Fry with white spots on betta

[flumon]

First time feeding betta fry bbs, its been tough. Daphnia and moina are hard to find here. My fry are 3.5 weeks old, and surprisingly many survived this time. But yesterday morning, I found some dead ones. Upon closer inspection, I noticed white spots on them. It was a bit tricky to spot since they're little pinkish white. I had been adding indkento4 almond extract to the tank, but still, they got infected. Temperature variation might be the culprit - I don't have a heater, and the temperature here fluctuates between 23-28 degrees.

I've done a big water change and added methylene blue. Should I also add salt to the tank?

[coltin]

Can you post a pic of the fish? I'd love to see what's going on.

Whitespot doesn't just magically appear - it's gotta be introduced into the tank somehow.

I'm not sure about the methylene blue treatment - isn't that more for bacterial and fungal infections? I've read it's not effective against protozoan infections like whitespot.

If it is indeed whitespot, I've heard raising the temp to 30C for 2 weeks can help, then bringing it back down to 26-28C. 28C seems to be the sweet spot for raising tropical fish fry.

Those little guys hate temp fluctuations, so a heater would be a good investment to keep things stable. And don't forget to increase aeration and surface turbulence when you raise the temp - warmer water holds less oxygen, and the babies won't have a fully developed labyrinth organ yet.

[flumon]

Can you post a pic of the fish? I'd love to see what's going on.

Whitespot doesn't just magically appear - it's gotta be introduced into the tank somehow.

I'm not sure about the methylene blue treatment - isn't that more for bacterial and fungal infections? I've read it's not effective against protozoan infections like whitespot.

If it is indeed whitespot, I've heard raising the temp to 30C for 2 weeks can help, then bringing it back down to 26-28C. 28C seems to be the sweet spot for raising tropical fish fry.

Those little guys hate temp fluctuations, so a heater would be a good investment to keep things stable. And don't forget to increase aeration and surface turbulence when you raise the temp - warmer water holds less oxygen, and the babies won't have a fully developed labyrinth organ yet.

ok ill post pic. i think temperature variation is the cause. i'll try to maintain stable temperature. i'll also increase aeration. what about the salt? do i need to add it?

[flumon]

Can you post a pic of the fish? I'd love to see what's going on.

Whitespot doesn't just magically appear - it's gotta be introduced into the tank somehow.

I'm not sure about the methylene blue treatment - isn't that more for bacterial and fungal infections? I've read it's not effective against protozoan infections like whitespot.

If it is indeed whitespot, I've heard raising the temp to 30C for 2 weeks can help, then bringing it back down to 26-28C. 28C seems to be the sweet spot for raising tropical fish fry.

Those little guys hate temp fluctuations, so a heater would be a good investment to keep things stable. And don't forget to increase aeration and surface turbulence when you raise the temp - warmer water holds less oxygen, and the babies won't have a fully developed labyrinth organ yet.

coltin said:

Can you post a pic of the fish? Whitespot doesn't just magically appear, it has to be introduced into the aquarium.

I'm pretty sure Methylene Blue isn't the right treatment for protozoan infections like whitespot - it's more for bacteria and fungus.

If they do have whitespot, try raising the water temp to 30C for 2 weeks, then bring it back down to 26-28C. 28C is perfect for tropical fish fry.

Baby fish hate temp fluctuations, so get a heater and keep the temp stable. When you raise the temp, make sure to increase aeration and surface turbulence - warmer water holds less oxygen and the baby fish don't have a functional labyrinth organ yet.

[coltin]

I'm still not entirely convinced it's whitespot, it looks more like excess mucous to me. Do you have any other fish showing similar symptoms? Have you introduced any new fish recently, within the last 2 weeks? Are they exhibiting any unusual behavior, such as rubbing against objects in the tank?

Also, what are your current water parameters - ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH levels?

Raise the temperature to 30C and see how it goes, if it's indeed whitespot, the heat should help. If there's no change in a few days, then it might be something else.

[infold]

Can you post a pic of the fish? I'd love to see what's going on.

Whitespot doesn't just magically appear - it's gotta be introduced into the tank somehow.

I'm not sure about the methylene blue treatment - isn't that more for bacterial and fungal infections? I've read it's not effective against protozoan infections like whitespot.

If it is indeed whitespot, I've heard raising the temp to 30C for 2 weeks can help, then bringing it back down to 26-28C. 28C seems to be the sweet spot for raising tropical fish fry.

Those little guys hate temp fluctuations, so a heater would be a good investment to keep things stable. And don't forget to increase aeration and surface turbulence when you raise the temp - warmer water holds less oxygen, and the babies won't have a fully developed labyrinth organ yet.

Colin, you mentioned excess mucous, that's a new concept for me. Wouldn't white spot, if it's indeed Ichthyophthirius, be pretty devastating for the fry, killing them off quickly?

[coltin]

When I say whitespot, I indeed mean Ichthyophthirius - it's a killer for any fish, regardless of age. Every fish has a thin mucous layer, which is essentially a protective barrier against disease and helps with movement through the water. You can actually feel this slime when handling a fish.

If a fish gets stressed due to poor water quality, chemicals, wrong temperature, or external parasites, it can produce more mucous. This excess mucous can appear as a white or creamy film over the body, sometimes forming bumpy lumps on the body or fins.

If your water quality is good, it's possible that it's whitespot. However, if none of your other fish have whitespot and you haven't introduced any new fish in the last two weeks, it's unlikely. Whitespot needs to be introduced into an aquarium from an external source like contaminated water, ornaments, or plants, or a diseased fish. If nothing new has been brought in and none of your other fish have whitespot, it's hard to see where this would come from.

I also asked if any of the baby fish were rubbing on objects in the tank. External protozoan infections like whitespot and velvet can irritate the fish, causing them to rub on objects to dislodge the parasites. If none of the baby fish are rubbing or flashing on objects, it's more likely to be mucous.

[infold]

I've always known about the mucous layer on fish, but I wasn't aware it could change like that in response to stress. It makes sense though. As for Ich, I figured it would be especially deadly for fry, given how virulent it is. I thought it would kill them much faster than adult fish. Thanks for clarifying that and for sharing all that useful info - it's really helpful.

[flumon]

Can you post a pic of the fish? I'd love to see what's going on.

Whitespot doesn't just magically appear - it's gotta be introduced into the tank somehow.

I'm not sure about the methylene blue treatment - isn't that more for bacterial and fungal infections? I've read it's not effective against protozoan infections like whitespot.

If it is indeed whitespot, I've heard raising the temp to 30C for 2 weeks can help, then bringing it back down to 26-28C. 28C seems to be the sweet spot for raising tropical fish fry.

Those little guys hate temp fluctuations, so a heater would be a good investment to keep things stable. And don't forget to increase aeration and surface turbulence when you raise the temp - warmer water holds less oxygen, and the babies won't have a fully developed labyrinth organ yet.

They were indeed acting irritated, moving in jerky motions, quite unlike their usual behavior.