white spots of fish

Question
QUESTION: Hello, and before i start thank you for just being there for someone in as much stress as her fish!! Ok, I have a 20 gallon with 2 bala's, one about 6-7 inches and the other about 4-5 inches, 2 gourami's, one spotted and one golden both about 4-5 inches, and a gold loach who is about 7-8 inches. The tank has been setup for over a year now,never having any problems, with the same fish except the loach who was introduced roughly a month ago. Within the last 2 weeks the pH on the tank dropped so you could barely get a reading, so taking the advice of another hobbyist, I added some shells to the tank and added some Ph increaser.the temperature of the tank stays right around 80 degrees all the time. Now the pH is very slowly working its way up but now the water is cloudy and my sharks are swimming crazily around the tank, the largest of the twos eyes are and have been pitch black and it looks as though there are little white spots on the both of their tails, fins, and head. Also, the gourami's are swimming at the top of the tank and staying there. Is there something I have done wrong or am I missing something? Please help,,,my fish are beautiful and so relaxing to watch,, I don't want to lose them now.
ANSWER: Hi Kitten,
Sorry to hear you are having fish problems. I know how upsetting that can be.

Problems with pH are always difficult to control for most people. One thing that I wanted to ask was how often you do partial water changes? If you don't do them often enough the pH will drop  extremely low  and then whenever you do a water change it will go up and cause problems for fish. To maintain a more stable pH it is necesssary to do regular and frequent partial water changes at least once a week or more depending on the amount of fish in a tank, the type and also how much they are fed. Most of the people that have pH problems can correct them by doing more regular and frequent water changes. They never seem to have much success with any chemicals to try to regulate the pH. If you do try to get your pH to a more normal level by doing water changes be sure to do it slowly especially if it has been a while since you have done a water change. Only remove 1/4 of the water every couple of days until the pH starts to rise slightly. After  you get the ph up then establish a regular weekly water change of at least 1/3 of the water being removed. Be sure to dechlorinate and make sure the replacement water is the same temperature as the tank water.

You really shouldn't need any help from the shells or any pH increaser if you try the water changes. Keeping the pH stable through water changes usually works and the fish will adjust to the pH better than using the pH increasers since they cause an up and down effect which is really hard on fish.

The other problem with the fish having what appears to be spots could possibly be ich. It is hard to be sure but I am going to try to send you a website with pictures of ich and see if you think that is what it is.
http://www.aqualandpetsplus.com/Misc%20What%20is%20Ich.htm
These pictures might help you to be sure just what is on you fishes fins. It also suggest medications to treat ich. You do want to be very careful with any scaleless fish and your loach since some medications are very dangerous to them. Be sure to read each medication and make sure that it is safe to use on all fish. Some medications are not all safe for certain fish or have to be used at half strength. Just be careful.

You might also want to get a water test kit just to see if ammonia, nitrites or nitrates are high. Any of these can cause more stress for fish and stress will cause them to  get diseases more easily.

Try to do the gradual water changes and test for the things I mentioned above. Your pH should improve. I hope the website that I sent you will work so you can see if it appears to be ich on their fins. Be careful about the medications you use since they are really strong. If it is ich and it is treated they should get better. Sometimes they will get a secondary infection. Just observe them carefully. I have had this happen before several years ago. It can be treated but it does take some time for them to recover. Mine was caused by a defective heater and I had several large fish get very sick.

Hang in there and if you have any other questions I will try my best to help.

