What Are The White Spots On My Fish?

So what are the white spots on your fish? If you’re visiting this site, you’ve have observed, or suspect, that your fish are infected with a parasite. If you’re new to the hobby, then now is the best time to tell you that there are two types of hobbyists. Those who’ve had an outbreak, and those who are going to have one.

Why Are My Fish Infected?

From the moment fish are collected in the ocean, they begin the long journey through multiple holding facilities. Ultimately they arrive at large wholesale fish operations with a constant flow of organisms being introduced to their systems. In effect, without proper quarantining and treatment procedures being followed, that system is now a breeding ground for disease. Unfortunately, processes that safeguard fish from disease go to the wayside because they affect the bottom line.

Fish travel quickly through wholesalers’ systems to local fish stores and arrive in your tank as symptoms begin to develop. Parasites appear as white spots on fish from either Ich or Velvet disease. This website exists to help you decide how to treat your fish and prevent future occurrences.

What Happens Now?

If you see white spots on fish it is likely Ich or Marine Velvet, so act quickly to diagnose and treat them. By the time you notice white spots on your fish, the parasite is already in its final feeding stage. After that, they release from the fish, encyst, and replicate themselves before bursting out to attack again. The good news is that during the next stage (theront) is the best time to kill these parasites. They are most vulnerable when they swim through the water column searching for a host.

Marine Velvet and Ich share similar symptoms, although Marine Velvet has a higher mortality rate. A disease enters your tank by introducing newly infected fish. First, read the Diseases section carefully to identify the parasite that infects your fish. In addition, ask your local fish store, or other hobbyists, before diagnosing the disease. Then begin reviewing the treatments available in the Treatment section.

What Treatment Method Should I Choose?

The information you need to make the best decision based on your budget, time, and available space is all here. WSOF recommends that in order to remove Ich or Velvet from your system, you need to use the quarantine method with Chelated Copper. By quarantining your new additions prior to adding them to your main system, you can ensure that the disease(s) remains contained until treated. So if you want to set up a quarantine of your own, visit the Quarantine Setup section of the site, which explains everything you’ll need to set one up in detail. In addition, we’ll cover inexpensive products that get you up and running in no time (saving you precious time, money, and ultimately lost fish).

In conclusion, the internet is overloaded with information on the subject that you’ll need to sift through and confirm your findings. When it happened to our reef, it overwhelmed us as we tried to sort through all the videos, forum posts, products the internet had to offer. We lost 90% of our stock while trying to be a marine biologist, a researcher, and a chemist all in one. As a result, we decided to quarantine any new additions from now on. The ordeal took almost 3 months for us to bounce back after quarantining and an 8-week fallow period. However, all the heartache we went through inspired us to create this site to help other hobbyists make the best decision during a stressful time since every minute counts.

Feel free to contact us at info@whitespotsonfish.com with any questions or success stories. Good luck!