white "lint" on my tetra

[donnaR]

I noticed today that my smallest black phantom tetra seemed to have a little piece of what looks like white lint on the side of his body. When I look at him from his tail I can see this small particle sticking off the side of him. The other side of him seems to have a couple of small, pinprick sized white dots as well. I'm not sure if he is sick or what. Any ideas? What should I do?

 

[QTOFFER]

It might be ich, a very common parasitic disease. If it looks like tiny grains of salt, it's ich. I've successfully battled ich several times simply by turning up the heat to 88oF and leaving it there for three weeks. The elevated temp doesn't harm the fish in any way, but some live plants may suffer. Once you treat ich, it's gone forever - unless you re-introduce it with a new fish - but that's why it's a good idea to quarrantine.

If it looks more cottony, then it could be a bacterial infection called columnaris. To treat this, you DO NOT want elevated temp. Instead, the sick fish should be separated from the healthy and treated with a medication like maricyn or Jungle Fungus Clear.

 

[donnaR]

Thanks Qtoffer, I'll do the temperature thing, since it really looks much more like grains of salt.

How does one fish in my tank get this and not the others? The newest fish were purchased last Sunday, could it be one of them who brought it in? And why wouldn't it have the spots too? OH also, if left untreated, is ich fatal?

Tx again!

 

[krap101]

i think ich is fatal. most diseases are if left untreated. parasites can take awhile to show up. but eventually after ich finishes its last stage everything in your tank should have it.

since you dont have anything scaleless you can put some salt in. im not sure how much though.

the temperature speeds up the life span and the salt kills them through "osmosis"

and a pic would help.

 

[QTOFFER]

The ich probably came in on the new fish - it's probably in the gills, where you can't see it.
Ich can be fatal if left untreated. Each one of those tiny white spots will fall off, leaving behind a tiny hole in the fish' skin. The breach short-circuits the fish' osmo-regulatory system and provides a point of entry for bacteria. It's like death by a thousand cuts. I hate ich - fortunately it's so easy to kill.

Just a heads up about the heat treatment... The higher temp speeds up the parasite's life cycle, so your fish may appear to be getting worse for a few days as all the white spots mature at once. Keep the temp elevated at 88oF, and the next generation of parasites will be killed by the heat. Aquarium salt can be added to speed up the killing, but I've had equally good success with heat alone.

 

[donnaR]

thanks guys, got my heat turned up and added some aquarium salt. I just did a pwc on Thursday and added salt then, so I just added 1/4 of the required amount today. WOuld that be a good amount?

I tried taking some pics, but the white spots are so small they aren't showing up. I'm still experimenting with my photos so I can get some decent shots to upload but I'm not getting very good pictures. Hopefully within a few days I won't have any "ichy" pictures to show you....... :?

 

[donnaR]

Thanks again for the tips on the ich situation. I think it is on its way to being solved since the white spots on my small tetra are gone. Temp in tank is still up to kill remaining ich (2 more wks). We went away for 5 days (used my new automatic feeder this time, instead of the plaster of paris block I used last time! It worked great!), and on our return yesterday I noticed that my biggest tetra's tail fin is all broken up, kind of shredded. I'll attach a pic.... its not a great shot, but shows the tail destruction. It is kind of red, sore & raw looking right at the base of his body where the tail starts. Could this be a result of the ich? Or something else? Will it get better? Sorry if these are dumb questions, I just have no idea..... What do you guys think?

 

[Jchillin]

donnaR, do you have a photo editing program to brighten the pic? It's a little tough to see the detail in this pic.

If you don't, you can PM me and I'll see if I can.

 

[donnaR]

how's this? i lightened it but still the real detail right at the start of his tail isn't coming through. i'll try taking another pic.

just got back from petcetera, i talked with the employee there about it and she suggested that tetras tend to chase each other and bite at each others tails so it is probably just that. she assured me his tail would grow back. any thoughts on that? strangely, he's the largest of the 3!! can you imagine? he's currently hiding out in the plants. don't blame him if that's the case.

by the way jchillin, how do you get such nice photos of your fish? i just went through your albums, very nice btw!

 

[Jchillin]

That's excellent donnaR...I can see the missing portion good enough. Yeah, it looks like they've been nipped. Yeah, they do grow back over time. Now you have to find out which one of the phantoms are doing the nipping.

Thanks for the kind words regarding my pics. I have a lot to learn still but...if it's tips you want:

For Tank shots I turn off all the lights in the house, close the blinds, no flash. Using the largest setting and keeping the camera steady (a tripod is regularily suggested...I don't happen to have one...LOL)

For the fish or plants - If at night, the same routine with turning off all the lights. I will use the flash (slows down your subject...fish are fast) although many folks hate doing that due to reflection of the flash washing out the background. I found a way around that...I angle the flash away from the glass so there is no washout. It's worked pretty well so far. Use auto and macro settings.

I still need to master enhancing features with photo editing (brightness, enlargements, reductions...without losing pixel quality.

The albums contents are just a small amount of the actual pictures that I've taken. Literally hundreds have hit the editing room floor (or in this case, the delete button).

