Need help from the aquarium owning folk

[Scouse]

I've noticed one(possibly 2) of my clown loach appear to have white spot Nothing else seems affected yet thankfully.

I'm a bit worried about using stuff from the petshop to treat it as loaches apparently don't take too well to chemicals?

I have read that turning the temp up to 31 for a few days can kill it off but then how would that affect my other fish eg. guppies, rainbow shark? Would this work anyway?

Are there any other methods that can be used to get rid of it?

[wizzzard]

From what I've read turning the heat up is the only natural way to do it and the jury is still out on whether it actually works or not.

You could always quarentine them to a seperate tank for a couple of weeks at the higher temperature and in the meantime treat the tank and other fish chemicaly.
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[Scouse]

[ulster exile]

Most medications for whitespot advise half dosing where loaches are present. I'd raise the temp of the tank slowly to 30degC (which simply speeds up the lifecycle of the ich and gives the medicine a better chance to work) and medicate as directed.

[Scouse]

[ulster exile]

Keep it at that temp for the entire length of treatment, which will depend on the medication you use as you usually need to dose more than once (if I recall correctly, when I used Protozin it was a week's course of treatment). Don't change water in that time unless there's a problem with your water quality in which case do the changes but add back in the same % of treatment that you change water i.e. 50% water change means adding back in 50% of the dose which should have been in the water already.

Since you're only half dosing because of the loaches, you'll have to keep an eye on the fish in case you need to do a second batch of treatment. Good luck

[Harold_Shand]

A hammer.
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Harold_Shand's theory might be the best explanation.

[Blau Zedong]

I had about three attempts at clown loaches before any survived. They are stressy little fish and developed whitespot within 36 hours of being added. As above all you can do is raise the the temperature and use a treatment, taking into account any dilution recommendations for clowns. Pims are twats for it too.
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[Scouse]

[Clanger]

[CaNsA]

I had a major outbreak of this in my tank a year ago.

up the temp to 30-35c, dilute some aquarium salt into the tank (follow instructions) The salt will kill the parasite and will relive the stress from all the fish.

Do not quarantine anything as all the fish will have been infected by now and the whole tank needs to be treated cos the parasite is water-borne

I think the Ich (white spot) Parasite has a life cycle of 4 hours IIRC

* Raise water temperature
* Medicate for 10-14 days
* Reduce medication when treating scaleless fish
* Discontinue carbon filtration during treatment
* Perform water changes between treatments

The entire cycle takes about two weeks from start to finish. Higher temps will shorten the cycle, while low temps lengthen it. Therefore, raising the water temp shortens the time it takes for the parasite to reach the stage in which it is susceptible to medication.Treatments must be given for a long enough period to assure that all parasites are gone. Watch carefully for other infections, as secondary infections often occur where the skin has been damaged by the parasite.

Although nothing kills the parasite once it has checked into it's fish "hotel", several chemicals kill ich once it has left the fish. Malachite green, methylene blue, quinine hydrochloride, and mepracrine hydrochloride are all effective, and are available under several brand names.

Dose based on the package instructions, however cut dosages in half when treating scaleless catfish and tetras. Regardless of the medication used, treatment should be given continuously for 10-14 days to ensure all parasites are killed. Between treatments a partial water change is recommended. Keep water temperatures higher than usual to speed up the life cycle of the parasite. Discontinue carbon filtration during treatment, as it will remove the chemicals.

[dabigginger]

My missus is a tropical and freshwater fish expert. This is what she says:

Actually Cansa_temporary has it pretty spot on, his advice is very good, although though i would like to add a few extra bits of info;

a. I would personally treat the tank for at least 2 weeks+ because if you don't get rid of the parasite effectively it can regain its strength and come back and infest the fish. If you are planning on getting more fish at some point in the future don't introduce any new fish to the tank until at least 2-3 weeks after the parasite has been eradicated from the tank.

b. If you live in the UK personally i would use "Anti White Spot" by Interpet, i've used this on both catfish like corys and loaches like Clown Loaches with no problems . Personally i wouldn't use salt to treat the parasite as clown loaches have a low tolerance of it and the stress the fish experience can sometimes outweigh the pro's of using it.
Also make sure that whatever medication you use that you increase the aeration in the tank as much as you can and keep the substrate of the tank very clean.

Good luck !