white dots on my platies fin

Question
QUESTION: now i was reading this site, checking for an answer that was already given
there was no dot when i went to work this morning, i know, because before i left i fed my fish
when i came home, i noticed 4 white dots on the one platies rear fin, like in a square pattern
so, assuming its ich, i removed the fish right away

the only new additions were 2 angel fish, who have no spots on them, and nothing news been intro'd to the tank for a month or 2, the temp is sitting at 82-84, i haven't done a change of water yet, but thats this weekend coming

the wierd thing was, when i removed the platy, literally as i scooped her up and transferred her, the white dots fell off into the net, and now are floating around, looking like little white cotton pieces with red inside them, and my fish is swimming like she's turning, the side the dots fell off of bent inward

could it be that she had ich and it dropped from her stress, she's also pregnant, don't know if that changes anything

either or, i'd appreciate any info possible

ANSWER: I don't think it's ich... ich looks like grains of salt on the fish, what you are describing sounds more like a possible fungus. I have never heard of anything like that just "falling" off the fish? Is there any chance you could fish out the white cottony pieces for closer examination? What concerns me the most is that the fish is swimming side ways. That is a pretty good sign of "swim bladder". Swim bladder is basically gas that can't escape. The most common cause is poor water quality. What are your levels (pH, Nitrate, Nitrate, Ammonia, etc)?
I would start with a good thorough cleaning. Change as much of the water as you can remove from the tank. Repeat this changing about 20-30% of the water every 3-4 days until no signs of swim bladder remain.
Feed a couple peas. I know... "peas???" There is evidence that thawed, frozen peas when fed to fish suffering with swim bladder encourages destruction of the impaction.
Fast the fish for 3-4 days... Don't feel bad about it, fish can go several days without food and be completely fine :)Sometimes this will break up the impaction of gases and return your fish to normal. There are two "surgical" methods as well, I have never tried either of them. One is to aspirate the swim bladder and the other is to remove part of the swim bladder. I would probably euthanize my fish before attempting either of those options. The peas and water changes have worked well for me in the past.
One way of preventing swim bladder is to pre soak any flakes or pellets you feed. This seems to help them break down better once consumed. You could also switch to gel, live or frozen foods. I am currently waiting for a friend to get back to me with his recipe for gel food. If you would like to give it a try, message me back in a few days :)
I always tell everyone, when dealing with health issues regardless what they are, keep a very close eye out for secondary infections. This is one of the times your fish are more prone :)


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: i'm doing a water change today, and i've quarantined the two fish i noticed with anything unusual on them, those dots came back on the one platy today, but the other stuff that fell off, its in the quarantine section, came out of the net i think
her side swim went away, she's back to normal already
i'll do the ph checks and all that also, but its wierd, i've never seen this before

ANSWER: What other fish are in there with the Platties and Angels? Aquarium salt could very well take care of this, but it would depend if all the fish in the tank are tolerant of it? Or better yet, is it just two platties in the hospital tank, what was the second fish? A good thorough cleaning followed by regular upkeep will work wonders. Sounds like you are doing all that you should be :)

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: we have a nice mix, 2 bala's, 7 neon 3 black tetra's, female molly, pleco, 3 sunfire platies and 3 red coral platies. i read that tetra's don't do well with salt. 2 of the dots came back, if needed i could take a picture of the fish, because i bet visual diagnosis is way easier then my attempt at explaining it

i have a feeling its a fungus, but i've never seen pictures of this before, it happened once, back when i had mollies, and they dropped like flies, those cotton things were there then too

could a different gravel be an answer, adding plants? removing my ornaments? i only have a porcelin shark, anchor and pirate ship, and had a skull but removed it as fish were swimming in and getting stuck inside, and my pleco lived in it, so it was filled with his waste

but, if you want a picture of the tank, fish, whichever, just ask and i can get that to you somehow

Answer
Feel free to put a picture up on like photo bucket or something and link to it here. I agree because of the "fuzzy" look of the spots it is most likely fungus. You're right, tetra's don't care for salt :) You can get Jungle Labs fungal cure and give it a shot. Sounds like it might be just what you need :)