# White dots



## tahbi (Apr 5, 2010)

Hello,

I noticed about yesterday or the day before yesterday that my betta has tiny white dots on his body, near his head. And also on his tail is where there's a lot more. They're really tiny, but large enough for the human eye to see. Yesterday I thought they were just bubbles that stuck to him because I was doing a water change and he was curious and getting close to the pitchers that I was taking the water out with. So I just thought it was really small bubbles on him, but now I'm getting worried.  Does he possibly have a disease? I'll try to get pictures.


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## tahbi (Apr 5, 2010)

I noticed most, if not all, of my 6 neons have some dots too. Not as many as my betta though.


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## tahbi (Apr 5, 2010)

Here's a picture. Circled the dots in yellow. http://i39.tinypic.com/jz8z60.jpg


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## tahbi (Apr 5, 2010)

After reading some threads here and researching on the net, I think he has Ich/Ick. :[ Poor guy is swimming around erratically and trying to itch his tail on the live plant I have in the tank, and is sticking mainly to the sides of the tank. Looks like he's trying to itch himself.

Can anyone help me with treating him and his tank buddies? He's in a 10 gallon tank with 6 neon tetras (who all have the white dots on them too, not as many as Orphan though), and a Chinese Algae Eater. I changed 25% of the water Friday. Water temperature is usually anywhere from 75 to 83 degrees, but mainly sticks to 78 or 82 degrees. I don't really have any way to adjust the heat. I have a heater but it's automatic. I don't have any medication for the fish but I'm going wednesday to get more live plants and another betta, so I can pick up some aquarium salts and whatever else he needs then. Hope that helps. Can anyone help?


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## tahbi (Apr 5, 2010)

Anyone?  I noticed a lot of the dots are going away. The neons don't have any on them anymore.


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## CodeRed (Jun 11, 2009)

Is it a cycled tank?
I think I've heard that when the ich goes away, they're dropping off to reproduce. Right now, salt baths, warm water, and maybe a bit of medication would help. I'm not sure what to do with the neons, but I believe right now is the time when you have to clean out the tank well to kill off the ich. That might be hard to do if it's a cycled tank, though. I'm sorry I can't be more help. All of my tanks are uncycled.


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## TigerLily (Sep 17, 2009)

I've had to treat ich in one of my tanks before too, and after looking it up online there seemed to be two easy things to do to help get rid of it.

-Add some salt to the water. Ich has a hard time surviving with salt in the environment. Second, turn up the temperature a few degrees. A couple of sites pointed out that Ich does not do well in warmer water, and I can't say for certain how true these facts may be...but, I do know that doing both of these things cleared up the problem right away without having to resort to chemical medication.


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## tahbi (Apr 5, 2010)

Alright, thanks guys.  

My tank is uncycled. I plan on getting the water at least tested soon though. Hopefully I'll remember wednesday to bring in a water sample. And ouch, I hope they're not reproducing. But I have two more days and then I can get the salt! 

I can't adjust my heaters unfortunately.  But I'll try to keep my room warmer (if it gets any warmer though I might have a heatstroke haha). But thanks! I'll be sure to do some salt baths until I see it's gone. Do you add salt everyday?


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## zoragen (Sep 25, 2009)

I'm fighting a bad case right now. I tried Jungle Ick Clear for 2 weeks & just switched to API Super Ick Cure.

I've raised the temp to 83 & I've been changing 25% of the water before each dose. 

I use 1/2 teaspoon of aquarium salt per gallon which is the "medicinal" dose.

It's a cycled tank w/ plants.

I've had Sir Fins for 6 months - he's been great - all water parameters stable & I do water changes every week.

So I don't know what I did wrong!! There have been no additions for almost 3 months (last time I added plants).

He's in a 6 gal eclipse - no other tank mates.

He's active & eating well. Just has spots that look like salt - that clear from one place & appear somewhere else.

So now I'm soaking his food in garlic - which he seems to like & hoping for the best.

Most of the posts I've read on ICH it seems to clear up pretty easily.

This just won't go away!!


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## tahbi (Apr 5, 2010)

Hope your betta is cured soon, zoragen! 

