Fish with white dots on them that ARENT natural

[Crystal Dragon]

I may not know alot about fresh water fish but i think i can tell when one is ill, at pets mart the had a tank of Iridecent Sharks with one hella lot of white dots on them. the seemed fine but the dots kept getting my attention. what causes them?

[cindywindy]

Hi, Dragon !

I am certain the fish you saw were infested with the ich parasite, one of the most common FW fish diseases. It is generally brought on after a bout of stress - either environmental or physical - in fish that are immunosuppressed, and is very contagious among tankmates. An untreated fish can endure this condition for a short period of time, but will succumb eventually if not medicated.

[fish_doc]

cindy is correct. What you saw was most likely ICK or ICH. It is commonly spelled both ways. The best way to describe this is white dots that look like grains of salt all over the fish. It is a very common disease and is treated and cured very easily if caught early enough.

[azn dreamer]

The scientific name for it is Ichthyophthirius and there are several ways to treat it.
1) Salt bath- Helps kill the parasites
2) Raise the heat- again kills parasites
3)medication in pet shops.

Also there are 3 levels of the parasite, first it floats around in the water, then in merges at the bottom of the tank then it floats around to find host ( Your Fish)

[William]

The chemical treatment works on the theory that the parasite dies before your fish.


so I wouldn't do that.


The method I've used to great sucecss is the Heat Treatment, Alli has an absolutely supurb article on how to go through with it in the articles section

[tkos]

Yeah, as William said, if you get this in your tank then if possible try the salt/heat treatment first. There are some fish that can't go through this but they are few and the use of meds often involves adding copper to your tank which can then kill off all inverts like snails and shrimp. And copper is really hard to get rid of if you ever want any inverts in your tanks.

[Thaiboxer]

I've dealt with two major bouts of ICH... the first time, I listened to my LFS and used medication. All of my fish died. The second time, I didn't use any medication at all - I turned the heat in the tank up to 84 degrees and added 1 tbsp of aquarium salt for every 5 gallons (my tank, 55 gallons = 11 tablespoons). The ICH disappeared and all the fish lived.

I now keep that tank at 80 degrees or so, and run a lower salt concentration. I haven't seen any ICH since, but will always use the heat/salt treatment going forward.

Good luck!

[Crystal Dragon]

thanks for letting me know, i now know how to treat it if it happens to my fish.