 

[donnaR]

what do i do with the nipping culprit once i find out who it is? <gulp>

tx for the photography tips! i'll try them to see if i get better results....

juan and carlos are especially photogenic, they sure posed nicely for your one gallery shot!

 

[krap101]

sometimes for some barbs if you add more of them it'll even out. but usually you have to replace them

 

[Jchillin]

what do i do with the nipping culprit once i find out who it is? <gulp>

Problem is...with the tank size you have...you really can't add more fish (to balance out the number of black phantoms).

Unless you see some real aggressive behavior, I would leave them alone until the treatment is over and make your decision then (ie: donate to another aquarist...take phantoms back to lfs...etc.).

 

[donnaR]

thanks jchillin & krap101, i really appreciate your input on this. i'll let you know what transpires after my ich treatment is through.

btw krap, just looked at your gallery pics too, gee, everyone around here takes such great pics! cute puppy & rabbit!

 

[donnaR]

Well, I have bad news. My tetra didn't make it. Actually, both the original tetra with the ich spots, and the larger tetra that got his tail fin picked on. They both passed on today. I think it was the female black phantom that was doing the tail fin nipping. And i just don't know what happened to my little guy with ich. The spots went away so I thought it was smooth sailing. Wonder what could have happened? The high temperature wouldn't have anything to do with it would it?

This might be tmi, but when I took the larger one out of the tank, what was left of his tail pretty much disintegrated. wth? HE had also been hyperventilating for a couple of days, and not eating. I'm wondering also if this big buy was old and reached the end of his life span? He was quite large compared to the others. I don't know. I'm just new at this, and hoping I get the hang of it so this doesn't happen again soon......... nor all that often.

 

[Jchillin]

Sorry to hear about your losses donnaR. From what you described, it sounds like the tetra may have had finrot as well. In regard to the ich...don't take it so hard. It's the most frequent plague of FW and nearly everyone has had to do battle with it.

The biggest problem with ich is it's already done damage to your fish before you even notice it. By the time the cysts are formed and visible, your fish are already severly weakened. This may have been one of the reasons for the fin nipping. A weak fish will more than likely be preyed upon by other fish...further weakening the fish to the point of no return.

There are several ways to deter ich infestations in the future:

1. Never buy fish from LFS that have just arrived. There is a greater chance of dormant or live ich being present at this stage. This is the source of almost all ich infestations. Sometimes this is not an option (distance to LFS...availability of fish, etc.

2. QT - This is suggested in lieu of or in concert with the above. Sometimes this is not a viable option. Keeping new fish in QT for a few weeks will allow you to watch for any signs prior to adding to your tank. In retrospect, you will be doing the job of the LFS in your home.

3. Tank temp - Keeping tank temp at 80 - 82d consistently (if your fish can tolerate it) Most fish can. Ich cannot strive in higher temps.

A number of fish are known to be ich carriers for some unknown reason. Clown loaches and bala sharks are two that come to mind immediately. Do some research and beware of LFS tanks that have these in combination with other fish.

 

[QTOFFER]

I echo Jchillin's advice, and have this to add.

I HATE ICH!!

It rarely kills fish by itself, unless the gills are badly infested - but the open wounds it leaves behind weakens the fish' immune system and provides a point of entry for bacteria and fungi. Heat is the best way to kill ich, but most bacteria and fungi are in heaven at elevated temps.

If your fish is battling both ich and finrot or columnaris simultaneously, then you are left with a cruel decision:
1) Lower the heat and medicate to treat the bacterial/fungal infection. Of course, this will allow the ich attacks to continue, and medicating fish in an already weakened state can stress them further.
2) Continue the heat treatment to kill ich while medicating for the infections. The bacteria/fungi will flourish at the higher temp, and may take longer to control with meds. Also, the fish may be further stressed by the meds.

I've faced this dilemma once in my show tank, and lost alot of fish as a result. It was the one experience that made me set up a quarrantine tank. I would rather contain an ich outbreak to a small population of newly purchased fish in my QT, than risk facing that horrible dilemma again in my show tank, with a large population of fish that I have had for months. Gosh, I hate ich!

 

[donnaR]

Thanks jchillin & qtoffer, I really appreciate your replies.

I think (and I say that with some hesitation) that things are under control now.... I don't know what I"ve done wrong, but since my last post, I lost 2 more fish. My remaining (female) black phantom, and one of my mickey mouse platy's. They both started swimming kinda diagonal, and tilting to one side, and they were just floating about by my filter barely alive when I removed them. Everyone who is left (one mickey mouse, one sunburst, and 3 neon tetras) seems to be healthy and happy, having loads of fun racing around & being active, pooping (that's always a sign of good health), etc. I'm going to leave well enough alone and not add anymore for quite a while.

I'm just so confused how all this happened. I've been working really hard on this aquarium. Its hard to have fish dying.

 

[Jchillin]

I know exactly how you feel donnaR...ich is a very tough thing for anyone to go through.

If you have time, take a look at this thread:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?p=275150&highlight=#275150

This was me a few months ago.

 

[donnaR]

Thanks jchillin, wow, that's some story......... i don't feel quite so alone or incompetent now. i'll be hanging in there that's for sure. my remaing 5 look good, have energy and are all eating & playing. keeping my fingers crossed. thanks again for all your help & support. this STINKS!