help! Little white spots all over :(

[Bethydan]

I brought home a bad ich case from work the other week. I made sure to have the heater going, added aquarium salt (around 1 teaspoon for each gallon), and a Jungle ich medication that I had success with in the past (Ick Clear?). Took three or four days for the parasites to disappear and he had them all over when I first got him. It just takes patience and care. Barely a week later he's a total pain-in-the-butt. In a good way.

[Atena]

Should I use the medication with the salt or just stick to the salt for now?

[Bethydan]

I used both. If the medication box says not to use it with salt, then just the salt should eventually clear it up. But I used both. I know that Jungle's ich medication can be used with salt.

[Atena]

It only says it will turn blue when used with salt and that this is normal. It does say to take the carbon filter out so I will do that.

I have the heater in there and the temperature is going up slowly. I have it set at 84.

My aquarium salt says half a teaspoon per gallon so I added one and a quarter teaspoon. it's a 2.5 Gallon tank. Should I increase the dosage?

The medication I got is AP Quick Cure, active ingredients are formalin and malachite green.

What exactly is the complete treatment procedure?

Should I be changing the water in the morning and doing it again and if so should I change all of it or just part?

You guys have been very helpful, thank you so much. Any info is very much appreciated by me and Guppy both.

Hugs,

Atena :)

[Bethydan]

My AQ box says 1/2 teaspoonful for every gallon as well. But I used a teaspoon for every gallon. I'd add another teaspoon. The exact procedure just depends on the medication's directions. When you do water changes, just be sure to treat the replacement water with more salt. My medication says to do a 25% water change daily and add a new dose with every water change. I did this until the spots disappeared. I add another dose along with a water change a week after they disappear just to make sure that everything has been destroyed. I've never had a recurrence of ich by following the package directions and making sure the water is warm, salty, and clean during treatment. I only had the last case because he came to my house with it.

[Atena]

Also, how do I disinfect my scooper and other tools that I use in the tank to make sure I don't re-infect?

[Sena Hansler]

I use hot water. Some use hot water and vinegar or bleach - and since I am allergic to bleach I use half vinegar and half hot water :)

[Atena]

Thanks, that sounds easy enough. I can do that. Just ordinary white vinegar?

I read up that it thrives in bad water, today is the first time I saw my water monitor out of the yellow "safe" indicator and I immediately changed 90% of the water.

I have added hawthorn plants a few days ago, and as much as Guppy likes them, i think this is how the parasite got in. Should I take the plants out? They are not doing well which is why I thought the water quality went down, I took lots of dead leafs off this morning before going to work.

After the water change I noticed a few white spots on his head. By the time I got back from the fish store with the medicine the white spots were all over his little body. I had no idea they go so fast.

Should I take the plants out?

IN the future I will quarantine plants for a couple weeks first with the medication and salt just in case.

This is the water monitor:

When I got home from work I saw it was in the green "alert" color. Will I need to get a new water monitor after the treatment or is the blue not going to effect the color?

[Sena Hansler]

Ich can be in a healthy aquarium, and unhealthy aquarium. If the fish is healthy, there is less of a chance of ich getting them.... A sick, stressed, or immune-compromised betta is more likely to get ich - all plants should be quarantined, and since you are using salt I recommend removing live plants for their own salt-free quarantine as some plants do not take to salt very well and will die

[ANHEL123]

The proper way to treat ich is a couple ways-

Conservatively you will want to raise temperature to 85 F and add 1 tsp per gal of Aquarium Salt 3 times, 12 hours apart so that you end up with 3 times the normal concentration. Perform daily 100% water changes to remove fallen parasites before they can reproduce. Replace the water with the right amount of salt. Do not continue this treatment for more than 14 days.
The temp is important to help speed up the process.

If you want to go the medication route- which is a gamble on whether or not it works, then Jungle’s Parasite Clear, API Super Ick Cure, or Kordon Rid Ich Plus are what is commonly recommended.


Raising the temp up to 86*will speed the life cycle of the Ich and it will help make the Ich fall off the fish faster so you can manually remove the Ich from the tank.

By air drying the net and container between uses will kill any Ich that may be on it.

temp over 86 and the ich is said to stop reproducing and some even say it will kill the Ich

You want to treat for at least 3 days past the last day you could see the ich on the fish to make sure you got the ones that may be hiding in the gill area.

Don't look on the box instruction they are just preventative not for the treatment.

Like Sena wrote quarantine the plants. Ich will die on plants and everything else after you disinfect it. It will die without host.

Now i don't know what kind of gravel do you have. If it with ridges and holes i would not disinfect it . I will start with new gravel when you are sure he is not sick any more. I would not disinfect anything that has holes and ridges.

Tank you can disinfect like Sena wrote. I did it with 10% bleach before. No matter how you will do it let it stay minimum of 10 min. Wash it very well, wipe it, wash it with hot,warm,cold water. Let it sit in sunlight for a few days to neutralize the bleach. Not sure if you have to do after vinegar but i would. Rinse it again.