LYNDYLOO Posted March 22, 2009 Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 I have just finished a Water Change on my Discus Tank, and I have discovered they have dreaded White Spot :evil: :evil: I have no idea whats caused them to get it, I thought with the Temp at 30, White Spot wouldn't have had a chance in the Tank, but obviously I'm wrong Whats the best thing to treat my Discus with, are they sensitive to Meds?? I do 30-40% Water Changes on a Wednesday and a Sunday, the water that is put back into the tank is at a similar temp to whats in the tank, all parameters are fine, PH 6.6 Ammonia 0 Nitirite 0 Nitrates 10 As a matter of interest, I'm looking at getting a External Filter with an inbuilt UV light, will this help prevent White Spot? Any help would be very much appreciated Lynda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted March 22, 2009 Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 are you 100% sure its whitespot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted March 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 Yes phoenix I am 100% sure it is White Spot My Neons have it too :evil: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted March 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 Yes phoenix I am 100% sure it is White Spot My Neons have it too :evil: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted March 22, 2009 Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 I thought that raising the temp just sped up the life cycle of the white spot, because you can only treat it in the water increasing the temp means the spores get into the water faster/more often so you can treat it.. I am pretty sure you can still treat discus with whitespot cure or salt, it is the scaleless fish that are more sensitive to meds. A UV light will kill any free swimming spores in your water as they go past it. I don't know if UV is 100% effective at exposing all of the water to enough UV to wipe it out completely I guess that would depend on its design etc.. I don't think running a UV 100% of the time to prevent white spot is a very good idea it wouldn't be very cost effective (bulbs only have a effective life) maybe running it one day a week or when needed. Only real way to prevent white spot is to Qtine all fish/plants and avoid stress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted March 22, 2009 Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 if you said it twice it must be :lol: salt (a little) and white spot cure. keep the temp where it is at. if you come to palmy at some stage to get that angel, ill give you some other stuff too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted March 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 Thats what I dont understand, I have quarantined all of the Fish that I have introduced into this Tank, Really not sure what has caused the White Spot. They seem Stress free, water parameters are good, so I'm stumped really :-? So is it safe to medicate with Wonder Tonic or Malachite Green ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted March 22, 2009 Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 use wunder tonic only. no point using green if you dont have formaldehyde. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majik Posted March 22, 2009 Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 I think salt would be your best bet Discus are very tolerant of salt even at reasnobly high levels of salinty just up it gradually and replace any removed by water changes 1 Table spoon per 5g should eradicate it over 14 days or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted March 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 I used to have some Formaldehyde, Will have a look and see if I still have some, then use that with the Malachite Green. The stuff I have is pretty old, havent had to treat any of my fish for what seems like forever, might hold on till tomorrow and get some new stuff, will use abit of Salt for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Discusguru Posted March 22, 2009 Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 Discus can tolerate any med. Make sure other fish in the tank can tolerate the med. Wonder tonic, Blue circle white spot cure and Malform will all do the job. When treating with salt you have to watch your plants. Too high a dose will kill the plants. I've been keeping and breeding discus for 30+ years and have not have a discus with white spot. I would get rid of the neons and replace them with cardinals. Ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted March 22, 2009 Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 Formaldehyde removes oxygen from the water and with the temp at 30 already you might be to keep the oxygen levels high enough, it also becomes more toxic with acid and soft water. If it becomes a last resort then perhaps give it a go but I would try salt first. I am not sure that neons in 30 degree water will be doing them alot of good. Perhaps the neons are stressed due to high temps and started the outbreak? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted March 22, 2009 Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 Yeah was going to suggest the neons may have been the problem in the high temp.. How long did you quarantine them and what temp did you quarantine them at? Neon's are known not to cope too well with the temp, also probably coupled with the fact (reading your other post) the discus have been trying to eat them probably not too good. Maybe dropping the temp to 28 after you have got rid of the whitespot would be a compromise for neons/discus? I usually try salt first just because its easy to get, cheap, relatively natural and also doesn't kill your filter which can cause more problems for you.. Good luck I hope you get it sorted.