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Viewed: 650 -- Replies: 10 | ||||||||
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| Posted | pics of whitespot |
| 11-09-2006 21:43 by daves |
can anyone post some pics of whitespot so i know what it looks like,my parrotfish have started appearing with some white fluffy skin bits on them,i have no idea what they are? |
| 11-09-2006 21:47 by paul stevens |
White spot trophonts seen in at low power wet mount of a skin scrape. Note the light horseshoe shaped nucleus and the variation in size
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| 11-09-2006 21:48 by paul stevens |
Histological preparation of gill tissue with embedded trophonts. Note the distortion to the gill tissue and severe hyperplasia
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| 11-09-2006 21:48 by paul stevens |
swar the pice around i got them the wrong way round.. |
| 11-09-2006 21:49 by daves |
hi Paul,what does it look like on the fish as you can see them? |
| 11-09-2006 21:50 by daves |
also are there any general behaviour symtoms to look out for if it's whitespot? |
| 11-09-2006 21:53 by paul stevens |
Causes
The disease is caused by a protozoan parasite, Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, and is very contagious. The parasites spend a portion of their life cycle embedded beneath the skin of the fish, where they feed from the body tissue. The white cyst in which they are enclosed gives the characteristic white spots. Adults emerge from these cysts and fall to the floor of the aquarium, where they multiply inside a protective capsule. Some time later, the capsule bursts, releasing hundreds of free-swimming infectious parasites which attach themselves to new hosts. Whitespot is often introduced with new fish which have not been quarantined. Outbreaks of whitespot often occur after fish have been exposed to cooler than normal temperatures. Clown loaches are particularly prone to whitespot. Possible cures There are two main approaches to curing whitespot, and opinions vary on which is the more effective. There are several effective commercially available remedies, normally based on malachite green and formalin. Note that malachite green is hard on scaleless fish like catfish and loaches, and also other fish such as tetras. Some alternative medications are based on copper and formalin. The other method employed is to add salt to the tank (gradually), up to a level of 6-8 tsp per gallon. Note that fish vary in their tolerance of salt, and for more sensitive soft-water species, it may be better to use 3-4 tsp per gallon maximum. Higher salt levels may also affect plant growth. In either case, increasing the temperature should kill the parasite off more quickly, because it will speed up the life cycle of the parasite, so that the free-swimming stage is reached as quickly as possible - this is the only stage affected by medications. However, increasing the temperature means there will be less oxygen dissolved in the water (some medications can lower it too), so ensure the tank is well aerated, and do not raise the temperature beyond around 28oC (82oF). Due to the life cycle of the parasite, the whole tank must be treated, in order to kill the parasites which are not attached to fish. Therefore it is not appropriate to treat only the affected fish in a separate isolation tank. Effective commercial remedies include Protozin by Waterlife and Maracide. I cant find a pic mate. |
| 11-09-2006 21:56 by paul stevens |
Found this one mate hope it helps.
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| 11-09-2006 22:13 by daves |
yes its helped i think it can safely eliminate the whitespot,since my fish are not displaying any of the symptons thankfully,also i have not introduced any new fish etc,but i have been a bit lax with my water changes recently due to my not being there for a week after a fall out with the missus!It's possibly some form of fungus or finrot then,so i will probably treat them for that first,thanks Paul. |
| 20-09-2006 21:40 by Redshark1 |
Thanks Paul. If this thread hasn't totally died can anyone confirm what I read?
This is that the whitespot parasite cannot remain dormant in the aquarium to cause later outbreaks (these would have to be a result of new parasites being added - say along with new fish). I find it strange that such an organism wouldn't have a dormant resting stage like a cyst or spore to tide over difficult environmental periods (in our case the medication). What do you say? |
| 20-09-2006 21:56 by rob r |
weve reintroduced fish into the tanks that had white spot after a week with no reccurence |
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