White Spot & Finrot

[ChrisChrisChris]

I've had a look at the pleco who had finrot in the past, treated it with finrot(by interpet) seems to be recoverying and is still alive to this day. So after a month or 2 i added a new guppy to the 2 i originally had, the next day i found both old guppys dead(Very strange but i just assumed old age, ive had them years).

After this i bought another few guppys, but recently the first guppy i bought has it tail fin all clumped together...eventually its was swimming as if its back was broken and today its lost all balance and is spirling around the tank. The other new guppys are rubbing on to ornaments/the sand substrate.

To further complicate it, one of the guppys(female) had 23 babies which are in a breeding tank inside this main tank to avoid being eaten.

I had a further look at the pleco and he may have white spot(Would make sense really) and his fins have grown back but he still has a hole in one anyhow. However its quite hard to tell if he does relaly has white spot as their are alot of air bubbles/spots in the water and he'll often swim with sand on his back...so it could be sand.

The guppys however have no white spots, theyre just rubbing occasionally.

[Bolded to make skim reading easier]

 

[WILDER]

Size of tank in gallons or litres.
How many fish and which type.
Water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.
What do you feed the fish.

Any fish look bloated or thin.
What does it look like when the fish goes to the toilet.
Is the anus enlarged or red and inflamed.
Lost any fish to bent spines.
How big is the spot. Any redness to the spot.
Any bubbles on the fish.
What do the fish gills look like. Do they look pale with excess mucas or red and inflamed.
Any signs of darting, erratic swimming.
Do the fish swim in a jerky movement.

 

[ChrisChrisChris]

Size of tank in gallons or litres. 121x31x37 at the moment (water level is up to 31 - lower tha usual)
How many fish and which type 3 guppys(1male 2 female) + 1 Pleco(common i believe - Seems to have white spots over him, had finrot previously but seems to have recovered...still has a hole in his lower (bum?) fin but improved so guess hes cured.

Water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph. Fine when last tested, will get tested soon.
What do you feed the fish - Dry flakes.

Any fish look bloated or thin - No fish look fine.
What does it look like when the fish goes to the toilet - The pleco seems to have red, white, transparent, brown poop but i assumed it was from his multicoloured food. Guppy poop looks normal brown so far...hard to see them poop really.

Is the anus enlarged or red and inflamed - No not that i can tell.

Lost any fish to bent spines - No, the blue guppy which died today just looked like his spine was broken as a descrption...basically his tail fine just wasnt really being used/just stuck together. When i examined him it looked as if it was maybe nipped at as it was frayed and broke away easily when touched.

How big is the spot. Any redness to the spot. - White spots on pleco, i thought i saw red spot on guppy but hes red in colour so impossible to say...now this male red guppy has white spot(or little growths maybe 1mm) on his base...the others seem to show no signs (but theyre newer, so prob in early stages compared to him....The blue was even older and is now dead so the future looks bleek).


Any bubbles on the fish - No? but white as explained above regaurding the red male guppy.

What do the fish gills look like. Do they look pale with excess mucas or red and inflamed - Red "inside" but thats inside the fish so id expect that? but normal really from the outside etc.

Any signs of darting, erratic swimming - They do accelerate often, specially the male(red one) but i just assume he is enjoying the flow of the filter or chasing the women around(He's been after them since he was put into the tank).

Do the fish swim in a jerky movement - as said occasional acceleration (and they do flick/rub...except the very new one(1 day old red female - but she has yet to be infected i suppose ).

ive increased the tank temperature now, its climbing to 28degrees C not sure where it will stop at, should i use salt next?
I also bathed them in some salt water earlier.

The babies all seem fine at the moment.

 

[WILDER]

Ok. Think I've taken it all in.

It sounds like whitespot to me if the spots are the size of a grain of salt.
The fish look like they have been sprinkled in salt.

Holes in fins and fins sticking together can be bacterial finrot.
As long as the holes were not caused by sharp objects or nipping.
Sticky fins can be bad water quality bacterial finrot.