The pet store didn't have any salt.  They only had this "Betta Revive" stuff that I don't even know how to use! It says 1 drop per 16 flo. oz. of water. My tank is a 10g. So how many drops? I wasn't very good at this stuff.


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## FuulieQ (Jan 10, 2010)

It does look like ick.  

I can't believe they don't have aquarium salt!! Are you sure you looked in the right places? That's a really basic thing to have!!


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## tahbi (Apr 5, 2010)

I'm pretty sure I looked.  I looked at the aquarium section, the betta section, and then I found another medicine section but there was nothing. If my gramma goes to walmart I'll get her to take me there and see if they have it.


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## zoragen (Sep 25, 2009)

I'd get the salt.

My guy was looking bad last night & this morning - but did get him to eat. 

I put the filter back in to clear the med & will do a 50% WC tonight & up the salt.

I've now read that about 2 teaspoons per gal is good & I've been using 1/2 teaspoon per gal.

While the tank is a 6 gal eclipse - it has about 4 gal of water (substrate, plants & decorations take up 2 gal) & when dosing anything you should be pretty sure of the real amount of water.

Good luck!

Fingers cross they both make it!


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## bloo97 (Mar 6, 2010)

Fingers Crossed! Hope they Get Better Both of you!
Y'all (God, I've got to stop that! The South/East isnt good to me. Ugh...) are doing good as far as I can hear. 

_Y'all? Ugh..._


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## zoragen (Sep 25, 2009)

I did a 50% WC tonight - upped the salt to 1 teaspoon & added a little black water extract.

He's swimming better & slightly more active but still lot's of spots.

I also switched to Prime for my water treatment.

I'm going to add more salt tomorrow & then all I can do is wait.


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## tahbi (Apr 5, 2010)

I did some math, not sure if it's right though.

On Wikianswers someone said 128 ounces are in a gallon. so i multiplied 128 by 10 (gallons) and got some big number that i divided by 16 (16 fl. oz. per drop of medication) and that came to 80 drops for 10 gallons. I definitely don't have enough medicine, if I did the math right, so I'm gonna have to wait until my gramma goes to walmart to see if they have the salt. If not, I'm out of luck.  I added 10 drops of the Betta Revive anyway in hopes that it might work. I've also discovered that's what makes the water look blue in their little cups at the pet stores. 

But my betta and the other fish are doing fine except for the CAE. Orphan still has white dots on him but not many, and they disappear and reappear on other places on him everyday, but always in small amounts. The CAE has been swimming around really weirdly lately. I'm probably going to do a water change tomorrow or saturday (just need water). Does anyone know if kentwood spring water that comes in the giant blue-clearish jugs is okay to use? 

Off topic: I bought a new betta! I'll post pics of him soon. Right now he's shy.


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## zoragen (Sep 25, 2009)

I know some people use spring water in their tanks. It just expensive. It's much cheaper to use something like Prime (it gets ammonia out also) or another water treatment. I've also used Aquasafe.

Fins is hanging in there - but still very sick.


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## tahbi (Apr 5, 2010)

Good luck with Fins, zoragen!

And thanks.  I'll probably start using some tap water (I'll let it sit out for 24 hours and also treat it) because it's free, basically.  

My fish are doing pretty good. They're all active, I don't see any white specks on them again. Added another 10 drops of that medication I bought. Hopefully this stuff will go away.


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## tahbi (Apr 5, 2010)

I got the salt! I added two tablespoons today as the directions said. 

Before I added it, I also changed 50% of the water. I used my new gravel cleaner hose. It's so unbelievably amazing how dirty a fish tank can get. I didn't notice until the hose stirred everything up. Wow. Of course I couldn't clean it all up, so there's still a lot of waste in the tank. 

My fish don't seem to be at all stressed with the change.  I had to move all 8 to separate containers. Neon tetras were put in less than a 1/2 gallon betta carrier. I put my betta in the jar from the pet store, and the CAE in a different pet store jar. They hated to be caught, but now they're moving around without a care in the world. Happy fish. 

They're also healing up very well! I think they healed by themselves mostly, somehow.


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