Hi, I have started the hobby in the past 3 months, so Im fairly new to this and this is the first time I've come across this issue. I got this oto from a lfs and it's the only one showing these signs.
I was wondering if this is ich or fungus.. and if so, what can I do?
I have snails in the tank and don't really have access to a quarantine tank.. should I set one up or can I use a bucket and grab an airstone while trying to treat the fish? Sorry for the panic, just worried about the little guy.
Posted by Fiolated
3 Comments
That seems to be ich, fungus is more fuzzy and would be larger spots. Treatment for ich in a tank with plants and snails is tough, because you can’t do salt or ich meds. You can probably try increasing the temperature above 86 F (30 C), which will kill the ich parasite, although that will take weeks and you need to ensure your species can tolerate that temperature.
I would just treat the whole tank to be safe. Looks like ich. Raise the temperature slowly to 82F or 28C. You can dose with IchX per instructions and they’re safe for snails unlike aquarium salt. It will say to dose for 3 days but I would recommend to do at least for 5 to 6 days to make sure they’re all dead and lower the temperature to normal slowly.
Do not listen to the initial commenters on temperature. Confirm whether you are looking at Ich or Epistylis first as they appear similar unless looking close. Temperature speeds up the lifecycle of Ich, which helps with treatment, but it does the same with Epistylis, which kills your fish faster.
Do your research, determine whether it’s Ich or Epistylis, then treat from there.