White Spots On Serpae Tetras

[Akasha72]

nothing to add regarding the 'disease' (I also thought cotton mouth too) but I just wanted to add please be careful using salt as a treatment with cories in the tank. Cories can not tolerate salt baths (adding salt to the aquarium) It would be safer to 'dip' the fish in a seperate container before adding the fish back to the tank. If you have a seperate tank to put the tetra's in though a salt bath can work there.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Sorry, I didn't mean bath, where you add salt to the whole tank, but rather just the dip where the fish are temporarily placed in a small container with a salt solution.

 

[Akasha72]

yeah I thought so JD, but just wanted to make sure wet44 didn't misunderstand

 

[RobRocksFishTank]

Judging by the not so good pictures, those fish look stressed. Note the pale coloring and clamped fins. The disease you are trying to treat might be just a symptom of something else going on. It could very well be a compatibility issue. Not enough of them to spread out the natural aggression within the group.

 

[wet44]

Yeah, I wasn't going to treat the tank with salt. The cories don't appear to have it yet, either. Thanks for pointing out the clamped fins, Rob, I completely missed that.
 
I'm still going to do daily water changes, but should I try to add more fish before or after I see a change?

 

[Byron]

We seem to be resolving onto the same page now...increase the numbers, do frequent partial water changes, and "expect" things to improve...and they well might.
 
JD is right again on the water changes...the very first thing I always do when I observe an issue (without usually kn owing immediately what it is) is a major water change of 70-75% of the tank.  More than once, one or two of these (a day or two apart) has resolved whatever the issue was.  Fish can be resilient, if given the opportunity, and they will be stronger for it.
 
Byron.

 

[RobRocksFishTank]

While adding more Serpaes now may resolve the issue that is causing the disease, if it is a compatibility issue, there are a number of reasons not to add fish until it has cleared up or the fish have at least shown a definite improvement. Adding fish stresses both the established fish and the new arrivals making them all more susceptible to diseases being the first one on the list. You may end up losing all of them.

 

[wet44]

Alright. I shall start with the daily water changes today! Thanks again everyone.

 

[Akasha72]

when you go to get some more ask the lfs how long they have been in stock (hopefully they'll be truthful) if it's been a few days ask if you can reserve the amount you require and come back in a week. A good lfs will be happy for you to do that. This week will give the fish time to show any signs of illness. If they still look healthy a week later then get them - if in doubt walk away or get them and quaranteen them (if you have a spare tank - not all of us do) That way you protect your now well stock from any further illness

 

[wet44]

Huh. Unfortunately, I only have big name fish stores in my town such as PetSmart and Petco. I can ask if they will do this for me, though. I do have a quarantine tank so it shouldn't be an issue if they can't.

 

[Akasha72]

ahh I see. Well a good 2-3 weeks in a Q tank will be a better idea. The problem with the big name stores is animal welfare is often lower on the importance list than it is in small independents. 
 
I never used to quaranteen new fish until I got my 240 litre tank and realised how much it costs to treat a tank of that size. Now I quarenteen even though I trust my lfs - it's not worth the risk and expense

 

[eaglesaquarium]

when you go to get some more ask the lfs how long they have been in stock (hopefully they'll be truthful) if it's been a few days ask if you can reserve the amount you require and come back in a week. A good lfs will be happy for you to do that. This week will give the fish time to show any signs of illness. If they still look healthy a week later then get them - if in doubt walk away or get them and quaranteen them (if you have a spare tank - not all of us do) That way you protect your now well stock from any further illness

And the very best LFS will actually quarantine their stock before they even put them on sale.

There's not a lot that I've seen do it for very long.

Thatpetplace.com (which is also a LFS, though its a 2+ hour drive for me) always quarantines their new stock for a full week before they sell any to the public. Man, I wish I lived closer to them.

 

[wet44]

Wow, that's really helpful. Maybe I'll complete my Serpae school from that store once I've done a couple weeks of water changes. I would have to order them and not pick them up, because that is very far from me. 

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I've never purchased from them online, only in person. Just as a disclaimer.

 

[wet44]

After the water changes of this week, the Serpaes look a lot paler in color. I'm going to stop the daily water changes and go back to weekly. The Serpaes don't seem to be losing the white patches either. They seem to be eating as well as usual, though. I'm not sure what my next course of action should be. I think I either need to quickly rehome them or get 4 more Serpaes. I wasn't planning on doing either of these originally so I might have to just rehome them. Not too sure how I would do this, as I don't know anyone nearby who keep fish. I also don't know if anyone would want to take possibly sick fish off of my hands. I'll see how the guys are doing tomorrow morning.