flowerhorn trouble

Coryloach

Potamotrygon
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For ich, yes, I agree salt and raised temps but you need the temp at 31C steady, measured with a thermometer.
 

fishhead0103666

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My green severum once got ich and he looked exactly like this the last day he had it. The morning after he looked normal which leads me to believe that this is the last stage for ich before they reproduce. I say add the salt as soon as possible and raise the temperature. If I remember correctly it was a teaspoon of salt per gallon but fact check me before you go and do it. Raise the temperature slowly as others have said, I personally did 86-88 degrees.

What all of this does is the increased temperature increases the life cycle of the ich making it so that it reaches it’s end stage where it reproduces and falls off. At that point the salt can kill the ich.

I believe I got the process correct but let me check, kno4te kno4te
 

duanes

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When you treat for ick with salt, Nox ick or any other med, you are not killing the spots that are already on the fish.
Those spots are protected by the fishes slime coat and immune to meds.
But every couple days those spots explode into hundreds of new, young ick.
The med you put in is there to kill those new ick that would reinfect the fish en masse.
The fish in the photo has had ick longer than a few days, but when there are only a few spots, they often go un-noticed, some are unseen inside the gill plate.
This is why any treatment can take weeks, because you need to kill each emerging generation so they cannot reinfect, and often each spots morphs into young ick at different intervals..
Another problem is those spots, where the exploding ick was, are lesions that become place for secondary bacteria to take hold, and those bacteria in combination with the ick may eventually kill the fish.
This is why it is so important to catch it early, and not go light on the salt or mess, and not to stop treatment early.
I add 3.5 lbs of salt for every 100 gallons, and that 3.5ppt salinity kills all emerging ick. If you less less salt than produces 3ppt salinity, the ich hatch away and reinfect at will.
And any salt will do, as long as it is NaCl.
 

Coryloach

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That's pretty hot wow
Yes, when the parasite in question is Ichthyophthirius multifiliis.

I believe there's a second ich parasite discovered causing similar symptoms, which has higher tolerance to temperature up to 34C. It's called Neoichthyophthirius schlotfeldti.

Salt should have an effect on both in the recommended by Duanes doses. Salt would also decrease the susceptibility to secondary bacterial infections.
 

duanes

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Yes, when the parasite in question is Ichthyophthirius multifiliis.

I believe there's a second ich parasite discovered causing similar symptoms, which has higher tolerance to temperature up to 34C. It's called Neoichthyophthirius schlotfeldti.

Salt should have an effect on both in the recommended by Duanes doses. Salt would also decrease the susceptibility to secondary bacterial infections.
This is why in most of my previous posts I have not suggested raising temp.
I have known about (without being aware of the name) of this species for a while.
Beyond "its" resistance to heat, the raising of temp often makes secondary bacterial infections much more virulent.
To me, raising osmotic pressure with salt for a couple weeks has been very effective at ridding a tank of ick type parasites, without risking bacteria that often accompany the aftermath because of extra heat.
 
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Coryloach

Potamotrygon
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Yes, totally agree. I think what you suggest is the safest way to go, providing the fish can tolerate the salt dose too.

I'd add the salt in the course of a few hours, dissolving it first.

Some species tolerate high heat very well, some don't tolerate either salt or medication. Some don't tolerate high temperatures well.

I used low salt concentration and high heat on a clown loach for example and it went well but I killed a corydora and shrimp, not from the heat but from the salt. I personally used a TDS meter to redose the salt when doing the water changes.

I am somehow never worried about bacterial infections. Large water changes while a fish is susceptible to it seem to prevent it. If the fish already has a bacterial infection then it is a different story.
 

RD.

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I've never used salt, or heat, copper has always been my go to for ich. I liked this product, but haven't seen it in Canada since Fritz bought them out.


Seachem also has a copper product, but it's a little more tricky to use. https://www.seachem.com/cupramine.php
 
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