White spots on bluegill

Has any one had white spots on bluegill before? I have five that all do. Wondering what it is and how bad it is. Any help would be appreciated.

Here is a picture.
 DSCN1319.JPG   181.58KB   4 downloads

Looks like a really really bad case of ich to me....

If you want to knock it out quickly and have no inverts or plants, get coppersafe.

What is ich? Is it common? What am I doing wrong, so I can prevent it in the future?

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If you collected these fish (which is now illegal in WI), they are probably stressed out. What kind of setup are you keeping them in?

They are in a 50 gallon aquarium.

Did you use this tank for other fish? I'm hoping you have no heater. In the meantime, add 2 tbsp non-iodized salt (aquarium/kosher salt) per 5 gallons.

If you have not recently acquired your bluegill from cold waters, then heating in this case to between 82 and 84 F may be appropriate. Ich free living stage will be weakened and bluegills ability to repair damage caused by ich will improve assuming other aspects of environment not stressful. Heavy loads like shown often promote secondary infections (bacteria and fungus). Your fish will be loosing weight as they respond to damage.

EWW!
That's painful to look at!
Just my opinion, and maybe contrary to conventional wisdom, but it might be time to ask yourself if you really want to go to heroic efforts to save a bluegill.
True, it can be done. If you really love that particular bluegill or are interested in experimenting with ich cures from an educational basis, by all means have at it.
If it were me, I'd humanely euthanize the fish and properly dispose of it. Then I'd break down the tank and discard the substrate and bleach tank and decorations.
Another school of thought says dispose of fish then crank up the heat and leave the tank fish free for at least 30 days. That SHOULD allow the bug to run its course without a fish host to carry on further generations. Personally, I believe ich cysts stay dormant just waiting for a stressed fish to lower its immunity. That's why [IMO] tanks that have cases of ich "cured" in the past often seem to flare up with new cases from time to time.
Just my opinionated $00.02. Take it FWIW.

EWW!
That's painful to look at!
Just my opinion, and maybe contrary to conventional wisdom, but it might be time to ask yourself if you really want to go to heroic efforts to save a bluegill.
True, it can be done. If you really love that particular bluegill or are interested in experimenting with ich cures from an educational basis, by all means have at it.
If it were me, I'd humanely euthanize the fish and properly dispose of it. Then I'd break down the tank and discard the substrate and bleach tank and decorations.
Another school of thought says dispose of fish then crank up the heat and leave the tank fish free for at least 30 days. That SHOULD allow the bug to run its course without a fish host to carry on further generations. Personally, I believe ich cysts stay dormant just waiting for a stressed fish to lower its immunity. That's why [IMO] tanks that have cases of ich "cured" in the past often seem to flare up with new cases from time to time.
Just my opinionated $00.02. Take it FWIW.

Ich is not all that bad. My stocks are frequently challenged by it and usually come out of with minimal long terms effects. Nuking (chemical or heat treatments) the system will eradicate your ich population for the short term but in my experience it is generally ubiquitus with outbreaks usually precipitated by a sharp temperature drop or introduction of a heavily infected fish. Healthy fish seem not to have a problem with ich even though it is present at almost all times in the environment.

I have found that raising the temperature while adding salt can be chancy. Raising the temp alone does not kill the ich; it simply increases the rate at which the cysts cycle into adults. If the salt does not kill the ich or other treatment isn't added, it can result in worse infections as the population increases. I've done this myself while trying this method. Needless to say, I won't try it again, at least on fish I enjoy.

If I was worried about inverts/plants, I would remove the infected fish and treat them in a different container. Then, I would increase the temp in the fishless tank (as suggested by mikez) so the ich cycle runs faster. The ich would then die out without a host available.

I have found that raising the temperature while adding salt can be chancy. Raising the temp alone does not kill the ich; it simply increases the rate at which the cysts cycle into adults. If the salt does not kill the ich or other treatment isn't added, it can result in worse infections as the population increases. I've done this myself while trying this method. Needless to say, I won't try it again, at least on fish I enjoy.

If I was worried about inverts/plants, I would remove the infected fish and treat them in a different container. Then, I would increase the temp in the fishless tank (as suggested by mikez) so the ich cycle runs faster. The ich would then die out without a host available.

Treating your fish in a quarantine tank is always a good idea. Potentially conserves medication usage when smaller quarantine tank used and reduces likelihood of collatoral damage (killing non-target plants, invertebrates, fishes less tolerant of medication AND BIOFILTER).

Thanks for all the info. I will update later.