Does my new clown have ich?

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No worries. I am kind of worried, so rambling a lot.

I used rock salt that was in my kitchen cupboard. What about the spots? Right now I feel like waiting to see at least one? ......or will I regret it if I wait....
I know the salt concentration was low but I had the cory in there too and despite that it floated at the surface after a week of treatment, couldn't take it any longer...poor thing... It's still alive in the other tank though after taking a huge drop in TDS...

Will the loach and platies take that amount of salt? I am more worried about the loach as I want 100% success rate, being the only baby loach in there. They've been treated one full week already of which 6 days heat at 31-32C. I was sweating myself just looking at it :) Shouldn't that have got rid of the parasite in addition to the salt and UV sterilizer? Temp is today is down to 29C, TDS 645ppm. Should I start upping everything again? I had read about the salinity level needed but then again I am being a chicken and couldn't do it....
 
I saw my yoyo loach did same thing from time to time but it's not about ich cause I didn't do anything and there's no sign of white spot or ich spread to other tank mates after months...it's just do its thing you know! Many folks killed their fishes cause assume their fish getting sick :D
 
evabug1 said:
I didn't initially recommend salt because most people from the UK shriek in horror and insist it will kill loaches. I recommend you use treatments you're comfortable with.

Flukes do also cause flashing although I'd venture to say that would be a less likely cause. The UV could be masking the issue somewhat.
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I have no problem with salt, just as long as I actually saw that damn ich! I've got the invisible strain :(

Do you have a link to the clown loach group so I could have a look. I couldn't find it....not much of a facebook user but have an account.
 
If the heat/salinity method makes you nervous, then I recommend discontinuing. 6 days of heat/salt won't cut it as it's not long enough for all stages of the ich life cycle to be eliminated. If your clown is only occasionally flashing, then it could be nothing. If it's flashing more consistently, then it's something to look at more closely. UV can eliminate parasites such as ich if tank size, flow rate, and wattage are at the right parameters for the manufacturer's recommendations and your tank. You could get the Esha Exit to have on hand in case it developed into a full blown case of ich.
 
Thank you for your help. I'll keep you posted. I think I'll monitor for the next few days and just keep doing water changes. The clown has been seen flashing just twice since I got him...

If they still have ich, how long will it take for it to be visible? Days, weeks? I was reading that at the temperatures I had the tank at the incubation period is 48hrs.
 
Coryloach said:
Hi predatorkeeper87.

Thank you for the quick reply.

I actually did already after that video. I did salt and heat, but just 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons and heat at 88F/31C for 6 days., in total about 8 days treatment. The clown and the platies didn't show stress but my cory fish that got purchased with the clown floated on the surface yesterday on its side so had to be dumped into another tank to try save him. It's not oxygen, I had it very well oxygenated and the tank is open top too.

My question is, should I have seen white spots during the treatment, even one at least? If the parasite attached, shouldn't it first grow to a visible stage and then drop off? I haven't seen any spots on the fish bar the flashing, before or after treatment. Could the flashing have been caused by something else?

Right now I've stopped the treatment and I did a water change with unsalted water yesterday and today, dropping the TDS by about 70ppm at a time, and dropping the temp down by about 2 degrees already.
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Ich attaches itself to the gills as well, so even without the visible white spots your fish can still be infected, hence the flashing. I haven't read the rest of the thread yet but my advice is get Paraguard, I use it with scaleless fish all the time with no ill effects and it gets rid of ich in a hurry. Fish do flash for other reasons as well so don't get to worked up if its occasional. Is he the only loach in there? Some fish will flash out of dominance, not that I've seen loaches do that ever, but just as peace of mind to know there are other reasons for the behavior. EDIT I went back and watched the video. He needs more CL's in with him to feel comfortable, and I noticed him lazily chasing the smaller fish in the tank, this fish may just be stressed.
 
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