White spot on the fin and on the eye.

[suppafreak]

Can anyone tell me what these white spots are? The left one is on the fin and the right one is on the eye. I just noticed it today. I do not believe it was there yesterday. The fish looks ok and so far fids normally. Is this serious or not. See the picture below.


Setup:
50Gal
UV light
Eheim II filter.
2 Power heads
Heater.

I change water once per week.

[suppafreak]

Another picture.

[Carol_Roberts]

Cloudy eyes and white plaques on fins are usually water quality issues. I bet you have a high bioload in the tank - do you know what your nitrAtes are?

First line of defense is always water changes, clean inside tank and rinse filter media in dechlorinated water. Vacuum your gravel thoroughly. (I bet there is lots of uneaten food and feces trapped in the gravel.) Do daily water changes of at least 25% for the next week and see if he doesn't improve.

[suppafreak]

Better picture. The nitrAtes are between 25 and 50mg/l. Also I keep the temp arround 84F. When I change the water 15gal the tempeture drops to 76F. Will this drop on the daily basis stress the fish?

[Carol_Roberts]

Yes, that big of a temperature drop will affect your discus. Why not make your change water warm by adding hot tap water to your storage barrel or a heater?

Your picture is very clear. Can you repost it as a .jpg? I would like to use it in the future to illustrate cloudy eye and bacterial plaques on the fins.

I still think high bioload - unless you've recently added new fish to the tank?

[suppafreak]

No I did not add any new fish lately, although recently one of my plecos died and I had problems with kribensises. They also died last week. Normally when I clean the tank I take out all the rocks to clean everywhere, but now I do that once a month. During the weekly changes I clean the gravel around the rocks. I will start removing the rocks every time now when cleaning the gravel.

jpg picture below

[Carol_Roberts]

Extra cleaning and water changes will help. Thanks for the picture :)

[suppafreak]

The eye cleared out a little bit, but the fin has worsend. The white spot is allover it now and it starting to rot at the top. I have shanged the 15% of water yestarday and today. Should I use medication now? What kind?

Thanks

[Carol_Roberts]

15% is not much of a water change . . . You are sure nothing is rotting in the tank?

Do you have a hospital tank? If you do then try Furan II - double dose first dose along with 1/2 cup of salt per 10 gals. Continue water changes and replace salt removed with water change. You may need to change 50% water per day to keep ammonia at zero in hospital tank. How many discus are affected - what fish are left in the tank?

[suppafreak]

I meant to say 15 gal which is 25%. I have 6 discuses. Only that one is affected. The rest are OK. Unfortunately I do not have a hospital tank. The other fish are:

2 Pearl Guramis
2 Clown Loaches
2 Conga Tetras
1 Pleco
4 Catfish

I am not sure if nothing is rotting. Some time ago (about 4 month) I bought a loach. I do not remember the name but it was the eel looking one. The loach was very small, about 2". One day it just disappeared. I could not find him. I thought he dug under the gravel. I pulled all the rocks, thoroughly vacuumed gravel several times since then and still could not find him. It is still a mystery. Like a said it has been quite some time and there were no symptoms of any kind that there is a problem.

Is there a way to apply medicine in the tank?

Before I started keep discuss, I was adding salt to the tank. Then I've read that discuss do not like salt. Is that true or I can add salt to the tank, and how much?

[suppafreak]

I also just noticed that he is not moving that fin much at all.

[Carol_Roberts]

With only one sick fish I would not treat the whole tank with furanII and maybe kill your filter. I'd either buy a 20 - 29 gallon and set it up as a hospital tank or cull the one sick fish. First I'd try daily 50% water changes with pH stable water and 1/2 cup salt per 10 gallons for a week and see if he improves.

[suppafreak]

That would be nice. But due to the space constrain and other things the hospital tank will not be possible. Any other suggestions? The only way for me to treat the fish is with the other fish. Not to go against your advice. I so appreciate all the help. But what is the worst case scenario if I that the fish in the tank with other fish? Are there any other medications, that maybe less strong, but has the same effect?

[Carol_Roberts]

Worse case scenario is you kill the bioifilter and all the fish get sick and die.

Try 50% daily water changes and 1/2 cup salt per 10 gallons.

[suppafreak]

So if my tank is 50 gal: change 25 gal and add 2 1/2 cups of aquaium salt to a tank.

Questions:
Can the fish take 2 1/2 cups of salt?
Do I add that much salt every day?
How Long do I need to continue the treatment?

Thanks.

[Carol_Roberts]

Can the fish take 2 1/2 cups of salt? Yes.
Do I add that much salt every day? No. If you remove 25 gallons of salty water you have removed 1 1/4 cups of salt - so that is how much you replace.
How Long do I need to continue the treatment? 10 days

Make sure the pH of the change water is similaiar to that in the tank.

I don't remember what other types of fish or plants you have in the tank. Salt will kill plants and plecos I think. You can try just 50% daily water changes (no salt) and clean everything really good for a few days first . . . you don't have an undergravel filter do you? If yes, that is most likely the problem.

[suppafreak]

No I do not have undergravel filter.

I do have pleco and it is expensive one. Certainly do not want to kill him. So I will start 25 gal water change every day for the next 10 days.

Do I need to vacuume gravel everyday?
Is there an easy way to ajust the pH in the new water. I will use tap and Prime to condition it.
Should I add salt anyway, not 2 1/2 cap, but at least something?

[Carol_Roberts]

You need to vacuum the gravel everyday.

Easiest way to stabilize the pH is to heat and circulate the change water in a container. Do you know what your pH is from the tap and the pH in your tank prior to a water change? If the tap is close to the tank or higher you don't have to worry about changing the pH. My tap is 6.6 and my tanks are 7.8 so a 50% water change would drop the pH down to 7.2 which will stress the discus.

Sure, you can add 1 or 2 tablespoons salt per 10 gallons.

[suppafreak]

Treatment Update

I returned 6 fish to the store. I now have 6 discusses, 2 Congo Tetras, tow synodontis cats, 2 gobies and 1 Pleco. I have been changing water 30% daily and adding salt. However, I do not see any signs of progress. I biggest fears are realizing right now. Whatever that the first discuss caught is spreading to the others. I say whatever because it is not only on the fins anymore. The white spots now appearing on the body. See the picture below. Notice the larger circle shows white spot on the top of the fin and on the body. The smaller one shows the spot on the body.

I also noticed that this specific one is breathing much faster than the other ones. Also all 6 discusses were introduced to the tank at one time. However, this specific one is being picked on by the other discusses. So now most of the time he is hiding. So far he is eating, but I am afraid that can stop at any moment.

I think it is time for medication?
What kind?

I am very concerned.

Notice the large circle show the white spot on the top of the fin and white spot little bit above the fin. The smaller circle also shows a white spot on the body.

[Carol_Roberts]

You can try furan II - double dose first dose. Continue with daily water changes of 50%. I'd think seriously of getting rid of the gravel . . .

[Tiptoptank]

This is a bad question, but what do you mean by cull?

[Carol_Roberts]

cull = kill