White Spot treatment and L catfish

[Mpimbwe Pete]

Have a case of white spot with some new little tetras in a planted tank that is primarily for catfish.

I KNOW in a perfect world these fish should have been quarantined but space problems preclude this.

I am concerned that the medication I may use could be a problem for some small L333 cats.

Any ideas guys ?

[YAL05T]

Returned your message mate.

[Kerrin]

Ichonex shouldn't harm your 333's, I have a 2.5cm 201 in a fry saver in a tank that I have just treated with a 3 day cycle and it has not been harmed by it

[Noddy65]

Ichonex is copper based...be careful using it if your alkalinity is low....If the total alkalinity is less than 50 ppm, copper treatments are not recommended because of the high risk of killing fish. If the total alkalinity is over 250 ppm, do not use more than 2.5 ppm of copper sulfate. You could try increasing the temp to at least 24 - 26 C ...this speeds up the life cycle....only the free swimming stages of the parasite are sensitive to treatment, spots on the fish cannot be treated. If you can increase the temp to 32 C for 24 hrs then reduce to 21C for 48 hrs, repeating this cycle for 2 weeks should get rid of the infection BUT it may cause havoc with your plants and heat sensitive fish. Salt can also be added to the tank but again this will probably cause issues with your plants and tetras can be very salt intolerant. Frequent water changes (every 48 hrs) will reduce the number free swimming parasites and may help a little with control.

[Mpimbwe Pete]

Thanx guys- didn't use any salt (for the sake of the tetras) , raised the temp and used some Wardley's Ickaway (recommended by LFS ) . The dosage was halved to cater for the tetras and cats - That aside ,really enjoying my first planted aquarium in 3 decades.

Isn't it wonderful that these days you can benefit from the experience of experienced and grizzled old veterans. Much better than 30 years ago when advice was not always correct!!!!