Ich or natural spotting?

[NCStateFisher]

Hey I recently got some silver dollars from petsmart. I started seeing some white spots on a couple of them tonight with all the lights except for the tank light out, but i've looked through a bunch of pictures and also read that sometimes SDs develop small ich looking spots naturally. I know without pictures this is a hard call to make, so I guess what I'm asking is should I go ahead and treat the tank for ich regardless? More importantly will the medication hurt healthy fish? They are with an Opaline Gourami and 2 senegal bichirs, I just want to make sure the other fish will be okay if I treat the water.

- Also the SDs are all acting normal and eating fine, no other side effects but the spots not sure if thats normal or not for ich.

Thanks

 

[pacu22]

Are the spots three dimensional or just color on the scales? Are they rubbing against the bottom/"itching". You can always just bump up the temp and add some aquarium salt. Works better than chemicals imo.

 

[Dark Jester]

Are the spots three dimensional or just color on the scales? Are they rubbing against the bottom/"itching". You can always just bump up the temp and add some aquarium salt. Works better than chemicals imo.

+1

If the spots are 'bumps' on the surface of the skin, it's ich. If the fish's sides are smooth, then it's probably just coloration of the scales. Should be able to tell by watching the way the lights reflect off their sides.

 

[NCStateFisher]

Are the spots three dimensional or just color on the scales? Are they rubbing against the bottom/"itching". You can always just bump up the temp and add some aquarium salt. Works better than chemicals imo.

looks like color on the scales though one guy does have some bubbles stuck to the side of his head (probably just from the filters though) - only fish i've seen itching at all is the gourami and he doesn't have any of the spots on him, if it's not ich will the salt and temp change hurt or stress any of the fish? im gonna try to find my girlfriend's digital camera to get some pictures on here..

 

[Dark Jester]

Gourami and SD should be fine with salt. Not sure on the senegals.. I'll have to defer to someone else on that.

 

[NCStateFisher]

well... i guess we'll find out tomorrow if it's ich or spotting based on if there's more of it or not =\ hate to go to bed unsure but its 3am and i gotta be up in 6 hours, thanks for the help guys

 

[Dark Jester]

If the fish aren't acting lethargic or anything yet they should be fine til tomorrow. If it is ich, should be able to tell better whether the bumps are raised or not. Someone will probably sound off on senegal sensitivity to salt by then too.

 

[NCStateFisher]

couldn't sleep.. yeah i hope so... i'm really not as concerned about the SDs as the gourami and my bichirs.. the gourami is the last of my trio of starting fish from my 10 gallon and i really don't want to lose him, he's incredibly active right now and showing no signs of ich, they're also still feeding which i read with ich they lose their appetites is that correct?

 

[MChorse13]

If the fish aren't acting lethargic or anything yet they should be fine til tomorrow. If it is ich, should be able to tell better whether the bumps are raised or not. Someone will probably sound off on senegal sensitivity to salt by then too.

my bro has a sen in his discus tank and he all ways puts salt in his tank he seems fine

 

[Moloch]

My pleco had ich in my 20gal before i moved the bichirs and jd. I just raised the temp to 85 and went about my business. 2 days after I noticed it I moved the bichirs and jd to the 65 and they never showed signs of it. The pleco is fine now as well. All signs went away after a few days with just the temp increase.