how do you treat white spot disease? (in fish)?

Question

ive tried various treatments but it comes back!

Answer 1

White spot disease or Ick is a parasite in your aquarium. To dispell some common myths it is not caused by poor water quality or low temperatures, or ammonia, or dirty filters or anything else like that. It does not lurk around in a tank waiting to attack fish, it does not only attack weakened fish, it is not airborne. None of that is true. It is caused by a secific parasite and must be introduced into the tank. This usually happens when you bring in new fish from an infected tank. The best trestment for ick in a tropical aquariums is:

Change a large portion of the water, about 50-60% while cleaning the gravel very well.

Clean the filter and change all the media but leave out the carbon.

Add 4 tablespoons of salt per 5 gallons of the tank.

Raise the temperature to 86-90 F. Raise it slowly, about 1 degree per hour. You may need to add an airstone or two depending on the type of fish and how heavily the tank is stocked.

Add a good ick medication as directed on the bottle. Try to find a medication that used Malachite Green as the active ingredient. (CAUTION: Malachite Green is a known carcinogen. Be careful not to get it on your skin!)

Change 25% or more of the water daily being sure to clean the gravel as you do so.

Continue the treatment for at least 7 days after you see the last white spots on any of the fish.

After the treament, return the carbon to your filter and lower the temperature to normal.

This will work and will remove the ick from your tank.

MM

Answer 2

White spot , or 'ick' is caused by sudden temperature changes, such as putting fish into a tank from another area without getting the temperature the same first.
If your water temperature does not stay stable, for example not having a heater in the tank, and cold air ,or hot air , moves around the tank,it causes temperature changes, and the fish will keep on getting white spot.
The secret to getting rid of white spot is to raise the temperature to let the eggs drop off the fish, and kill the eggs as well. Get the medicine(Marltons Anti Ick for example ) at the pet shop and follow the instructions carefully.
Stress , such as not treating the fish carefully when moving fish, also causes white spot.

Answer 3

It is not called white spot disease, its ICK. That is a parasite that usually occurs whenever a fish is purchased from a pet store. From other fish. I had it in my saltwater aquarium and the buggers killed about $250.00 worth of fish. There is a chemical you can get at your local fish store, called ick away. I actually got it too late. But I heard it works. Another option is quarantine your fish in another tank with a copper based solution for about 2 wks until the parasite in your main tank eventually dies off.

Answer 4

I agree with those that have mentioned raising the temp. I also added aquarium salt to the water.

http://thegab.org/Articles/IchSaltTreatment.html

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ich.php

If you have scaleless fish like loaches or catfish, reduce the amount of salt to half.

This really does work. It cleared my tank within a week and I haven't had a recurrance in 4 months. Be sure to keep your tank water changed regularly and vaccum the gravel. As an aside, I've heard of quite a few people that dose the freshwater aquarium with salt on a regular basis as a general preventative. Oh and be very particular when you introduce new fish. Don't tip in the water from the bag, quaratine if you can.

Answer 5

Get the temp to around 82 F. Put in 1-2 tsp. of salt per gallon. Do water changes every day. After it all comes off, slowly I SAY SLOWLY get the temperature back to normal. It should be 75-78 F for tropicals and 65-72 F for coldwater fish. Siphon the bottom of the tank to suck up the parasites.

Answer 6

Salt baths. And thoroughly scrub the regular tank while your fish is in the hospital tank. Otherwise you're putting the fish back in the disease. See link for info on salt baths.

Answer 7

Sometimes fish get sick because they are stressed. Observe the tank. Has the fish been bullied by others?

Check the instructions on medicine cases. Have you been using it properly?

Good luck!

Answer 8

you can buy this like liquid and you drop some in the tank and it is kind a like a medicen but for fish my fish had to have it once before.

Good Luck with your fish !

Answer 9

First off, is it salt water or fresh water?

Is it white spot disease or is it Ich? You need to know the difference between the two since they are treated differently.

