Just had a look at my fish this morning and a couple of them have tiny white spots on the fins, it looks like grains of sand. Is this the dreaded white spot????

If so, can I treat the whole tank and whats the best thing to use? I have shrimp so know not to use medication with copper in.

It does sound like whitespot,

White spot is a parasite, it can only come from water with infected fish in it. It can't survive out of water or without a fish host for more than a few days or weeks at the most. Have you added anything to the tank recently?

It is a freshwater tropical tank isn't it? In which case copper is not required, normally its best to use Protozin OR Esha Exit. Follow the instructions and complete the course, increase aeration during treatment.

Before you start, what fish are in the tank?

Thanks for the advice.

I added new tropical fish on Sunday that I hadn't quarantined, I know i know, I'm naughty for not doin it but I didn't have a tank big enough and i've never had problems in the past.

I've learnt my lesson!!

Sent mr catflish out to buy some stuff as I have been in work until now and I was worried that the fish would die! He bought Interpret Anti White Spot. Hopefully this should do the trick. How long does it take for the white spot to go and do you think I have caught it early enough for there to be no fatalities?

Got up this morning and had a good look in the tank, all of the fish are still alive. I really hope that they get better.

I'm not a fan on interpet, but lets keep our fingers crossed. What do the instructions say?

Whitespot has a lifecycle of about 7-10 days in a tropical tank so medication must be in the water for at least that long.

It says to put the first dose in then in four days put the second dose in. Hopefully it'll work. They all seem to be swimming around fine. Any idea when I will notice the spots disappear?
Another question sorry, I am due to do a water change tomorrow and am not sure if it is safe to do so? Will this remove the majority of medication causing it not to work?

Do the water change but dose the fresh water with the appropriate amount of medication for that quantity of water (to replace the medication you will have removed)
You should see the spots disappear after the second dose - you can put some carbon in the filter on day 10 (assuming its all clear) to get rid of the left over medication.

I hadn't thought of just dosing the amount of water that I put back in, thanks for that!!

I have done the second dose. Some of the fish seem to be gettin better, the glowlights but the bleeding hearts spots have got bigger!! A couple of them are swimming funny too, they have lost their balance. I have read his on other posts about balance.

I hope that they get better.

Just an update!

The white spot seems to have gone, two of my bleedin hearts have got a white blob each on the'r tales though. I'm presuming that this is fin rot?