Background: I have two young Oscars, 1 clown loach, 1 lone silver dollar and one baby Severum in a 55 US gallon tank. As a side note, the tank is being upgraded by New Year's to a larger tank. I have been cycling a Eheim Pro 3 canister filter (in preparation for the bigger tank) since Nov 2. In light of this (and the fact I'm likely overstocked), I keep a keen watch on water chemistry and conduct water changes accordingly. Even if the readings are fine, I change 20-30% water weekly regardless - more often if the readings aren't perfect. I use Prime as a water conditioner and have been using Stress Zyme as directed on the bottle to help cycle. I haven't touched the filter media since setup.

Problem:
One of the O's has some small white spots on one of his fins. They are smaller than sand - more like fine sugar.
There are no other signs of white spots anywhere else on the fish.
The Oscar is happy, wiggly, eating, acting normal - no signs of distress, sulking, etc.
My Clown Loach (which has high risk to ick) is healthy, happy and no signs of spots/ick.
Readings (from an API liquid test) are: Ammonia 0; Nitrate between 0-5 (rounding up - the colors are hard for me to decipher); Nitrite between 0.0 - 0.5; PH 6.5; temp 70. Those are the only tests I have.

I read the string on 'gas bubbles' - what are those?


What do you think these spots are? Should I take any action or worry? wait and see? or are these normal?






let me know if more photos would be helpful

thanks as always

Hiya.
Excellent info, this must be white spot.
We got this other thread running at the time, and it speaks of looks like grains of salt.
www.oscarfishlover.com/oscar-fish-advice...white-spot-vs-scales
and i forgot to read if it mentions a treatment but I know the disease section pionts you to the right meds, next to good water conditions and a healthy diet.
The gas bubbles I have on the fins of my fish are a slight fungal infection by my nitrates being to high lately.
Keep up wc to get those nitrites out of the water, the reading should be 0 if your filters are working correctly.

Is very difficult to tell, there is a possibility that it could be the very start of ick but to be quite honest, I'm really not sure, just keep an eye on the fish and see if any small white spots start appearing anywhere else on the body, if they do, then you know it definitely is. . I have seen this myself, fish often developed little white nodules on their fins and they quite often just disappear as quickly as they arrived. Keep an eye on them and just make sure that they don't start spreading, or increasing intensity on the fins themselves.

don't worry, your fish has not got gas bubble disease, I can't see any signs of that.

temp 70.
Isn't that a bit low?

yes, your temperature is a little bit too low, especially considering you've got other fish that probably require slightly warmer water. Personally, I wouldn't be their ticket drop much lower than 25°C in your situation. I forgot to say that if your fish has got ick, I would be very surprised if the clown Loach did not pick it up, they are very susceptible to disease/parasite. Can I also add that these Loach are very sociable and prefer to be in groups, if you do upgrade to a much larger tank, you may want to consider getting a couple more.

thanks for the reassurance; and always the help. I'll keep an eye on it and take notes - see if it goes away/reappears. The clown loach has no signs whatsoever; and in the past when I've battled ick, he was the first to get attacked. I suppose more frequent water changes wouldn't hurt?

glad the photos worked - it was the first time I tried that! the instructions on the "photo" category were super easy to follow

I had two Clowns - they were the best of buddies - sadly his mate died a few months ago. I'm on the lookout for some larger clowns but don't want to get them until the new tank is setup - it's hard to find them bigger than babies. I have to admit, they are my favorite (besides O's of course). The good news is, the remaining Clown is as happy, silly, and busy as ever, clicking away at meal time. What's crazy is we got him in 1998 and he really isn't that big; hopefully he'll grow when he gets into his new home.

i could not add anymore but this link will be useful as guide
www.oscarfishlover.com/treating-white-spot