# white spot



## Falina (Feb 25, 2007)

i noticed today that 3 of my fish have white spot. a pictus catfish, a molly and a blue ram. i recently introduced the 3 blue rams so i expect thats where it came from, even though they looked fine when i got them, but it has only been a few days since they have been introduced therefore i suspect them. can anyone recommend a specific medication or should i just got for any white spot medication. i would like to treat the whole tank as i know it can spread quickly so even the fish that are yet unaffacted, i would like to have been treated to ensure that they dont have it but just arent showing yet

tankmates are:
1 pictus catfish
1 upside down catfish (synosomething)
1 pitbull plec
4 mollies
1 swordtail
3 blue rams
2 blind cave tetras

thanks for your help everyone. as its clearly 02.19am i shall have to wait until the morning before getting any medication so if you could make suggestions ill be able to read them before getting anything tomorrow morning


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## musho3210 (Dec 28, 2006)

salt and increased temperature, put the temperature around 82 degrees then add 1 tbls of salt per 5 gallons, i think its that much, it could be 1 tbls of salt per 10 gallons, ask blue....


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## Falina (Feb 25, 2007)

tbh i wasnt very keen on using salt as i have read that catfish varieties are very sensitive to salt and it can kill then quickly, and since i have 3 i didnt want to take the chance. is this wrong? i know you can get medications specially for white spot (itch, whatever). do you not recommend these?

thanks for the quick response


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## leifthebunny (Mar 13, 2007)

If you have Cory cats (Pleco cats are more salt tolerant) or plants, salt may be an issue, however, 1tbsp per 5gal using aquarium salt is still safe. In addition, you should raise the temp of the tank to about 82F(28C).


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## musho3210 (Dec 28, 2006)

meds are even worse for catfish. Technically its not catfish who have problems, its scaleless fish, many catfish fall in this category but not all.


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

1 tbsp per 5 gallons is indeed the minimum. Dissolve salt first before adding it in your tank. Any grain of salt lying on the bottom can burn catfishes and other bottom dwellers. Treat the tank for two weeks minimum or risk repeating the process again if your fish becomes stressed again. Ich always hits the fish's weaknesses and stress is just one thing that will easily trigger their appearance.

Use medicines as your last resort. They are risky enough and most of them tend to destroy the filtration system when salt is a safer option. Only thing that is often forgotten is dissolving before adding to the tank.


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## Falina (Feb 25, 2007)

i will use salt then

i know that if i add any new water from water chages then i will have to add salt to the new water, however, should i be doing water changes more or less frequently while i am trying to get rid of the white spot? i usually change about a third of the water once a week roughly. ill do this before i put the salt in, to get rid of even some of the "particles?" before i put the dose in.

you say 1tbsp/5gal is the minimum. should i be using any more or is this the recommended dose? with you saying minimum i thoguht that maybe you were meaning it in a "bare minimum" type of way.

thanks for your help everyone. i dnt like to see my fishes stressed or unwell so your help is very much appreciated. i am going to get some aquarium salt just now and i will let you all know the outcome.


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## Falina (Feb 25, 2007)

ok so i added 1tbsp of aquarium salt per 5g this morning and when i get home form work 8 hours later, ceasar, my pictus hasnt made it  

im gutted - he was my favourite fish and he was the reason i posted because i was worried about medicating with him in the tank because he was scaless.

does anyone know what might have killed him? i was really worried about the salt, but everyone here said he would be fine with the salt. he did have white spot but not anywhere near as bad as some of the other fish, and apart form a couple of wee spots on him he was very healthy this morning.

water parameters were fine last time i checked which was less than a week ago (amonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 10). 

i cant understand what has happened to him. im totally gutted  

should i be worried about my other fish now?


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## leifthebunny (Mar 13, 2007)

Sorry to hear about your pictus.  1tsp per 5 gallons is still pretty low salinity, but sufficient to deal with ick.


