White specs on my Flowerhead

[JDevil]

I found some white specs on my Flowerhead. It started with just a few on his tail and across the top on either side of his dorsal fin. While the specs on the tail seem to have cleared, the ones on his back are getting worse and starting to cover his forehead. I've also noticed a decline in his appetite the past two days - normally quite voracious. There is a pleco in the tank as well, but he looks fine.
:huh:
My first guess was ick, but have never had to deal with it so am unsure. I've always thought ick was just a few spots here and there. I've inclueded a couple of pictures, although you really can't see the spots I'm talking about too clearly. I should also note that I've tested the water and everything (pH, ammonia, chlorine, chloramine, nitrate) is fine. I've even did a 66% water change despite the tests.

 

[jonclark96]

My guess would be ich. There are multiple treatments. Do a big gravel vac before you start treatment to try to get as many of the trophonts out of the tank before you treat.

Also - its flowerhorn, not flowerhead

 

[Vicious_Fish]

Yep, looks like a typical case of ich to me too.

 

[FSM]

Looks like ich. It might be able to recover on it's own (increase the temperature), or you can get some medicine. Quick cure seems to work well; I've got some tetras in a QT tank being treated now and they seem to be improving.

 

[JDevil]

Thanks everyone. Once you identified it as ick, I did some reading on it. I found a really good article that not only explained what ick is, but how to treat and prevent it. There were a few different methods listed for treating - the one I chose, which was also recommended by FSM above, was raising the temperature. It seems to be doing the trick. Things got worse before the got better, but I was warned about that. Five days later, almost all of the spots are gone and my fish is just about back to himself again. I will keep the heat raised for a few more days, then do a thorough cleaning of the plants and gravel.