Cryptocaryoniasis, White Spot Disease or Marine Ich is caused by an infestation of the ciliated protozoan Cryptocaryon irritans. Although Cryptocaryon becomes a parasitic organism at one stage in its life cycle like Oodinium and Brooklynella do, and it progesses less rapidly than these other ich diseases, in a closed aquarium system it can reach overwhelming and disasterous numbers just the same if it is not diagnosed and treated upon recognition.

Unlike Oodinium and Brooklynella that typically attack the gills first, which allows these ich diseases to advance into life-threatening levels quickly as they go unnoticed, Cryptocaryon usually appears at the onset as salt-sized white spots visible on the body and fins of a host fish, and when the organisms become parasitic, it is then that they move inwards to the gills. Because crypto is more easily recognized in its beginning stage, this makes it much easier to treat and cure before it gets out of control.

Aside from the appearance of the white spots, fish will scratch against objects in an attempt to dislodge the parasites, and rapid respiration develops as tomonts, mucus, and tissue debris clogs the gills. Fish become listless, refuse to eat, loss of color occurs in patches or blotches as the trophonts destroy the pigment cells, and secondary bacterial infections invade the lesions caused by the trophonts.

Although copper is very effective on Oodinium, and it works well to eliminate crypto organisms in their free-swimming tomite stage, it is not as effective on the Cryptocaryon trophonts that burrow deeply into the tissues of fish. A combination of freshwater and formalin treatments adminstered by means of dips, baths, and prolonged treatment over a period of time in a QT is recommended

Reinfection will occur no matter how effectively the fish have been treated if Cryptocaryon is not eradicated from the main aquarium, which can be accomplished by keeping the tank devoid of any fish for at least 4 weeks. For fish-only aquariums hyposalinity can be applied, and to speed up the life cycle of the organisms, elevate the tank temperature to 85 degrees for 10 days to 12 days. For treating reef tanks, FishVet No-Ich Marine, Ruby Reef Kick-Ich, and Chem-Marin Stop Parasites are Cryptocaryon specific remedies that are said to be "reef safe". Several days prior to returning fish to the main aquarium, clean all filtering equipment, change any filtering materials, and do a water change.

Remember to remove all filters media and turn off protein skimmers when treating for any types of Ich.

Although many over-the-counter remedies contain the general name Ich or Ick, carefully read the product information to be sure it is designed to specifically target and treat "Cryptocaryon"

Brooklynella hostilis - these protozoa reproduce asexually by means of simple binary fission through conjugation, which is why they are able to multiply so much more rapidly than Cryptocaryon (White Spot), and Oodinium (Velvet Ich), and why it can kill fish within a few days and even hours upon recognition

Most similar symptomatically to Oodinium, this too is a parasite that primarily attacks the gills first. At the onset fish may scrap up against objects, rapid respiration develops, and fish often gasp for air at the surface as the gills become clogged with mucus. Fish become lethargic, refuse to eat, and colors fade, but the most noticeable difference that sets Brooklynella apart from Oodinium is the heavy amount of slime that is produced. As the disease progresses a thick whitish mucus covers the body, usually starting at the head and spreading outward, skin lesions appear, and it is not uncommon for signs of secondary bacterial infections to arise.

Suggestions range from copper, malachite green and other remedies, with some recommended being used in conjunction with formaldehyde. However the general consensus is these types of medications are either largely ineffective or do not work at all, and that the best and most effective treatment for Brooklynella is formaldehyde alone. Typically a standard 37% formalin solution (shop & compare prices) is mixed with either fresh or saltwater in a separate treatment container, intitially all fish are given a quick dip or a prolonged bath, followed by continued treatment and care in a QT. Of course the longer fish are exposed to the formalin treatment, the more effective it will be at eliminating this "disease". Whether to administer a dip or a bath to start with is something you will have to determine yourself, but there's a very simple way to do this.

Since these are Free swimming parasites which are in watersources, come attached to our fish etc. The only way to ensure NO ICH is to get a UV Steralizer and addit to the tank. The UV Steralizer kills the free swimming forms of various ich and other parasites.

Hope this helps

Answer 10

there is liqued you can buy to help heel them just go to your local pet shop and ask white spot killer..

And ask how you can keep your tank cleanner as if you do hopfully your fish wont get white spot again