My betta has one white spot on the side of its head. Could it be Ich? I put mela fix because it has been stressed and its fins are ripped. What can I do to prevent ich? Should I put my betta in another tank not infect the danios?

Thanks

Dont move him, its best to treat the whole tank because white spots only spend one part of there lives on the host fish, if the danios have been nipping his fins put them in a different tank and treat both tanks separately Turn temp up higher, do a 10% water change to get rid of some of the free swimming bacteria
Treatment for white spot:
1.Try RID ICH
2. It is only the free-swimming stage of the parasite that is susceptible to treatment; neither the trophonts under the epithelium or the tomont cysts can be killed. So any treatment plan has to be carried out over a period of time in order to kill the emerging parasites. This in turn depends on temperature. At 7oC the life cycle will take six weeks, whereas at 25oC it will be complete in a week.
An alternative treatment is prolonged salt immersion at 1-2  ppt (parts per thousand), i.e. 1-2 grams per litre
Water should be monitored during the treatment course in case there is any loss of filter activity.
It is also believed that fish that survive an attack of Ich have an increased immunity against future attacks

I got most of the above from a site called fishdoc.co.uk.


P.S: If you need to heat the tank up a bit more then wrap a dry towel around the base and keep the light on. If it doesnt have a light then use a desk lamp instead.

Umm, PearlscaleFan, it is very good of you to provide the information but unfortunately, I think you have misquoted some of it. It's okay. Just file it away for future reference.

First of all, does that white spot look like a grain of salt. Not flat against the scale or skin.

It is impossible to prevent ich. However, it is most like brought in by a new fish that is already infested rather than "just happens".

The cyst drops to the gravel before releasing 100's of free swimming tomites which is the only stage that is subjectable to treatment.

You can try vacuuming the gravel to remove some cyst (remove 1 cyst is more effective than removing 100 tomites). You should change out around 30% to be effective.

Ichthyophthiriasis is a parasite and not a bacteria.

If it is treatment by salt then the tank should be kept at 0.3% concentration which is 1g/L or 1tsp/gal. Salt bath of 2-3% can be attempted if the infestion is bad. That is 4oz/gal for 3% or 30g/L. However, that is a quick salt bath as most fish will be stressed out within a minute at 3% (BTW, that is seawater concentration). It cannot be for prolonged exposure.

All treatment must be continued for 6 days after the last white spot disappeared. However, I would recommend maintaining salt for 10 days.

Only increase the temp of the tank if you have a good treatment regime happening. Because if you don't the ich will multiple like mad and then you will have a dead fish in days. There is evidence that ich will start to die off at temps above 86*F but some fish can't handle temp that high so it is a risky option.

The most important question here is, is it actually ich you are looking at? Don't jump to conclusions.

Sorry, PSfan, I'm not picking on you but it is best if we clear this up now.

Excuse me, shouldn't post so late at night. I made a typo in my last post.

0.3% salt concentration is 3g/L or 3tsp/gal. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Hi Hamsta,I just want to repeat --Make sure it really is Ick before you treat,and be careful treating betta's with salt treatment if that's what you do decide to use.Alot of people claim that salt and betta's don't always go well together. I do have to say though that I had one betta who not only had a horrible case of finrot,he also had ick ,and was showing no signs of improvement quickly enough.I thought for sure that he was going to die at any given moment. As a last ditch effort,I did salt dip him,and he made a miraculous recovery. I would only use salt in a do or die situation on a betta though--this is only with my experience with it,and my personal opinion.Other people may use salt more often on their bettas. Most things I've read tell you different. Just wanted to mention that! Good luck!

I'd also be careful with the Melafix. UNfortunately in one of my tanks it actually increased the rate of the fin rot (I'm speaking Betta tank here - I've never used it in a goldie tank & had problems with it)

Just keep your eye on the rot!

GOod Luck! Jenn

PS - I personally have had great results with Quick Cure for Ich. Remember to keep the tank in total darkness if you use a malachite green med. (If it is ich)

Hey, Jenn, how is your poor betta doing?

Yes, hamstaman, betta don't react the same way to methods of treatment that is more common to goldfish or koi. I was only covering areas the PSfan mentioned just to make sure that there is no misunderstandings. I'm not suggesting that salt is THE way to treat ich for you. And please make sure that it is ich before you try anything.

Well captk - I bought the iodine & it worked like a charm for that betta. Haven't used it yet - the threat of it in the house seems to be working (the red spots are disappearing & new growth -I'm just watching it right now)

Now the other 2 started up again (All I want for Christmas is no fin rot....no fin rot. See my healthy guys??? - (I'm channeling the Chipmunks here so bear with me- have you ever heard that song - All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth?... Anyway... )

Now they look terrible. It's a very slow rot but still... I 'm thinking of using the iodine with them but they don't have those same nice delinated areas like the other one so....

Sigh....

I'm so on the fence. I'm using tetracycline in all of the tanks right now. BUt only Pancake is responding really well so I'm thinking about going for the iodine.

Sigh.....

I'll keep you posted!

Jenn

(BTW - Shim is looking so great - that goodness somebody does!

Poor Jenn,

If it is any help I'm sucking in the helium and signing "All I want for Christmas is no fin rot....no fin rot" at the top of my squeaky voice. I hope things get better soon. Fingers X'ed.