i have some ick in the tank, and a poor combination of fish. I have hoplo catfish (with ick) and some archerfish (no visible ick yet) as well as a pleco (no Ick surprisingly). I bought the archers because i was advised that they would do fine in a freshwater tank despite being a brackish fish. it was also recommended to me that a little aquarium salt wouldnt hurt. It would help defend againt further aquarium diseases and help build up slime cots on the archers and the pleco, but the lady wasnt sure how the hoplos would fair. she recommended 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons, its a 55 gallon tank. does anybody have any insight/experience they could share? thanks!
aquarium salt
- Thread starter SkeptikalScabies
- Start date
use marine salt it will make water hard and keep your ph higher than salt for fresh water which makes the water acidic and soft,use one teaspoon for each 10 gallon of water good luck Noel
I normally just raise the temp a few degrees to kill off the ick
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I was skeptical at first because I've always used some type of medication for ick but I would still lose many fish. Found info on this forum about the life cycle of ick and how to get rid of it naturally. The info will be at the bottom of this post. It's the only way I treat ick now. As far as salt is concerned, most use 1 tablespoon per 5 gallon. It's also very important to also raise your temperature to about 84-86 degrees and just follow the directions and all will be well. The only thing I'm worry about is that the salt might affect your pleco and catfish. Also, most of us always use 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons of water in the tank all the time anyways so basically you would just have to raise the temperature. Every water change, replace the water and add the salt for every 5 gallons changed and vacuum your gravel. For example, if you change 10 gallons of water, replace the 10 gallons with 2 tablespoon of salt and if you still have to add more water, just replace with plain water. The archer might also benefit with the salt because of the brackishness. Don't go to a LFS to buy aquarium salt because it's way, way, too expensive. Go to a Home Depot, Lowes, Ace.... and buy large bag of water softener salt. The bag of salt is about 20-25 pounds and will cost you less the $10. Also, do your regular water changes and add back the salt taken out. Remember, every 5 gallons taken out should be replaced with 1 tablespoon of salt. Add regular water to replace the evaporated water. Hope this helps, Ed.
"One proven way to treat ich/ick
I am writing this because it is something that comes up so often.
Ich is a protozoal infection that afflicts fish and can rapidly kill them, most often by damaging gill tissue.
The organism goes through a life cycle of;
a small white spot feeding on your fish,
which drops off to the floor of your tank and encysts,
while encysted it divides into up to 2000 new mobile organisms,
the cyst ruptures, releasing the mobile organisms which seek out a host.
Only the mobile stage is vulnerable to treatment by anything that will not also kill your fish.
Here is an old fashioned but very effective method for treatment.
It can be used for most fish but morymids, corys, and some pims are sensitive to salt. Because the organism infest the tank, the whole tank should be treated.
Raise the temp of your tank to at least 85-86 degrees F.
Add aquarium salt (dissolved in water) at a ratio of 2 teaspoons of salt per gallon of water in your tank.
Now wait, while waiting it does not hurt to add a powerhead or airstone to increase the O2 level.
Over the first couple days your fish will look worse but then they will clear up. about the sixth day they will look clear but because some ecystments have not yet hatched keep the treatment up for the full 10 days.
If you are not able to raise the temperature you need to extend the treatment, at 85 the ich's life cycle is quick but at 72 it can take weeks, below 70F treat for 6 weeks.
There are medicines you can use but many fish are sensitive to them, you can also try just heat at 90-91 degrees F but some fish can't take that heat and some strains of ich can survive it.
The salt and heat method is one I have used several times with sucess."
"One proven way to treat ich/ick
I am writing this because it is something that comes up so often.
Ich is a protozoal infection that afflicts fish and can rapidly kill them, most often by damaging gill tissue.
The organism goes through a life cycle of;
a small white spot feeding on your fish,
which drops off to the floor of your tank and encysts,
while encysted it divides into up to 2000 new mobile organisms,
the cyst ruptures, releasing the mobile organisms which seek out a host.
Only the mobile stage is vulnerable to treatment by anything that will not also kill your fish.
Here is an old fashioned but very effective method for treatment.
It can be used for most fish but morymids, corys, and some pims are sensitive to salt. Because the organism infest the tank, the whole tank should be treated.
Raise the temp of your tank to at least 85-86 degrees F.
Add aquarium salt (dissolved in water) at a ratio of 2 teaspoons of salt per gallon of water in your tank.
Now wait, while waiting it does not hurt to add a powerhead or airstone to increase the O2 level.
Over the first couple days your fish will look worse but then they will clear up. about the sixth day they will look clear but because some ecystments have not yet hatched keep the treatment up for the full 10 days.
If you are not able to raise the temperature you need to extend the treatment, at 85 the ich's life cycle is quick but at 72 it can take weeks, below 70F treat for 6 weeks.
There are medicines you can use but many fish are sensitive to them, you can also try just heat at 90-91 degrees F but some fish can't take that heat and some strains of ich can survive it.
The salt and heat method is one I have used several times with sucess."
