Little spots???

Question

I found little spots on one of my fish's fins. I know enough to know it's either Ick or Velvet - how do you tell the difference? And if its velvet, how do you treat it?

BTW, I already added salt

Answer 1

Ick is very fine small white dots, much like grains of salt on the fish. Velvet forms a much more even coating and usually has a yellowish / golden or even rust colored "shine" when exposed to bright light. Use a flashlight to look for this colored shine on the fish.

Treatment for both are basically the same. Malachite Green. Salt is effective against both ick and velvet, but only over a 1% solution. Heat is far less effective against velvet and should not be part of the treatment for velvet in my opinion.

I would suggest treating with Malachite Green (available as the active ingredient of many ich and fungus cures) for 10 -14 days. This should clear either parasite from the tank.

MM

Answer 2

Little white spots are ick. You can buy medicine for it at the fish store but it didn't seem to work for me. Your best bet is to find a fish store where they really know something about fish and find out what they recommend. Other aggressive fish in the tank can exacerbate the problem because they nip at other fish and create an opening where bacteria and other nasties can get in. So eliminating aggressive fish may help too.

Answer 3

ick is litle white spots and to cure velvet cach it in a early stage and put some salt[no any thing starting whith wy in it ] and put in water

Answer 4

it could be a male fish they get spots when they are ready to breed that's what i have found on the net when mine have the same thing

Answer 5

I had the same problem with mine. The pet store said to just keep its cage clean