F....itchy

[yellowtang]

Fish itchy with white spots. Can cleaner wrasse get rid of the parasites ?

cheers

[lcf425]

no bro cleaner wrasse does not get rid of itch =(

[yellowtang]

no bro cleaner wrasse does not get rid of itch =(

thank you for yr prompt answer.

cheers

[xaine]

doubt it helps, but it does spread though

for a natural treating method, try to move it to a quarantine tank with lower salinity (freshwater bath helps, but there would be stress for the fish)

else, utilise those copper based ich treatment.

[yellowtang]

doubt it helps, but it does spread though

for a natural treating method, try to move it to a quarantine tank with lower salinity (freshwater bath helps, but there would be stress for the fish)

else, utilise those copper based ich treatment.

Thanks, Xiane. Its not easy to catch the fish in my setup. Hope the cleaner shrimp will brush these white spots away.

cheers

[yikai]

cleaner shrimps, neon gobies and cleaner wrasses unfortunately do not eat white spots.

white spots are microscopic organisms that bury into the fish skin. so it's impossible for the wrasses and shrimps to eat it.

the "white spot" you see on the fish is not the actual parasite, but a reaction of the fish's skin. much like the red bump on your skin when a mosquito bites you.

[yellowtang]

cleaner shrimps, neon gobies and cleaner wrasses unfortunately do not eat white spots.

white spots are microscopic organisms that bury into the fish skin. so it's impossible for the wrasses and shrimps to eat it.

the "white spot" you see on the fish is not the actual parasite, but a reaction of the fish's skin. much like the red bump on your skin when a mosquito bites you.

As usual, a very clear answer from bro Lemon. But it was not long ago, maybe 40 years ago, that i used a brush to sweep these white spot off my fighting fish. They really came off ! Caught you. How you gonna explain it.

Cheers,

mike

[yikai]

As usual, a very clear answer from bro Lemon. But it was not long ago, maybe 40 years ago, that i used a brush to sweep these white spot off my fighting fish. They really came off ! Caught you. How you gonna explain it.

Cheers,

mike

the parasites cause the fish's slime coat and skin to swell and produce these white spots. i have no idea what it is, but it can be removed if you scrape it out.

it can also be removed if you catch the fish out of water and place it in a freshwater bath.

the white spots go away but the parasites still remain embedded in the skin.

what exactly the "white spot" is, i dunno. but it could be a layer of lose slime or skin that turns white in response to a parasite at that particular location, and it can be scraped off. hmm, maybe much like a scab on your skin, in lay man term.

sorry i cannot tell you the real answer because i don't know, but above is my "intelligent guess" on why you are able to remove the spots. but not the parasites. remember, they are under the skin.

[yellowtang]

the parasites cause the fish's slime coat and skin to swell and produce these white spots. i have no idea what it is, but it can be removed if you scrape it out.

it can also be removed if you catch the fish out of water and place it in a freshwater bath.

the white spots go away but the parasites still remain embedded in the skin.

what exactly the "white spot" is, i dunno. but it could be a layer of lose slime or skin that turns white in response to a parasite at that particular location, and it can be scraped off. hmm, maybe much like a scab on your skin, in lay man term.

sorry i cannot tell you the real answer because i don't know, but above is my "intelligent guess" on why you are able to remove the spots. but not the parasites. remember, they are under the skin.

Thank you Lemon. After 40 years, i finally got the truth, and from a young reefer. You youngsters are so power knowleged.

Much appreciated.

mike

[mopiko]

After these few years of reefing. As with a few other reefers, we came to the conclusion "white spots" will always be in the system. As long fishes are feeding well and water conditions alright, just leave them alone

[yikai]

actually bro mopiko,

a system free of white spots is possible.

if you quarantine everything, there will be no white spots in your tank. all fishes before entering the display tank, if quarantined for 1-2 months, will be parasite free. quarantine means held in a separate tank and medicated, treated before entering display tank. putting fish in betta box or sump tank for observation is not called quarantine.

if there's no parasites on the fish, then there's no parasites in the tank.

if you quarantine everything, then there will be no white spots in the system. of course some people take to the extreme to quarantine even their corals, but that is not necessary.

the above practice is standard is places like the U.S and japan. so there's hardly any problem with white spots.

in southeast asia like singapore and thailand, people don't practice quarantine and do what we call the "dump and hope" approach. by putting fish in without quarantine and hope that no outbreak occurs by feeding well and keeping water quality up.

different people have different approach to fish keeping. quarantine is not always good because if not done properly, can kill the fish faster than the disease itself. but if done properly, quarantine is the best way to go in disease prevention!

[xaine]

In our space-constrained part of the world, what most people called quarantine are actually floating isolation boxes which does not help in containing bacteria or infection from happening with the newly introduced stock. It is always good practice to have a separate quarantine tank for this purpose, but how many actually wants to see it right away in your main tank

Bacterial infection is always prevalent, it's the fish's immunity and its antibodies that fight against the outbreak.

