The Puffer Forum

I was looking over my MBU this evening and have noticed a small white spot on his side towards his tail end. It is slightly raised (almost looks like a people spot!) Could this be the start of ich? There is just the one spot and he has none of the other symptoms.

None of the catfish have anything on them.
Water Parameters are fine, ammonia 0, Nitrate 0 and Nitrates 15 (a little high as its water change day tomorrow.

Many thanks

Not sure what a "people spot" is. Does it look like a small round grain of salt? None of my fish that have had ich had any symptoms other than the visible parasite.

I guess it does look like a grain of salt.... but surely if its just the one spot it cant be ich... can it? I'm in the process of trying to take a picture.

Its a useless picture, but the best i can do for now, he's constantly on the move! I dont actually know if i've even gone the right away about posting the picture either.

But here goes, if anyone has any comments please do so!

Yes, it can. Its best to catch it as soon as possible. Ich has an invisible stage and can also reside in the gills where you can't see it, so although you only see one, there are many more in there. Slowly raise the temp to 84-86, add an airstone if there isn't one already, and add 1 tablespoon of salt for each 5 gallons of water. Do a major water change with thorough gravel vacuuming first though. Continue treatment for at least 2 weeks, even if you don't see anything on the fish.

Thanx for that, i take it by salt, you mean aquarium salt!!

Do I need to disolve it in water before i add it to the tank?
So many questions! Apologies if they are very basic but i've actually never had to deal with Ich before.

No worries about the questions. Aquarium salt will work, sure. Yes, dissolve it completely in declorinated water before adding it to the tank. Again, make sure you gravel vac really well as that's where the parasite hangs out (yup, looks like ich to me). When you top off the water, just use plain water, not salted water.

excellent thanks for that.

Plan of action is to raise temp slowly starting tonight, go get some salt tomorrow and add. 50% water change tomorrow evening (making sure i pay close attention to gravel).

Then keep doing 50% water changes every 2 days? What about adding the salt? Do i add salt to the new water i'm adding?

Obviously i wont see results straight away but what should i be looking for to see if its working (baring in mind, he's his normal happy self at the moment). Also, is there anything i should be aware of during the process. I'm guessing adding salt to the tank isnt gonna be that nice for him.

What about the other 2 catfish, will they be ok?

Cats hould be fine. Watch for heavy breathing or sighs of stress. If you don't have an airstone, might want to add one. Yes, add salt to water during changes. Ich should dissapear and not come back.

Thanx for your help. Really is much appreciated. I'll let you know how it goes.

Silly question really, but, why does adding the salt and raising the temperature work? I take it the parasite cant actually live in the conditions?

Raising the temperature speeds up the parasite's life cycle, and the salt kills it. But it is only vulnerable when its in the off-fish stage. At least that's my understanding of how/why it works. Works much better IME than any sort of medications. Chemical meds tend to cause more problems than they solve, at least with regard to ich.

Make sense. Other research tells me the same.

Another ridiculous question, mainly as you have pretty much confirmed its is ich, but what if it isnt?

I take it this isnt going to do him any major harm?

I hate this, i used to have a UV filter but recently took it off when i moved. The plan was to replace the bulb and connect the filter again. So annoyed i didnt do it sooner.

I'm just baffled as to where it came from, no new fish, no new plants. Some new slate and a new water source, thats about it!

Nope, shouldn't do any harm at all. Its not enough salt to even register on a hydrometer. Ich is ever present, from my understanding. I've read that it tends to adapt to the fish so it can survive, then waits til the fish is stressed or its immune system is lowered for some reason and then starts to multiply. Dunno for sure, RTR or one of the more knowledgeable people would probably know more.

I've also heard that it's almost always there waiting for the "perfect opportunity." It seems to make sense as well. I have had an outbreak months after adding anything new in a tank.

Woke this morning and there is still only the one spot. The cats are still clean. Does anyone know why he only has the one spot and not a patch? Is it odd?

Been out this morning, got the ingrediants. Let treatment commence!