Do you feed any red foods. Are the flakes you feed red in colour.

 

[ChrisChrisChris]

Yeah the flakes are red, yellow, green and other colours...very strange lol.

Well i treated for finrot previously, the pleco seems to have recovered but a hole in his fin still remains(but his top dorsal? fin improved greatly).

Yeah the pleco definately has dots on him, hopefully its not the sand... i know he swims around covered in sand sometimes but it usually falls off.

I suppose i can raise the temperature and treat for finrot/fungus, if it doesnt go...then i can try salt for white spot?

Or i could just use salt(how much, procedure etc?) as that will cure finrot/fungus/white spot all together???

Thanks

 

[ChrisChrisChris]

Temperature has increased to 81-82F and the new red MALE (only male in tank) is nipping at the other red female(seems to leave the other yellow female alone - shes the 2nd most recent addition to the tank) so i've put the male in a breeding tank to stop him hurting any other fish.

Also noticed now the red female(Most recent fish) is rubbing rarely too.

So many variables........

 

[WILDER]

You need to treat the whitespot first.
Buy a whitespot med and make sure you can use the full dose with the fish you keep.
Remove black carbon if you use it.
Finrot also common on top of whitespot.

Sometimes the whitespot med helps heal finrot.

If the male continues to nip other fish fins you will have to issolate him. Or rehome him.

 

[ChrisChrisChris]

Hi Wilder, Thanks for your help so far.

I came home today and my heater has failed, temperature is below 66F (great... what a nice run of luck). I've put a new heater in the tank, its slowly increasing to 68F and hopefully will be higher as the day goes on.

What medication do you recommend for white spot? my LFS sells Interpret White Spot is that ok? OR should i use salt?

I have 3 guppys(Plus ~26 babies) and 1 large 8-9" Common Pleco(I believe).

The good news is all fish are currently alive...Phuew.

 

[WILDER]

Anti whitespot med good by interpet.
Shouldn't of raised temp till you got the med.
If you can't remove the fry you will have to half dose the whitespot med. You can't use the full dose with fry.

 

[ChrisChrisChris]

Yeah i dont have a seperate tank for fry

Ah #39####, so its not going to be anywhere near as effective then? My current thermo wont seem to raise the temp above 79/80F either which is fustrating.

My other thermo seems to have gone wild and comes on whenever it wants to, so i've stopped using it as ill end up with "fish stock" if i do .

Thanks for your help, ill get the med ASAP and see how things develop.

Shame coldness doesnt cure it, at one point the tank was below 66F - All seem ok though.

I've read salt was a good cure, do you have any experience using salt?

 

[WILDER]

The only thing I can suggest is asking the lfs for a good heater that reaches 30.

Unstable temp can cause stress and desease.

 

[ChrisChrisChris]

Lost 2 babies today, now some are rubbing/flicking.
Will get medicine today, perhaps its a lost cause though who knows.

Red female guppy looks very pregnant and about to pop(but small gravid patch?).

Hopefully its whitespot and will be cured.

 

[WILDER]

Need to get the med fast. Whitespot can kill fish.

 

[ChrisChrisChris]

Both shops we're out of white spot, so i'm waiting.

Checked the fish and i cant see any whitespots on any of the guppies, thepleco however is covered in white dots. Could it be anything other than white spot as i really am tight on cash(student) and £4 on a pointless medicine + Stress to fish would be horrible.

If water isn't above 30C, is it just a case of longertreatment/slower cure?

I'm beginning to hate fish keeping Well, the money side of it... feels like a money pit right now.

 

[WILDER]

Ask you parents if they wouldn't mind lending you the money for the med.

If the spots are the size of a grain of salt. and the fish look like it been sprinkled in salt it's whitespot.

The med not pointless it will help cure your fish.
You can't use salt with pleco, so the med your ownly option.
He will die and suffer if you don't medicate the whole tank.