Pentazona Barbs with white spots on fins

[serbusfish]

Just noticed today my Pentazona Barbs have small white spots on their fins, I was wondering what is the best way to treat this? I have these species in the tank with them:

Neon Tetras
Golden Pencilfish
Betta fish
Amano shrimp
White Cloud Mountain Minnows

I take it I need some kind of medication, and ive also read salt can help too? Im a total n00b at this so any advise would be really appreciated. The fish arent behaving abnormally, they just have the spots atm.

[serbusfish]

Btw I found a bottle of King British WS3 white spot terminator in my parents tank cupboard, its probably quite old, would this be ok to use?

[madagascariensis]

sounds a lot like ich to me. if the spots look cottony, are tiny and similar sized, then it probably is. in that case the entire tank will have to be treated. you could raise the temperature to 28 degrees celsius and add some salt for a few days, or use medications targeting ich. if you opt for medications remove and separately quarantine your amano shrimp(and other inverts if you have any) because the medication will kill them.

[serbusfish]

sounds a lot like ich to me. if the spots look cottony, are tiny and similar sized, then it probably is. in that case the entire tank will have to be treated. you could raise the temperature to 28 degrees celsius and add some salt for a few days, or use medications targeting ich. if you opt for medications remove and separately quarantine your amano shrimp(and other inverts if you have any) because the medication will kill them.

I have no where to put the shrimp unfortunately. Ive been looking at medication and it seems Esha Exit is shrimp safe, and it has been reported people have used the King British WS3 with shrimp and havent had any die.

My concern with raising the temps is that I have White Cloud minnows in the tank which prefer the temp to be as cool as possible, will turning it up to 28 harm them?

[serbusfish]

Ok ive confirmed the King British doesnt contain copper so should be shrimp safe. The bottle I have is a few years old, will it still be safe to use? I want to get medicating asap.

[Lady Hobbs]

Not quarantining these new fish to start with is bound to cause you problems along the way. Tetra's do not do well on medications at the full dose that should be used if you want to get rid of the Ick. White clouds do not like high heat. Plants do not like some medications or the salt. I guess this is a name your poison because not everything will be happy.

When you treat with medications, you do not need to raise the temp. Ick will reproduce at 78 just as they will at 80 and 84.

The medication is most likely just fine.

[madagascariensis]

look for an expiry date. some medications have that. if not, a bottle a couple of years old likely has expired anyways. I am not saying that it has turned into some radioactive toxic poison that will give your fish 3 eyes, but it likely will not be as effective as you want and might even create immunity against other medications. white clouds really don't prefer temperatures higher than 24°C but will definitely be able to survive a few days provided you increase aeration. in medications, copper isnt the only thing to look out for. many medications for fish parasites nowadays are effective while copper free, and some fish parasites are crustaceans just like shrimp. you could risk it but I personally would remove the amanos.

EDIT: ninja'd by Lady Hobbs

[serbusfish]

Not quarantining these new fish to start with is bound to cause you problems along the way. Tetra's do not do well on medications at the full dose that should be used if you want to get rid of the Ick. White clouds do not like high heat. Plants do not like some medications or the salt. I guess this is a name your poison because not everything will be happy.

When you treat with medications, you do not need to raise the temp. Ick will reproduce at 78 just as they will at 80 and 84.

The medication is most likely just fine.

OK great, I will use some now then.

Unfortunately I simply do not have the space for a quarantine tank (which really sucks as I would prefer to quarantine new fish).

Should I half dose for the sake of the neons then? I will probably leave my tank at 24'c, or perhaps i will put it to 25'c as the bottle says it works best at 25 - 30'c.

I only have a Java Fern plant, the rest are fake.

[Lady Hobbs]

Read the directions. Medications that want you to reduce for tetra's will state that. Remove charcoal if it's in your filter and add an air stone. If you don't have an air stone, reduce water level for more oxygen.

Check directions. It probably says to redose each day after a 25% water change each day?

[Lady Hobbs]

PS.......I have a little 5 gallon tank that I slide under my bed and another 10 gallon that just sits in the corner of my bedroom when not in use. If you will be keeping fish, you really need a quarantine tank.