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## Falina (Feb 25, 2007)

like i said, after posting here i stopped worrying about the salt. i know you lot know what youre talking about, and i also double checked online to see if they would be lright with salt and it says they will be fine. thanks for all your responses though, as it allowed me to decide a course of action quickly and do something about it. his death just still seems a mystery to me though


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

I hope you dissolved the salt before you added it to your tank. Sorry to hear about your pictus. If you did dissolve it, it's just a matter of monitoring them. Do water changes every other day by about 10% and add salt to replace the amount displaced by water changes.


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## Falina (Feb 25, 2007)

i did disolve it completely because i read here that even one grain lying at the bottom could burn him. 

ill do every second day water changes like you suggested



> If you did dissolve it, it's just a matter of monitoring them.


what do you mean by monitoring them? just by checking that everyone seems to be doing alright and not looking stressed or whatever? with my pictus i dont know that theres anything i could have done really - i added the salt and he was fine, swimming about happily, went to work and when i cam back eight hours later he was dead with his wee mouth open :'(

if the fish are going to become ill because of the salt, is it going to be a sudden thing like with ceasar? ill be heartbroken if i lose anymroe over this white spot

thanks for your help


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

juliewiegand said:


> what do you mean by monitoring them? just by checking that everyone seems to be doing alright and not looking stressed or whatever?


Yes.


> with my pictus i dont know that theres anything i could have done really - i added the salt and he was fine, swimming about happily, went to work and when i cam back eight hours later he was dead with his wee mouth open :'(


I don't think it is the salt. A lot of fish can tolerate it as part of the treatment. I have scaleless fish here and when I treated them with salt, they managed to survive.


> if the fish are going to become ill because of the salt, is it going to be a sudden thing like with ceasar? ill be heartbroken if i lose anymroe over this white spot


Let's hope not. How are your other catfish doing so far? Look into them more closely. The rest which are not bottom dwellers shouldn't be much of a problem. I've had them(except blind cave tetras) with salt and none showed signs of intolerance to it.


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## Falina (Feb 25, 2007)

> I don't think it is the salt. A lot of fish can tolerate it as part of the treatment. I have scaleless fish here and when I treated them with salt, they managed to survive.


i dont really think it was the salt either now, but it was the only thing i could think of because like i said he only had a few spots on him and hardly any compared to the others. maybe because he is scaless they itched him more or something, making him more stressed than the other fish. i really dont know.



> How are your other catfish doing so far? Look into them more closely.


my upside down catfish and plec are doing well except i noticed that my plec has been rushing to the surface once or twice then back down again. is this a problem? i know salt and higher temp can reduce the oxygen so i upped the sped of my filter and have it aggitaing the surface more for increased oxygen. should this be alright? 



> I've had them(except blind cave tetras) with salt and none showed signs of intolerance to it.


its funny that you should say that. these are the only 2 fish 100% unaffected. while my rams are riddled with white spots, and all other fish with at least a couple of spots, they remain spot free and are very active and unphased by the addition of salt

thanks for your help blue


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

juliewiegand said:


> my upside down catfish and plec are doing well except i noticed that my plec has been rushing to the surface once or twice then back down again. is this a problem? i know salt and higher temp can reduce the oxygen so i upped the sped of my filter and have it aggitaing the surface more for increased oxygen. should this be alright?


It should be alright. 


> they remain spot free and are very active and unphased by the addition of salt


Glad to hear that. Lesser problems for you at this rate.:welldone: It seems clear to me those that are spot-free have very strong immunity though you still need to include them in the course of treatment as a precaution. Just avoid anything that would easily stress them. I would advise reducing the time interval when light is on so they will be getting plenty of rest thus allowing them to fight off ich.

Oh, and I think the word was 'unfazed'.:lol: Doesn't matter though.:mrgreen:

Good luck and I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.