[yellowtang]

I second morpiko ( actually this is my fav mosquito bite cream ) thesis. Germs and bad bacs are everywhere, in the water,in the air and inthe fish inside and outside. If the fishes are healthy, they will not be infected . Once they are weakened, for example due to bad water quality,all the bad virus will stake their claims.

I am also against fish mediciation. You probably kill the fish faster.

To each its own, no right or wrong.

cheers

[yellowtang]

In our space-constrained part of the world, what most people called quarantine are actually floating isolation boxes which does not help in containing bacteria or infection from happening with the newly introduced stock. It is always good practice to have a separate quarantine tank for this purpose, but how many actually wants to see it right away in your main tank

Bacterial infection is always prevalent, it's the fish's immunity and its antibodies that fight against the outbreak.

yes. you also quarantine a new fish to prevent a potential new virus from introducing to the existing pond which the old fishes might not have immunity. Also to prevent the new fish from additional stress ( water temp, water chemistry and bullies ) that will lowered its immune system.

cheers

[yikai]

but for white spots, if you quarantine all your fish, then there will not be any white spots in your tank. so no matter how stressed your fish is, they will not get white spots. because there simply isn't any in the tank to begin with. whitespots are not like bacteria where they are found everywhere. they come in through infected fish. so if your tank is white-spotless, then there will be no whitespots regardless of stress factor and water quality.

take this analogy for example.

if a person with a virus is given proper health care and good living conditions, chances of not getting overtaken by the virus is very high.

but if a person infected with the virus is put through stress like over working, over exertion etc, then the virus will take over and eventually make the person sick.

this theory is to support the "dump and hope approach" where living with white spots is possible with good water quality.

now take this other scenario.

if a person without being infected with the virus is put through stress like over working, etc, he will never ever fall sick. why? because he doesn't have the virus in the first place. sure he could suffer from other ailments but he will never suffer from that particular virus infection. why? because the virus does not simply appear out of nowhere.

this is the quarantine theory.

if you quarantine all your fishes for white spots, then they will never ever get white spots because the tank has no white spots. and no matter how stress the fish is, they will never get it because white spots does not appear out of no where.

[xaine]

Right, that's why I still prefer freshwater bath to start with at least it will get rid of that from the beginning.

[dnsfpl]

i hate white spot but my AT just "love" them

and once awhile they will infect my clown and wrasse

i will QT all the fish in my current tank before moving them to my next tank

[yikai]

yah AT and other tangs are very prone to whitespots.

because they have no scales. tangs are scaleless fishes and have lesser protection against these parasites. thus very easily get white spots.

[dnsfpl]

wonder if this is a good plan

setup a new tank, after cycling, move all corals/inverts over

start dosing copper in old tank to treat fish

move the fish over after treatment

concurrently, the new tank will be fishless

will this eliminate all possible ich parasite?

the problem with this arrangement is all the rocks from the old tank will contaminated with copper

btw can ich parasite survive on rocks or water?

if so we must QT corals too

then its really tough to setup an ich free environment

[mopiko]

Its true that prevention is better than cure but everyone have their own remedies and "cure" for white spots. For my case, i just ignore the white spots and ensure that the water quality and conditions are in prime condition.

There is this medicine called "triple sulfur tablet". tried a long time back seems to work very well for white spots. anyone with experience with this medicine?

[yikai]

ich can host on rocks and corals but very low chances of happening.

they usually settle at the bottom of the tank or on sand bed.

bro mopiko, triple sulphur tablet? i've not heard of it. do you know the active ingredient in it?

[yellowtang]

I increased my 03, ozone to eliminate the ichy parasites. Mighjt set up my UV light too. wonder applying morpiko on the affected fish helps?

cheers

[xaine]

Is this the one ? Triple Sulfa

Seemed to be an all in one medication with anti-fungal, anti-bacterial with sulfathiazole with the other 2.

NAME CAS RN %

sodium chloride 7647-14-5 >60

sulfathiazole, sodium salt 144-74-1 10-30

sulfamethazine 57-68-1 1-10

sulfacetamide sodium 127-56-0 1-10

silica amorphous, fumed, crystalline free 112945-52-5 1-5

[xaine]

I increased my 03, ozone to eliminate the ichy parasites. Mighjt set up my UV light too. wonder applying morpiko on the affected fish helps?

cheers

ozone has always been used as a general disinfectant, maybe that would help, good to try.

[stmomo]

Right, that's why I still prefer freshwater bath to start with at least it will get rid of that from the beginning.

Hi Bro, u mean everytime u bought new fishes, u put them into freshwater bath before transfer it into yr main tank?

how long do u need to do the freashwater bath? pure fresh treated tap water right?