Can somebody Help me?? He's still eating though.
 
That is a disease called Ick. and yes you are right, if not treated it can wipe out your whole tank.
What i would suggest is first of all getting a medicine to treat it. I would suggest QuICK Cure or something along those lines. secondly, if you can isolate the infected fish and put them in a tank without a carbon filter (alowys medicine to work properly).
It should disapear quICKly :lol:
good luck
 
shouldnt i put the medicine in my regular tank though since a couple of fish can have it?
 
Definitely do as the princess says, get yourself a treatment asap! Provided you treat quickly your fish should be OK.

Also, make sure when you treat the tank that you remove any carbon filter if you have it. Raising the temperature in your tank to about 82ºF (maximum) will speed up the life cycle of the parasite and hopefully mean the treatment works quicker too. Make sure you increase the temp gradually though, you don't want to stress them out!

How long have you had your fishies? Ich is often common in new tanks and can be a sign that the water conditions aren't great. So if you haven't done so, do a water change asap. If you already have your ich treatment, just add the correct amount of dosage to the new water you're adding, and then the treatment won't get diluted (hope that made sense!).

Hmmm what else is good to know about ich... oh yeh, contrary to what the medication says, it's best to continue the treatement every day until all the white spots have completely disappeared. Otherwise it might pop up again a few weeks later which would be bad news :no: .

OK that's all I can think of! There is an article here about the disease which is really helpful :thumbs: - good luck!
 
Hi, sorry to here about your ich problem...
I would try putting the temp up to 86F for three days. Ich and many other parasites cannot survive at this temp but fish can. This has always worked for me without the need for potions and snake oils. Quick Cure works great but does have an effect on your filter, and stresses the fish. I would recommend half stated dose for these fish. Gently raising the temp to 86F has worked for me on neons, cardinals, diamond flame tetras, angels, apistogramma and gouramis.
One thing to remember is to increse aeration, with an airstone or pointing your filter outlet to the water surface.

good Luck!

Ken
 
As Ken said, I've had good luck raising my tank temperature to around 84F (never gone as high as 86F myself). Had to do it recently for a new fish I picked up at my lfs that developed ick about a day after I put him in my tank. I really need to pick myself up a quarantine and a hospital tank...but alas, no funds available at this time. Raising the temp worked for me without the need to chemicals. You might want to check the info on your fish first. All of mine are okay with the higher temps except one, and he made it through the ordeal okay too.

-Curtiss
 
OK thanks guys... i have a biowheel filter, should i just remove the carbon insert, if i get the medication?
 
Prip17 said:
OK thanks guys... i have a biowheel filter, should i just remove the carbon insert, if i get the medication?
Yes. Whenever you use meds you always want to take out the carbon.

secondly, if you can isolate the infected fish and put them in a tank without a carbon filter (alowys medicine to work properly).

With some diseases it's best to quarantine but with ich it's best to treat the whole tank.
 

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