Clown Knife with whitespot

[Tsarmina]

ok, HELP!!!

i've had him for a a couple of weeks now and noticed today that he is covered.

he is in a 4ft tank with 1 pleco , 1 black ghost knife, 3 BN's and 10 cories.

as soon as i get my 3ft fixed, the cories will be moved and he will be moved in to a tank of his own (not the 3ft)

at the moment i don't have a spare tank to quarantine him in as they're all being used for betta fry.

how do i go about treating this tank?

[markoshark]

if a fish has whitespot, do NOT BOTHER putting it in a QT tank, because the spores that cause the whitespot will still be in the main tank.

Bump the temp up to 28 degrees.

Because both of you knives are scaleless, you will need to use a whitespot cure that is safe for scaleless fishes - I think that the "Blue Circle" stuff is OK with them.

But, don't use melafix etc, as this will kill them

[Tsarmina]

thanks Mark.

does anyone in the local area know where i can get the stuff mark has mentioned??

[herefishiefishie]

Malachite green can be harmful to scaleless fish, oh & humans. That is in most white spot remedies.

See what your lfs has. They should give you something suitable, it is a very common fish disease.

If they don't tell you, :roll: treat at 1/2 dose. {because of scaleless fish}

I always do 2-3 gravel vacs a week during treatment. Just before re treatment. Removes the cysts.

If you have increased the temp, make sure there is plenty of surface agitation. Oxygen levels deplete in higher temps.

As said above, no point removing fish to quarantine, all fish in the tank will be carriers now. The parasite is easily transfered to other tanks, via nets & buckets too.

Good luck, you should be right.

Frenchy

[Alan]

I was told that increasing the temp to 30oC will actually kill the parastes.

I wouldn't vouch for it, but it was from a reasonably good source.

[herefishiefishie]

Yep thats right Alan,

Water temperature can be gradually raised to 90°F, maintained there for 24 hours, and then gradually dropped to 70°F for 48 hours. The infective juveniles (tomites) will be killed while the water temperature is at 90°. When the temperature is dropped the adult organisms will fall off the fish and begin to reproduce. As the young begin to emerge 48 hours later, the temperature is again raised to 90°F, causing them to die. Repeating this process continuously (24 hours at 90° F followed by 48 hours at 70° F) for two weeks should control the disease. Cleaning the tank every second day will help remove cysts before they rupture and therefore help to prevent completion of the life cycle. If you decide to use temperature to control "Ich" in your home aquarium be sure that the type of fish in your tank can tolerate the temperature extremes involved.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/BODY_FA006

Just have to make sure your fish can handle high temps & don't forget to make sure the airation in the tank is at saturation levels.

Frenchy

[herefishiefishie]

Yep thats right Alan,

Water temperature can be gradually raised to 90°F, maintained there for 24 hours, and then gradually dropped to 70°F for 48 hours. The infective juveniles (tomites) will be killed while the water temperature is at 90°. When the temperature is dropped the adult organisms will fall off the fish and begin to reproduce. As the young begin to emerge 48 hours later, the temperature is again raised to 90°F, causing them to die. Repeating this process continuously (24 hours at 90° F followed by 48 hours at 70° F) for two weeks should control the disease. Cleaning the tank every second day will help remove cysts before they rupture and therefore help to prevent completion of the life cycle. If you decide to use temperature to control "Ich" in your home aquarium be sure that the type of fish in your tank can tolerate the temperature extremes involved.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/BODY_FA006

Just have to make sure your fish can handle high temps & don't forget to make sure the airation in the tank is at saturation levels.

Frenchy