White Spot

[Tonytheeagle]

My new aquarium fish have developed white spot, I have begun treatment to the whole tank, is there anything else I can do, also do I remove the black carbon filter in my system? Some say I should?

Help please I have lost 3 fish so far..

 

[jag51186]

Yes, remove carbon. The carbon removes the medication you are using, so it's not helping you right now.

 

[Tonytheeagle]

Thanks, do I leave it out during the treatment course and re-fit once the treatment is complete?

Anything else I can do with this outbreak?

Thanks

 

[Akasha72]

yes - replace the carbon once the treatment cycle is complete. This will remove traces of treatment from the tank. The only time carbon is really needed is after treatment. The rest of the time it's less than useless so consider replacing for a standard sponge later.
 
You could turn up the heat gradually to speed up the cycle of the illness but this is dependent on what type of fish  you have 

 

[Tonytheeagle]

Thanks for your help

 

[OldMan47]

What are you using for treatment? If it is malachite green then remove the carbon. I always just used a salt bath which you do by raising the temperature to about 80ºF and treating with salt. The high temperature speeds up the life cycle of the parasite that we see as white spot. The parasite is only vulnerable to treatment after it is free swimming in the water, not when attached to a fish, so you want to get it exposed to the salt or other treatment ASAP. I always used about a tablespoon of salt per gallon of water as the treatment and a week or so at elevated temperatures was enough to kill off the parasites. After that start to remove the salt by doing a 50% water change every couple of days to bring the water back to untreated conditions.

 

[the_lock_man]

yes - replace the carbon once the treatment cycle is complete. This will remove traces of treatment from the tank. The only time carbon is really needed is after treatment. The rest of the time it's less than useless so consider replacing for a standard sponge later.
 

 
To flesh that out a bit, carbon is used to remove chemical pollutants from the water, and most fish medications are removed using carbon. However, carbon filters become "spent" after around 4-6 weeks in use, so you would probably need to put a brand new carbon filter in the tank to remove your medication.
 
Since most dechlorinators also remove the trace levels of these pollutants in our water when doing water changes, I personally don't use a carbon filter on a day-to-day basis. I have one spare in the cupboard for when I next need to remove a medication.
 

What are you using for treatment? If it is malachite green then remove the carbon. I always just used a salt bath which you do by raising the temperature to about 80ºF and treating with salt. The high temperature speeds up the life cycle of the parasite that we see as white spot. The parasite is only vulnerable to treatment after it is free swimming in the water, not when attached to a fish, so you want to get it exposed to the salt or other treatment ASAP. I always used about a tablespoon of salt per gallon of water as the treatment and a week or so at elevated temperatures was enough to kill off the parasites. After that start to remove the salt by doing a 50% water change every couple of days to bring the water back to untreated conditions.

 
To clarify, if you are using any proprietory fish medication, remove the carbon. Malachite Green is a common chemical whitespot treatment.  If you are using the salt method, as described by Oldman47, you would not need to.

 

[Tonytheeagle]

Thanks guys for all your help.

Oldman47, is it conventional table salt you refer to?

I am using Fish Around WSP, recommended in research, good reviews?

 

[Akasha72]

if it's this stuff http/www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TAP-AQUARIUM-DOCTOR-WSP-WHITE-SPOT-FISH-TREATMENT-100ML-/230849048696then yes, it's not a bad brand at all. I've had a general all round cure from them when I didn't know what was wrong with my fish and it worked
 
Another good one for whitespot is Waterlife Protozin 

 

[the_lock_man]

 
Another good one for whitespot is Waterlife Protozin 

 
That's my personal fave too.

 

[OldMan47]

Thanks guys for all your help.

Oldman47, is it conventional table salt you refer to?

I am using Fish Around WSP, recommended in research, good reviews?

I use aquarium salt like they use in a salt water tank but non-iodized table salt would also work. In my house all table salt is iodized so I don't use it in my tanks.
Most white spot treatments work fine as long as you follow the directions carefully. Don't forget that when the last of the visible white spot is gone you still need to treat for another week. That is where most people fail. They get in a hurry.