Dead Shubunkin with White Spots: Ich or Fungus?

5 Shubunkins in large pond. One dead with white soft spots. Cleaned 2 wks ago. Fish ate plants yesterday. Asks: stop plant eating? Food change? Cause of death?

White Spots = Ich (Ichthyophthirius) or Fungus (Saprolegnia)

• Ich: Salt-grain white dots, fish flash, breathe heavily. Treat: salt 0.3% or malachite green/formalin.
• Fungus: Cottony patches, usually secondary to injury/parasites. Treat: antifungal (methylene blue, commercial).

Plant Eating

Only preventable by physical exclusion (plastic mesh around plants). Shubunkins are herbivorous.

Seasonal Food

Switch to wheat-germ food when water <50°F. Pond sticks fine above 50°F.

Test water, check survivors for spots/flashing. Treat specifically.