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## Falina (Feb 25, 2007)

> Oh, and I think the word was 'unfazed'. Doesn't matter though.


i never could spell!!

well this morning everyone is still here and still covered in spots, but i dont expect it to clear that soon obviously so im very hopeful. i will keep the light off all day except for when i get up and come in where il put it on for a few minutes just so i can see to check how everyone is doing

thanks again


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## bettababy (Oct 12, 2006)

Two things:
1. Pictus cats are prone to ick because they stress so easily. It is common for a pictus cat to develop ick when they've been moved. They are scaleless fish, so I wouldn't have used the salt treatment in that tank (sorry i couldn't get here sooner).
2. There is 1 medication I know of that is safe for all of the fish in your tank, and would have been safe for the pictus cat as well. If you decide that the salt isn't working, it will be important to do a 30% water change at least 24 - 48 hrs before starting the med treatment.
MED TREATMENT:
The medication is called Formalin. You will want to use it at 1/2 dose (1 drop per gallon instead of 2). Very important to increase circulation and aeration in the tank before using this med, as it can deplete oxygen levels, especially at higher temps. Usually an air stone or 2 with an air pump are plenty, and this can be discontinued after medication is completed. 
I can help you find it online if you can't find it in your LFS, just PM me and let me know you need more info.
If you have questions, please feel free to email me directly, as I'm not always able to get here as quick as I'd like to (or as often lately).
Good Luck!


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## Falina (Feb 25, 2007)

thanks for the info bettababy. wish you could have got here sooner like you said but not your, or anyone elses fault of course, just unfortunate.

actually kateyoup pm'd me and recommened that medication to me so if i decide its not working thats definitely what i will be using.

i obviously cant be sure but i dont think he was stressed as i had had him for a fair wee while, a bit over a month and he was doing well, it was 2 days after i introdced the rams that the hitw spot appeared so i suspect them.

if i decide its not working i will use FORMULIN, however, how long would you recommend that i wait before i can tell if its doing the job or not?

thanks again


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## Falina (Feb 25, 2007)

im not convinced what the salt is working - some of the fish seem to be getting worse and fish that werent infected, now are infected. its only been 3 days so perhaps im being impatient? but ive never had white spot before so really dont know how long i should be waiting before i see some improvements. im just really worried because it is spreading and because 2 of my rams are absolutely covered in it, and are much less active then they used to be, except from wee bursts where they go mad trying to scratch themselves. i think theyre suffering  

i have been recommended formalin and PROTOZIN - protozoacide by 2 members here now (i actually mistakenly said formalin by both earlier, sorry for that mistake). do you recommend i just start with one of these medications after doing the water change and waiting 48 hours like bettababy suggested? i really dont know how long to give the salt before i should see an improvement.

please help because im getting very worried

thanks


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## Amphitrite (Sep 8, 2006)

Julie, sorry to hear it's got worse. I would start with the formalin as advised.


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## Falina (Feb 25, 2007)

ok, thanks. im am going to my lfs today and i will ask for formalin and PROTOZIN - protozoacide, that you recommended and see which one they have in stock as i dont want to have to wait for things being delivered. 

if i use the PROTOZIN, do i have to do the same thing, as in, change the water 48 hours in advance since i have already used salt? 

thanks


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## Falina (Feb 25, 2007)

the update is that i went to my local pet store and lfs and neither had formulin but my lfs did have protozin so i bought it. unfortunately when i got home it was too late for iain, one of my blue rams  he now rests in a rennie tablets box filled with woodshavings for my hamster, and will be burried along with ceasar who rests, ironically, in an aquarium salt box filled with woodshavings. 

i am fast beginning to think that rosie, another blue ram, may well be resting, again ironically, in the protozin box along with them  

however, i did a large pwc and vaccumed the gravel vigourously and have added the protozin. i will be continuing this medication for 6 days and just have to hope for the best now really. i bought a surplus amount just incase.

thanks for your help everyone. i really appreciate it, and i will keep this post updated with the final, and intermediate outcome


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## Falina (Feb 25, 2007)

the final update is that i have done a few searches and concluded that it was definitely the salt i added to get rid of the white spot that killed ceasar my pictus  i feel like i have killed him now!  

however, the good news is that although i lost ceasar and iain, my blue ram, everyone else is responding well to the protozin. only 3 fish are still infected with the spots and they are much better than they were.

id like to thank everyone for your help as i fear that without your help, more than just 2 of my fish would have died


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