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White Spot & Treatment Options


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#1 Krystal

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Posted 02 May 2009 - 10:11 PM

White spot is a protozoan parasite that infects the gills and skin of fish. It is almost always present in the aquarium, but presents no problems if the fish are happy and healthy. Once fish have been infected with white spot, they often get a resistance to it, so rarely become infected badly again for at least the next 6 months if conditions remain good. White spot is encouraged by poor water quality and stress, so maintaining good water quality and minimising stress to the fish will prevent any fish losses. The white spot itself does not kill fish, it is the secondary bacterial infections that cause problems.

All it takes is some sort of stress to bring this parasite out. This could be anything from temperature fluctuations, poor water quality or even introducing new fish.

First Raise your temperature if you can, up to about 30-32 degrees, this will vary with different thermometers.

Option 1:

Treat the aquarium with Tri-Sulpha as this will also aid in healing any secondary bacterial infections. One downfall with this is that it can knock back your bacteria with prolonged use. Re-dose every 3 days (after a 25% water change before any re-treatments). You can also add salt at the rate of approx 5gm per 10litres whilst dosing with Tri-Sulpha.

Option 2:

Using Products such as Rapid White spot remedy or other malachite green/acriflavine based products. These must be used at half the dose rate recommended if you have fish like loaches. Follow the instructions on the package for dose rates. These products work well in a controlled environment (low in organics) but can stain your water and ornaments, this will over time break down with light, and it can also take longer for your bacteria to re-establish as a result of the staining of your filter media, so read the instructions carefully. You can add Salt whilst using this product also.

White spot will always get worse before it gets better. Just keep up the treatment and monitor your water quality. Stick to minimal feeding of the fish if you can during this time. You can only kill white spot when it detaches it self from the fish (free swimming) so keep medicating until it is gone.

Also if you have any activated carbon/charcoal in your filter then take these out prior to medicating. Turn off any light or U.V Sterilizers whilst medicating as these will break down the medication.

Keep in mind that most medications, particularly those that are salt and malachite green based, will also affect your plants, so a bare quarantine tank with a basic sponge filter is the best to treat in. If you have a planted tank and do not wish to use medications, the high temperature alone will help control the white spot, assuming the planted tank water quality is 100%. You can remove touchy plants that you wish to save, and place them in water without fish, and after 48hours these plants will not have any white spot parasites left on them and can be placed in another tank or held until treatment is complete in the original tank.

For long-term prevention, a U.V Sterilizer may be added to the aquarium, as water passes through the unit it will kill any free-floating parasites or algae particles. This is not a cure but only a preventative measure and 99% of the time stops or slows down the outbreak before it becomes an issue.

A quarantine tank is also recommended for all hobbyists. Always put new fish in a quarantine tank for at least a week to monitor their health and catch any parasitic outbreaks early.

#2 Neddy

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Posted 18 December 2010 - 05:07 PM

How long after the whitespot disapears should I continue medicating?

#3 Karlos

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Posted 08 May 2013 - 07:37 PM

Hello thanks for the information Krystal. My Africans are flashing alot and sometimes were i wonder if they are going to hurt themselves. I cant see any ich but all my fish are flashing. I have medicated my water with knockout twice over a week and they are still flashing. Do I have anything to worry about and can the meds make them flash more?

 

Cheers Karl



#4 Clownz!!

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Posted 21 October 2013 - 07:00 PM

HELP!!! Hi, sorta new... this is my third post, my clown loaches have white spot in my 750l  :( , Im kinda new so I don't know whether to create a new topic or post here? the tank is 750l and has 4 clown loaches... had 5 until today... I have done everything until today, Ive turned off the lights, removed carbon, temperature is at 32! The tank has had it for the last 3 weeks... (when i first spotted 3-4 spots on one of my clowns) I first treated for the first week with Ichonix or something... the problem continued to get worse... I then treated with ick away for the second week... problem continued to get worse... I have now been treating it with Knockout at full dose and I still haven't seen ANY improvement, today I lost my smallest and my second smallest isn't looking much better  :( I am pretty sure its whitespot... I have never dealt with it before.

 

I dont know if this works...

DW6JG5w.jpg 

 

but when in doubt... DW6JG5w.jpg



#5 Bermont

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Posted 21 October 2013 - 07:37 PM

definately looks like whitespot, loaches are more sisceptable to it cause they dont have scales they have skin, and you need to medicate less also cause of their low tollerance to copper etc, id use a pinch of salt, raise temps to 30 degrees and get melafix or cureall or something similar for whitespot and ick, tho i once lost 9/10 loaches to whitespot while everything else in the tank was fine



#6 sandgroper

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Posted 21 October 2013 - 08:02 PM

Get a UV light and attach it to the outlet hose on your canister. This will prevent it happening again but all you can do now is raise the temp and treat with a white spot treatment and hope for the best. If you want to keep clowns i highly recommend a UV, since i've used one i have not had an outbreak in 10 yrs.



#7 Kleinz

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Posted 21 October 2013 - 08:58 PM

I did the temp to prolly 33 or so and tri-sulfa. I think the temp was the thing in the end.

 

Took Ollie's recommendation to just add air and temp and I think that broke the back of it.



#8 Moses

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Posted 21 October 2013 - 09:41 PM

Lights off. Temp above 30 with lots of surface agitation. Handfuls of pool salt depending on tank size. Very light feeding every other day. Gravel vac the bottom of the tank when doing a water change while fighting ich. If you have multiple tanks, DO NOT use the same net or accessories in different tanks. 

I've used this method for years whenever whitespot pops up with great success.



