11 replies to this topic

[Barca888]

My red head cichlid recently acquired from the fish store (few days) has a few white spots on it. He is in my 6fter with a whole variety of other fish. None of my other fish have this and i have never had a case of ich in this tank since i started running it a few yrs back. The fish in question had a very bad arrival. He seemed to be jumpy in the plastic bag he came with and rest assured he jumped out of the ice cream container i had him in when i was adjusting the water temperatures. I delayed putting him in my big tank for a day and the next day he jumped out of the ice cream container AGAIN before i could put the cover glass over it. So yes one can safely be assured he has had a stressful start (seeing my fully grown tiger oscars didnt help).

I would like to know the best way to cure this fish as i am about to isolate him into a 40l hospital tank?

Since this nasty lil bugger has been in my big tank should i do anything in prevention of it spreading to other fish?

Thanks Peter

[Synadontis Angelicus]

well if the fish has white spots on it the size of salt granuals, it is most likely "white spot". This disease can be formed by several ways one of which is stress. White spot is contageous and can be fatal, so it is best to go to your nearest fish shop and get the fish infected diagnosed, if white spot is diagnosed the staff will most likely give u several options to cure it, the tank must remain in quaranteen for around 2 weeks (after medication is administered) even if the spots have gone. This is only for white spot disease, probally better to get the fish diagnosed from where u got it

Daniel

[Barca888]

Hi Daniel I am pretty sure it is white spot and i have the fish in its own tank which is being filtered 10 times an hour . Is there other diseases which manifest as cystic white spots?

Peter

[Brett4Perth]

If you think it is Ick then treatment options are here

Perhaps some quarentine would have saved a lot of heart-ache?

Cheers
Brett

[Barca888]

Thanks for the link brett. All i need to do now is increase my hospital tank temp and go get some medication ;\

Peter

[Barca888]

I went back to the fish store i got it from and found the other poor buggers had it too . I found it quite silly that the owner said they didnt have it over the phone.

[saudukar]

White spot cycle can take a few days to come up. Generally its hard to diagnose right up until they show the last stage of the diesease which is the physical white spots. Generally this is a common enough diesease which is easy to treat. Most aquaruims have this diesease but the conditions to make it thrive are generally not available. Poor general health of fish and bad water conditions contribute to a infestation. Sometimes a harder strain is introduced which can effect this fish but generally healthy fish wont contract it.
In a aquaruim shop its nigh impossible to diagnose and nigh impossible to prepare for right up until the last part of the cycle where the physical signs are evident. A good store will separate the effected fish for medication but selling them before any visable signs of the diesease is easy to do. A experienced aquarist would take white spot in thier stride and look more at the conditions that contributed to the infestation rather than the source because the source could be anywhere. White spot can spring from anywhere so you should always be prepared.

[BT]

Heya

When ever I buy a new fish I always give the fish a bath in salt water. And quarantine!!

Low concentrations of salt relax and calm the fish, meaning no stress - this is the major cause of Ich to outbreak as I believe.

No matter what you do, the parasite that causes Ich will always remain with the fish - and is even present in fish that have never shown signs. It is stress that allows the parasite to overtake the fish, and hense the white spot. Even heavily medicated fish (if the fish doesnt die from the overdose) still have the parasite involved.

This stage of Ich (the white spot present) is the stage where the parasite's spores can effect the other fish. A fish in stress gets all other tank mates into trouble this way.

If you medicate the tank, all you are doing is killing the instance on the fish, and weakening the fish further. Lowered immune systems mean once the fish has been transfered to another tank (like out of your quarantine and into your display tank) the Ich can take hold quicker and stronger than previously, which means heavier stress on the fish effected - and on the residents of the display tank!!!

Anyways, low concentrations of salt in a seperate tank / container with aquarium water is what I use to treat white spot infected fish or new fish. I put a fish in for ten minutes, then back in the quarantine tank for ten. Then I repeat this for a total of 3 times. This I do at the same time every day for two or three days. Then I keep an eye on the fish in quarantine for atleast 4 weeks...

White spot is after all, the least (if the most common) of fish problems.

Low concentration of salt means 1 tablespoon of salt for every 5 litres of water...

Regards

BT

[hlokk]

I had some white spot a couple of weeks ago (1-2 spots on a couple of fish but one of my clown loaches had heaps). From what Paul from morley aquariums told me, it tends to outbreak when the temp drops too much (confirmed by my digital thermometer). I used phenoxine and elevated the temps to 30 deg and it was gone after 2-3 doses. (interpet anti-parasite was also recommended).

I also suggest reading this www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ich.php

[Barca888]

Thanks for the thoughtful reply Bt, perhaps if i read this earlier i could have cut down on my new thread ;\

[mtchye]

Hi guys,

Just to clarify, I think what BT means is that the white spot parasite is often present in our water or on our fish in subpathological numbers, and manage to take a hold when the fishes are stressed.

However it is possible to eradicate it, and in order to do so you must understand their life cycle. Part of their life cycle involves a cyst/egg stage which is not killed by the medications. Most people stop the meds too early thus leaving the eggs to hatch later on and reinfect the fish.

Check out this site's diseases section for some good info on this common parasite. I think it also goes into some treatments and details which treatments are relatively harmful to your fish as well as the parasite itself..

Hope that helps...

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