Strange white spot on the fin of a Black Fin Tetra

[William]

Hello all,


I maintain a 10gal tank [ maintain as in the water changes, medicating, ect ect, she feeds them ] for my mom, and I noticed the other day that one of her Black Fin Tetra's have a strange white spot on its pectoral fin.


I was thinking it was ick, because it was in a tank with a Fancy Male Molly that died of Ick, but I was hesitant to administer the Ick Cure that I have because the fish were just put back into this tank after a scrubbing, reshuffling and a 100% water change.


Well, Its on its pectoral fin, and the ich I've seen have all been on the body... so I don't know what to do.


Any help? I really don't want to see any more fish die to Ich..

The molly was my favourite..

[Allivymar]

Ooo bummer William; sorry bout the Molly

I will just about guarantee your Tetra has ich. It was in a tank which was infested, and ich may not always be visible (for example, it will infest the gills and kill the fish, and you may never know what killed the fish unless you autopsy it). One spot is really enough to diagnose in this case. If the Molly was in that tank, the entire tank and the fish need to be treated. Just because you cleaned the tank it doesn't mean you managed to rid the tank of the ich parasites; as I mentioned, they could infest areas of the fish you don't see.

I strongly recommend you peruse this site: http://www.caloriesperhour.com/fish/notes_ich.html ; it will explain more clearly why I'm sure its ich and the different things one needs to do to treat it (as well as explaining the ich life cycle).

[William]

Well, its only one white spot on its pectoral fin, way down on it far from its body.

and it looks very healthy, its been about two days with it and its still acting fine.

and to be honest, the spot has.. to my knowledge, disappeared from the Black Fin Tetra's fin.

[Allivymar]

Keep your fingers crossed no more appear and that ich has gone!

Ich spots are not very picky as to where they show up; body, fins, gills. I would keep a VERY close eye on the fish; if anyone seems to have breathing probs theres a good chance the ich is in the gills and not obviously visible.

[William]

Okay..

*crosses fingers*

[William]

It seems like the afflicted Tetra has healed up nicely.

I don't think it was ich since it wasn't like ich I've seen previously, However whatever it was is gone now.

I monitored it closely, and didn't apply any medication so he was able to fight off whatever it was on his own.

And he did not seem stressed, or weakend from it. and he is he is as...energetic as ever, Nearly jumping out of the water for his food as he always has!

[Allivymar]

Yay!

Keep a really close eye on the lil bugger; don't forget sometimes ich will infest the gills and not be visible. As long as you don't see him breathing heavily tho, I think you (and he!) are in the clear

[William]

I know, I've been watching very closely.

He is not showing any signs of distress, strain, breathing heavily, nothing.

I've been checking up on it non-stop, To.

and on a note, because I know its coming

His tank mates are just as good as he is.


All of them, at one point or another, HAVE literally jumped out of the water for their food. I swear, These Black Fin Tetra's hit their food harder than a great white!