#9 Morley Aquariums

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Posted 21 October 2013 - 09:46 PM

Might also be velvet, sometimes looks very similar, particularly when at advanced stage, i lost a batch of my personal big clowns to this a few years ago by getting it wrong. Hit them with tri sulpha ( can be used without removing the other meds as no common ingredients).
32 deg & 3 weeks of treatment should have eliminated whitespot so i am suspicious. Tri sulpha should shift it pretty fast.

#10 Clownz!!

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Posted 22 October 2013 - 07:45 AM

Thanx all for you prompt feedback! Bermont  :) I will probably add some salt... How much for the clowns for a 750l? Sandgroper I actually have a UV steriliser just haven't added it yet, should I add it now or after treatment (if they survive :unsure: )? Kleinz Is there anywhere near Inglewood-Maylands that sells trisulpha, I also have allot of of surface area movement and aeration at the moment? Moses I haven't tried limiting feeding so Ill probably try that, Thanx heres another shot  :unsure:

 

PPhEgoh.jpg



#11 Moses

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Posted 22 October 2013 - 09:39 AM

Is it only the clown loaches that are suffering with it? Bala Sharks are quite susceptible to white spot I've found as are Moss Barbs.

 

From memory it's 1kg salt to 400L of water. I just get my hands cupped together and put 2 big scoops in my 800L tank. You can put it in a bucket of water first to break it down but I just throw it straight in. The fish try to eat it and swim through it but does them no harm. Like a mini salt bath.

 

I wouldn't add the UV light until after the treatment has worked otherwise it will break down the medication you're using.

 

Clown loaches are shocking for white spot and hard to treat due to being scaleless. I bought 6 and I'm now down to 2. No other fish in the tank got white spot. Survival of the fittest! Best bet is to buy the biggest loaches you can find/afford. They seem to be more resilient, probably due to having white spot numerous times before.



#12 Clownz!!

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Posted 22 October 2013 - 10:06 AM

Thanx for the prompt reply moses, yea the ballas don't have it a the moment fortunately, but the moss barb has 2-3 spots. none of my other fish in the tank seem to have it. 

 

Strangely a day b4 I noticed the whitespot i drained some of the tank into my 200l -with the black ghost knife- and he didnt get affected... I would have assumed he would be supper-suseptable to it?Ill add salt when I get home thanks for the quick reply though.



#13 Clownz!!

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Posted 22 October 2013 - 04:14 PM

The one I pictured sadly died today :rip: and I haven't seen the others in a couple of days... 2 down 3 to go, it seems.



#14 Clownz!!

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Posted 22 October 2013 - 04:28 PM

I pulled up the loaches favourite hiding place and the were all still alive *phew* , these three are my eldest. They do appear to have whitespots and were flashing but do not have the laboured breathing like the one that died today. Also the moss barb no longer has any whitespots (which i'm hoping is a sign of things to come for the rest of the fish :huh:). 

 

I am about to add salt to the tank! hope this works!



#15 Kleinz

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Posted 22 October 2013 - 06:22 PM

Kleinz Is there anywhere near Inglewood-Maylands that sells trisulpha

 

Try give Morley Aquariums a call, or failing that Aquarium City.



#16 Clownz!!

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Posted 22 October 2013 - 07:07 PM

Thanx Klienz, Ill call Aquarium city tomorrow!



#17 Clownz!!

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Posted 26 October 2013 - 10:09 AM

:lol: GONE!! I woke up this morning and looked across the room to a familiar but unseen sighting in the last few weeks. My eldest clown and a younger clown were playing around the tank with the ballas and the clown barbs. Not skittishly, but gracefully and with full-use of their dorsal fin! I eagerly got up and checked them for spots. Not a single spot! I threw in a cube of bloodworms and for the first time in weeks they ate, and they ate like like there was no tomorrow. I will continue to treat the tank for whitespot, and add the uv filter in a couple of weeks time. Firstly Id like to thank everyone who helped me including; Morley Aquariums, Klienz, Moses, sandgroper, vermont, karlos, neddy and crystal :D . And I would also like to recomend the the treatment type I used; No lights, tons of aeration, a little salt, temperature set to 32 degrees, largeish water changes, time, patience and most importantly support! I would also like to recommend the product recommended to me by Morley Aquariums, It is called KnockOut ick control by Pondmax, I used other products before this like Ichonix and ick away but they did not work for me. It has been a long 4 weeks so thank you all again!! Glass half full, I still have 3/5 of my loaches!

 

Oh and one more thing the whitespot first appeared a few days after I bought a few fish from City Farmers, the first and last time I will ever buy fish there. I have also never had whitespot before now and hope I will be equipped to deal with it in the future with my previous experience. I am not stating that I got the whitespot came from City Farmers but stating that It has never happened to me before and that it happened a couple of days after I bought fish from there, perhaps coincidence  <_<



#18 Morley Aquariums

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Posted 26 October 2013 - 10:25 AM

Thanks for kind words, really pleased you have fixed it, horrible losing loaches as they are cool beasts.

#19 Clownz!!

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Posted 26 October 2013 - 10:44 AM

People who deal in good, decent and honest businesses deserve credit and Im glad that there is a way that I can praise such businesses and that happens to be through this forum! thanx again Morely Aquariums! :rolleyes: agreed on the cool beasts bit as well that are totally worth the hassle!



#20 malawiman85

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Posted 26 October 2013 - 06:51 PM

 
Oh and one more thing the whitespot first appeared a few days after I bought a few fish from City Farmers, the first and last time I will ever buy fish there.

Yep... havent had a good experience buying from Chains as I have stated elsewhere recently... Perhaps unlucky... Dunno, doubt it.
 
Awesome to hear your White Spot is gone! Good on you too for following up here with what eventually worked for you... Not many people bother with the feedback.

Edited by malawiman85, 13 April 2014 - 07:53 PM.





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