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My synodontis eupterus catfish haven't been their usual self for a couple of days and they haven't been hoovering up all the food either like they normally do.

They are rubbing themselves and their fins and clamped down.

It looks like they have little white spots on them too.

I bought some ' Interpet Aqualibrium first aid salt additive' but I haven't put it in the water yet.

Apparently copper is good for killing the white spot things?

But I don't have any.

However, we are on private well water (no chlorine etc) , but I think our water does contain copper due to copper plumbing throughout the house and fairly acidic water.

Usually I have to add API Tap water conditioner to make the water safe, but I'm wondering can I put an small amount of untreated water in the fish tank, in the hope that the copper which is already in our water , will kill the Ick?

And if so, how much untreated water should I use?

I know there must be copper in the tap water because it stains the bath tub greeny blue where the tap drips, and when I first got the fish, they got poorly because I didn't use conditioner.

As at the time I assumed I didn't need conditioner because we didn't have chlorine in our well water supply.

But of course I didn't know about the dissolved copper from our plumbing.

Here's a video:

Ich presents itself as flat, equally sized white dots never on the eyes, while Epistylis may appear as raised white dots, white powder, or fuzzy-looking patches that vary in size. Looks like your syno has the latter which is more common.

https://fishkeepandchill.com/ich-versus-epistylis/ is a really knowledgeable chat about it but the detail you need is here:
https://aquariumscience.org/index.php/10-2-4-epistylis/

I'd ignore any plans with copper as unnecessary variables - API Tap water conditioner de-toxifies it, it doesn't remove it.

HTH,

Jools

Thank you for the reply.

I think I read something about putting the tempature DOWN to 70F?

Is that right?

And will any antibiotic fish food do?

I noticed white spots also all over my drift wood too.

After dropping the temperature down to 70F and doing a big water change and gravel vac, their numbers on the wood seem to have reduced.

Unfortunately I'm at work at the moment , I just hope they haven't died when I get home.

Jools wrote: 17 Feb 2025, 20:50 Ich presents itself as flat, equally sized white dots never on the eyes, while Epistylis may appear as raised white dots, white powder, or fuzzy-looking patches that vary in size. Looks like your syno has the latter which is more common.

https://fishkeepandchill.com/ich-versus-epistylis/ is a really knowledgeable chat about it but the detail you need is here:
https://aquariumscience.org/index.php/10-2-4-epistylis/

I'd ignore any plans with copper as unnecessary variables - API Tap water conditioner de-toxifies it, it doesn't remove it.

HTH,

Jools

I've tried NT LABS white spot and fungus treatment, but they aren't getting better.

Also lost two tetras that look red lines on the base of the fins and around the eyes.. septicemia?