Hope this has helped,
Karen


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

QUESTION: thank you so much for the site. it is definitely ich. i went to the store to find a treatment but couldn't find one for scaleless fish. you mentioned how the med.'s could hurt my loach...so my husband put him in my 10 gallon with a serverum, another loach, a pleco, and a black ghost knife. My question is could the loach that was in the tank with the ich carry it to the 10 gallon? I told my husband not to put him in the other tank and of course he didn't listen and now this morning I checked the tanks and it looks as though my severum now has it on his tail. Can I use the Malachite Green treatment on the loaches, the pleco and the knife,,1/2 strength? I really don't want to burn or hurt them. I also bought a vacuum yesterday and the test kits you suggested. These are what I got...Nitrate 160, nitrite .5,hardness 75-150, alkalinity 120-180, and the pH is between the 6.2 and 6.8. Somehow I lost the ammonia kit but i am sure it is messed up to. my poor fish are living in a ticking time bomb.will the water change help get everything balanced again or is there more for me to do. I am setting up to do a water change but i am not sure how to use the vacuum. I have a feeling I have a rough road ahead but am willing to do whatever is needed to save my poor guys. I went out of town for a few and now am paying for the neglect my neighbor gave the fish while i was gone.

P.S. just found out my neighbor tried to feed my sharks little minnow looking fish while they were supposed to be watching the tanks. Could this be the source of my problems?

Answer
Hi Kitten,
You could possibly be right about the little minnows causing the ich problem. You can't be totally sure they are the ones that caused it but they could very easily be the cause.

I found an ich medication that I thought you might want to try that is supposed to be safe to use on most fish. It is called "Ich Attack" You can read about it and see what you think-http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/add_info.cfm?pCatId=12100

The Malchite green is a little risky with some of your fish. It says that you can use half the amount but it also warns that if the fish act stressed or have unusual behavior to immediately stop use and do a large 50% water change and use carbon to try to remove the medication. It might be all right to use but it is risky. You will have to determine if you really want to take the chance. I also have read that Maracide contains another form of malachite green that is easier on scaleless fish but you still need to be careful.

Your Nitrate readings are very high. You need to really do several water changes to get your water safer and less stressful for your fish. You need to also establish a weekly gravel cleaning using your new siphon. When you siphon your gravel just push the siphon into the gravel and it should siphon out any fish waste or decaying food out of the gravel and the gravel will just drop back out of the siphon into the water. You will really be surprised just how dirty gravel can get in a short time. I would clean the gravel each time that you do a partial water change. Also, check your filter at least once a week just to be sure it isn't clogged or very dirty. If the filter media appears to be dirty you can rinse it in some of the aquarium water that you have removed during the partial water change. Don't rinse the filter in just tap water since tap water contains chlorine and that will kill any beneficial bacteria that has established in your filter media.

Water changes will cure all water quality problems and are very important when you are treating sick fish. Not only does the partial water changes and gravel vacuumings remove excess ich parasites free-swimming in the water, but water changes also aleviate fish stress by removing excess ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. There is nothing better you can do for your fish right now than 30-50% water changes. Also it's very important to do a thoroughly gravel vacuum and water change -before- starting medication. Even though the label says not to change the water it's a real fact that medications are less-effective when there are an excess of organics and waste in the water and gravel . ((Note: if your 10 gal hasn't been changed in a while, as dangerously high nitrate levels indicate, start with small 20% water changes daily to avoid a pH shock. When water isn't changed for a long time in the aquarium, the pH naturally begins to drop and can be much much lower than your tap water. So you don't want to do a big water change and cause a big shock to your fish. Just do 20% water changes daily and be sure to thoroughly gravel vacuum--also be careful with not overfeeding!))

Your poor severum, loach, pleco and Black ghost knife are already in too small of a tank, and with astonishingly high nitrate levels and an ich infestation, they will be going through a rough time. All you can do is try your best. As much as I'd like, I cannot guarantee that your fish will make it through. Ich is the easiest disease to treat if caught early, and I really hope all your fish make it through. What I'd start is-
* Daily water changes (20% or more if possible)
* Start a treatment for ich. I'd look for ICH ATTACK which I've seen before at petsmart. This is a very safe medication.
* Raise the temperature gradually to about 82F-- Ich's lifecycle is shortened by warmer temperatures and makes treatment easier. Also increase your aeration.

I hope this helps!
Karen~