White spot, and some gill trouble?

[vyberman]

I noticed last week a few white spots on my discus. Unfortunatly i havent got a hospital tank and dont have the space for one, so im gonna have to treat it in the tank. IM going for daily treatments of protozin as the only other white spot treatment i can find is nasty for staining (but mainly because i had a bottle of protozin handy)

Other than that i have upped the temp to 30 degress. PH is 6.5, amonia and nitrite are no existant. and nitrate is next to nothing due to weekly 40% water changes using RO water with minerals and buffers.

So first up, if anyone can suggest a better treatment then i would be eager to hear from you.

Secondly.
I have now noticed one of the fishes gills is protruding. Its kinda strange, looks a little bit like a sickle, roughly the shape of the gill cover itself.
It appears to be anchored at the bottom and pokes out more at the top, ending just below his fin.

The bit at the top also seemed to have a small white growth on it, but looking at it now it doesnt appear to be a growth.

Any idea what it is? And indeed what should i do about it?

If i can get a decent shot of it then i will post a picture, but i dont hold too much hope of getting a shot as it is really hard to look at it, let alone focus a camera at it.

Cheers
Vyberman

[ILLUSN]

finish the protozin treatment (i thinks its days 1,2,3 and 6) if your doing 40% changes then you'll have to increase your dose by 50% every day or 2 as this treatment is designed to build up upon itself each day.

not to sure what the gill problem is, with the protozin in the water and the elvated temp it may clear itself up

[vyberman]

I noticed it about halfway between my usual water changes. So i did another one to start with a clean sheet. So the next one would normally be due on day seven in relation to the six day treatment.
I am going to be doing small changes to thin out cysts in the gravel. But i figured if i treated the water i use to replace it with the appropriate dose of protozin then this would keep the levels in the tank up.

The only thing is that I figured i would have to keep the protozin treatment up for 14 days to cover the entire lifecycle of the parastie. So how long after the dose on day 6 should I leave it for before a water change? Should i stick to protizin for the second week, or should i try another treatment?

I'm still a touch baffeld as to how it has managed to affect my discus tank. I keep it at 28 degrees normally and it has a uv sterilizer in it. I was under the impression it wouldn't be able to survive these conditions :(
(the uv sterilizer is turned off for the duration of the treatment by the way)

I am still very worried about the gills though. White spot, although scary, isnt so much of a worry as i know what it is. But seeing something that looks so wrong and not knowing what it is isnt nice :(

[ILLUSN]

white spots arnt always "white spot".

my fish used to get them when the filter got too dirty and the ph dropped suddenly (ph crash).

I've also seen them when theres been ammonia in the water and when fish are acclimitising after transport.

[vyberman]

Thats encouraging. I have to admit that its never a problem I've had to deal with. So my experience of white spot is based purely on what i read and what i've seen in other tanks.