An often-heard complaint in aquarium social media is “My fish have white blotches on their skin”. This can be a lot of things. There is the obvious well-known “white spots” caused by ich. Then there are a host of diseases often confused with one another. These include the following:
Identifying which “white blotch” disease is the problem is important as they all require different treatments. This is easier said than done. It is often best to pick the most likely two candidates and treat for both. All fish medications can be used side by side with no interactions. Note that it is also common to have two or more causes existing side by side in fish.
Startpage Aquariumscience
Source: Aquariumscience.org – David Bogert
The author, David Bogert, is a certified chemist, something that is only useful in the sections on chemicals such as conditioners and fertilizers. He has about 43 patents, mostly in the medical device field, which only helps with some DIY designs. But he also spent much of his life as a scientific researcher working on literature research, data analysis, statistics, and a little-understood field called “experimental design.” This experience is very applicable to ALL fishkeeping science. The author has been keeping all kinds of aquariums and all kinds of fish for over 54 years. He currently has ten large and many small aquariums. But note that he is not an “expert” in all aspects of aquarium keeping. The ecology of an aquarium is far too complex for anyone to be a true “expert” in all the different aspects. One can only search the journals and books for relevant research in each individual subject.