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted March 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 Quarantined the Neons for 2 weeks at 27 degrees Then acclimatised them to 30 degrees before I put them into the Discus Tank, Chasing of the Neons by the Discus has stopped now and eveything has settled down nicely. If you guys think it might be the Neons causing the Discus stress, then I will move them into my other Tank, the only other Fish I have in there are 5 Bolivian Rams which laid eggs the other Day, I'm sort of wondering if maybe the Discus were stressed from the Bolivian Rams chasing them away from their eggs?? This has now stopped as Mum and Dad ate the eggs. Also have 2 Clown Loaches, 2 Hoplo's and some Corys. Only seems to be the Neons and Discus that have white spot so far, I would have thought the Loach would have had it if any of the fish in the tank but dont get to see him often enough to see if he has it or not. Your thoughts are very much appreciated Lynda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted March 22, 2009 Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 that shouldn't cause white spot if it did, my fish would have white spot all year round :lol: it will more than likely be the neons - they are quite prone to white spot, but you quarantined all the fish, so that is puzzling. did the rams chase the neons? cause they didnt really care with me. plenty more predators to worry about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted March 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 :lol: They chased everything they could phoenix :lol: But now theres no eggs left, everythings back to being rather peaceful again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted March 22, 2009 Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 poor stressed rams. all they want is to keep their babies safe ha ha. since you have another tank for them.. there's that problem solved. perhaps keep all the neons in 1 tank, and have cardinals / rummynoses with the discus instead of the neons. your treatment will work anyhow, so soon that problem will be solved too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted March 22, 2009 Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 Its hard to say where the problem came from but if the water is reasonably soft and acidish and 30 degree then Discus should be as happy as a pig in mud. As a guess something else has contracted it and passed it along. The supplier of your discus is well known to be one of the best and its unlikely it came from them. I dont think the neons would be causing the discus stress but perhaps the other way around? Being chased, nipped and living in water 5 degrees above recomended maximum. Either way good luck and hope it gets sorted out quick. I really hope it didnt come from... the 3 - 1 - 1 -1 fish you were keeping for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted March 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 Sounds like a plan Hmm Now how much are 40 Cardinals going to cost me :-? :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted March 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 The 3-1-1-1 Fish you are talking about Win, were in a seperate tank altogether so nothing to worry about there. Nothing else in the Discus Tank has white spot but the Discus and Neons, so I think the plan of attack is to treat them in the tank they are in now then once treatment is sucessful, move the Neons into another tank and replace them with Cardinals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted March 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 Going to flag the idea of Rummy Noses in the Discus tank, after the bad run I had with Bilbo's 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted March 23, 2009 Report Share Posted March 23, 2009 lol did all the rummies die They're usually pretty good? I don't think you quarantined for long enough and the neons were carrying it, I wouldn't back myself to examine all 40 neons without missing a tiny little white spot on one of their fins. When you increased the temp and the neons were stressed from temp/move/discus trying to eat them id say the white spot took hold. It would have to have started with the neons because if you had done something wrong to stress your fish in your tank the clowns would have been covered in it they always got it for me because I did cold water changes so I got rid of mine. End of the day your lucky its only whitespot and very easy to clear up Watch your meds with the clown loaches though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted March 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2009 Have medicated with Blue Circle White Spot Cure this morning, used just over 1/2 the doseage it says because of the Clown Loaches, Had a good look at my Clown Loach this morning, he doesnt seem to have any spots on him which I'm very suprised by, normally if any Fish is going to get White Spot it would be the Loaches, my Hoplo's are covered in Spots Rams dont seem to have any White Spot either. Hopefully I'll have it under control in a few days Lynda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted March 23, 2009 Report Share Posted March 23, 2009 I might be wrong here but isn't one of the causes of white spot stress? If so I imagine the discus chasing the neons (mine never ever have!) will have caused the neons to get white spot, which in turn, they have passed onto the discus. I would also use salt in the first instance but for safetys sake I'd remove most of my plants first as I wouldn't want them dying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave+Amy Posted March 24, 2009 Report Share Posted March 24, 2009 I don't know if it's recommended but I always did my store-bought fish in wonder tonic for 5mins (to get rid of what parasites/micros that could be hitching a ride) before they get scooped up and released into my Discus tank - I figured I can sacrifice a few little fish to too much medication if that means keeping my Discus tank disease free. So far it's looked like a charm without casualties Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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