swordtails, mollies have white spots, what must i do?

[mansiz]

My swordtails and mollies have white spots, what must i do to recover/heal them? I don't want to set up another healing tank, so is there any fast and efficient way to cure them? I have neons and other tetras inside the community tank, so i hope someone could tell me a way which won't affect other fishes and could cure those with white spots as well.

 

[angelstiger]

It sounds like Ich. Its too late for a quarantine tank. The white spots from ich are ulcers where the parasite has broken out of the skin. They encapsulate and fall into the substrate. When they hatch they are free swimming. It is during this period they can be killed with one of the ich treatment at your LFS. Personally I use Cupramine, and yes, Treatment is going to be hard on all your fish. You may lose a couple. If not from the disease, from the treatment. It's a good idea to also raise your tank temperature some at least above 80. Make sure you follow the directions on the medication you use. The gestation period for the larvae is about 10 days so you need to keep the tank medicated for at least 2 weeks. As I said it can only be killed in the free swimming stage. Even though your fish may look cured before this, if you remove the medicine to early, it will come back. The medicine is removed by activated carbon BTW. So remove the carbon from your filtration during treatment. and another thing. Your bio-filter is not going to like the treatment. You will need to recycle your tank, to some degree, when this is cured.

BTW ich comes into your tank inside the skin of new fish and in aquarium water from your LFS. This is why I always quarantine new fish for 2 weeks before I release them into my community. And never, ever, EVER add any LFS water to your aquarium. It may seem a waste to have a tank set up to use as just a way station, but it's much easier than killing your bio-filter in your main tank.

 

[Guest]

Angelstiger, 25 kudos to you for Ich cure advice! This topic comes up frequently, so thanks for a good answer.

 

[angelstiger]

Thank You Corvuscorax.

 

[mansiz]

Thanks too angelstiger, i placed in 5ml of "general aid" solution and one tea spoon of salt, hope this helps to kill the ich. Btw my swordtail's white spot seems to have disappeared, but mollies still have it. Hmm, what must i do after they had all recovered to prevent them from having this ich again? What must i add to the tank? Anti-chlorine? Btw what causes this ich? Someone told me its due to chlorine, is that true?

 

[angelstiger]

Your Very Welcome Mansiz. Ich is not caused by chlorine. The parasite, Ich (Ichthyophthirius multifiliis) is a micro-organism. The best methods of prevention I mentioned in my first post: (follow the full treatment of the medication)(quarantine new fish). The only thing I might add is, Maintain a clean healthy environment. Do regular water changes of 25%, using a water conditioner ( I prefer Stress-Coat, It helps fish maintain a good slime coat). Keep the gravel well vacuumed. Maintain a constant water temperature. Temperature changes stress fish out, lowering their immune systems. Making them susceptible to not only Ich, but many parasitic, bacterial and fungal infections. A consistent clean healthy environment promotes healthy fish.

 

[mansiz]

It seems like the ich is spreading, 2 of my black neons got it too, instead of just molly. Must i really isolate those fishes with ich infection? Or the adding of salt and "general aid" solution is enough to stop the spreading? Or is there a good way to prevent my other fishes from infecting ich if those fishes with ich is still in the same tank? I really don't feel like isolating them.

 

[mansiz]

angelstiger, reguarding "ich is coming from the skin of new fishes from the LFS", but they don't seems to have ich when i bought them, their skin were free from those white spots, when i added them into my tank then they started to have ich. I did'nt pour the water from the LFS into my tank. Maybe i should do an 80% water change. Btw when i changed the water, is it advisory to add anti-chlorine and salt? Because all my fishes are fresh water fishes, don't know they will adapt to salt water environment.

 

[angelstiger]

Personally I don't use salt in my FW. Although lots of people do. Be patient let the Medicine do it's job. Don't do a large water change. That would just take the medicine out of the water. I have never heard of "General Cure". Maybe some one else has. Does it turn your water blue/green? Does it contain a chemical called Malichite Green or Methylene Blue? Have you raised your water temperature to 80-82 degrees? This is a fairly good article about the life cycle of Ich, although it is a little technical. http://article.dphnet.com/cat-02/ich.shtml

 

[mansiz]

Yes, it turns my water green, it did'nt show what chemical it contains on the bottles, so i don't know whether it contain Malichite Green or Methylene Blue. I did'nt place a heater in this tank, so the water temp is about 25 degree C. The website you introduced was very good, it describe ich prevention and many things reguarding ich in details.

Btw i isolated one of my mollies in a small tank, i used an "anti-ich" solution, it contain Methylene blue. The ich are starting to drop of from its body. The bottles indicated that this solution can cure ich within 24 Hours.

 

[angelstiger]

The bottle is wrong. There is "no" medication that can kill ich when it is imbedded or encapsulated. It can only be killed while it is free swimming. At normal aquarium temperatures, that is about 2 days out of its 10 -14 day life cycle. The reason for raising the temperature is, the microorganism is very temperature sensitive. At lower temperatures, lower than 75F its life cycle can be as long as a month. The warmer the temperature, the faster it's life cycle. At 85F The free swimming nymphs will die without medication. "Warning" 85F is pretty warm for your fish also. The warmer water is, the less oxygen it can carry. So it is a delicate balance.